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| Pass the Cookies, Please!
No, not chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin. Although those are much easier to digest. We're talking about Internet cookies. What is a cookie, what is it for, and are they harmful to my computer or my privacy? A cookie is a small piece of information that a web site asks your browser to store. This information is used to make your web browsing experience smoother and more effective. For example, a cookie can be used to help retain preferences that you set during your visit to a site. The most important thing to understand about cookies is that they pose no danger to you. They cannot be used to collect secret information about you or your computer or to provide information about you to other companies. Cookies can only tell a web server if you have been there before and can pass short bits of information (such as a user number) from the web server back to itself the next time you visit. Most cookies last only until you quit your browser and then are destroyed. A second type of cookie known as a persistent cookie has an expiration date and is stored on your disk until that date. A persistent cookie can be used to track a user's browsing habits by identifying him whenever he returns to a site. Information about where you come from and what web pages you visit already exists in a web server's log files and could also be used to track users browsing habits. Cookies just make it easier. You can manage your cookies and even elect not to accept them. If you elect to turn off accepting cookies, you will not be able to customize many sites to your preferences. And some sites may not allow access unless you do accept their cookies. Netscape: From the menu at the top of the browser select “Edit”, then select “Preferences”. Click on the main “Advanced” category. On the right side of the window in the “Cookies” section select the options you want. You can change these any time by repeating these steps. Internet Explorer 5.0: From within Internet Explorer, select “Tools” from the menu along the top, and then click “Internet Options” from the menu that drops down. You can open the same “Internet Options” window without opening the browser by going to the Control Panel and selecting Internet Options. Click on the “Security” tab. Click the button labeled “Custom Level…”, scroll down to the “Cookies” section, and then select either disable or prompt. No files are destroyed or compromised by cookies, but if you are concerned about being identified or about having your web browsing traced through the use of a cookie, set your browser to not accept cookies or use one of the new cookie blocking packages. Note that blocking all cookies prevents some online services from working, such as banking and shopping. Also, preventing your browser from accepting cookies does not make you an anonymous user, it just makes it more difficult to track your usage. So you shouldn't worry about the diet. Go ahead and accept those cookies. You just might make your Internet browsing easier. From Logical Tips |
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