What are the potential pitfalls of using global variables in jQuery to store data for dropdown selection in PHP?

Using global variables in jQuery to store data for dropdown selection in PHP can lead to security vulnerabilities such as data manipulation or injection. To solve this issue, it is recommended to store the data securely on the server side and pass it to the client side only when necessary.

// Store data securely on the server side
$data = array(
    'option1' => 'Option 1',
    'option2' => 'Option 2',
    'option3' => 'Option 3'
);

// Pass data to the client side only when necessary
echo '<script>';
echo 'var dropdownData = ' . json_encode($data) . ';';
echo '</script>';