June '02 Tools

A cookie is a small packet of information that is placed on your hard drive when you browse websites and is retrievable later on.

Many websites use cookies so they can track what you are viewing.

When you visit a site that sets cookies, commands embedded in the page cause your browser to contact the site's server. The server sends information back to the browser, where it's stored in a particular place on your hard drive.

Cookies come in two varieties: Session cookies and persistent cookies. Session cookies clear out after you close the browser window (ending the session) and often are used by "shopping carts" at online stores to keep track of items you want to buy. Persistent cookies are set by news sites, banner ad companies, and others who want to know when you return to a site. These files reside on your hard drive after you leave the site.

Cookies can be beneficial to you. Let's say you sign up for an online news service. To register for the site you fill out an information form and are asked to supply a username and password that is known only to you. You can elect to have the site retrieve your username and password so that you will not have to remember and enter this information each time you log onto the site. This is accomplished by writing a cookie containing your specified information to a cookie folder on your hard drive. Another example would be a web site that uses a cookie to keep track of which areas of their site you visit and then, based on that input, refer you to other similar parts of their site that you might also enjoy.

Cookies are also beneficial to websites trying to market to you. For example, if you go to one of the major search engines and search for "cars", the next time you come back to the website to search again, you may see an automobile dealer's advertisement at the top of your screen. This is not what everyone sees when they visit that search engine. Only you do. They know you like cars because you searched for them before, so they now show you auto ads because it is likely to be something you would be interested in buying.

Cookies are used during internet shopping to store your order on your computer. If you logoff and back on, your order is still there and you can continue shopping. Of course, those cookies can also be used to market banners and advertisements towards you based upon what you were shopping for. Most websites that sell online are good about keeping your information confidential.

People are concerned that cookies store personal information like your address, phone number, social security number, credit card numbers, etc., and that this information can be accessed at will by other sites. Not so... cookies can only be read by the web sites that created them and placed them on your hard drive when you filled out their registration or information form. The only way that any private information could be in your cookie file would be if you provided that information in the first place and it decided to put that information into your cookie file for some reason. They have no idea how much money you make per year or what you're hiding in your bottom desk drawer. Also, there is no possible way that a virus could be spread through the use of cookies.

Some consumer groups claim that cookies are an invasion of user privacy. Cookies track where you've been and what you've looked at on the Web. A visit to a single site can result in several cookies, and not all of the cookies report back directly to the site you are visiting. Cookie Central, a clearinghouse for cookie information, states that some Web advertising companies, including FocaLink and DoubleClick, surreptitiously set cookies that report back directly to them and keep track of your cookies with a database. By cross-referencing various cookies they have on you, they can profile your interests, spending habits, and lifestyle to target-market products to you. And as Net advertising companies grow and buy out related firms, as DoubleClick recently did with direct-marketing agency Abacus Direct, more people are growing concerned about how information gathered through cookies will be used. Using the data Abacus already has, such as your name and address, DoubleClick could use its cookies, which contain a record of your surfing habits, to create a profile of your activities.

You can set your browser to accept all cookies or to alert you when a cookie is offered.

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0:
1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options.
3. Click the Security tab,
4. Click Internet, then Custom Level.
5. Scroll down to Cookies and choose one of the two options.

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0:
1. Choose View, then
2. Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab,
4. Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security and choose one of the three options to regulate your use of cookies.

In Internet Explorer 3.0, you can View, Options, Advanced and click on the button that says Warn Before Accepting "Cookies."

If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0:
On your Task Bar, click:
1. Edit, then
2. Preferences, then
3. click on Advanced.
4. Set your options in the box labeled "Cookies".

How to see the cookies you've accepted.

Internet Explorer stores its cookies in the C:\windows\cookies directory. When you return to a site, the server queries your browser to find the cookie it created before, and the browser sends the cookie's information in response.

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0
On your task bar, click:
1. Tools, then
2. Internet Options.
3. Under the tab General (the default tab) click
4. Settings, then
5. View Files.

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0
On your task bar, click:
1. View, then
2. Internet Options.
3. Under the tab General (the default tab) click
4. Settings, then
5. View Files.

Internet Explorer 3.0
On your Task Bar, click:
1. View, then
2. Options, then
3. Advanced, then
4. View Files.

Netscape Communicator 4.0:
Netscape Navigator maintains a file called cookies.txt that contains all cookie records from every site that creates a cookie.

Mac and UNIX:
On a Mac this file is named "MagicCookie", on UNIX it's "cookies". You can look at this file with a text editor to see exactly what cookies are stored there, or delete the file to get rid of all of the cookies - this is harmless and shouldn't cause any problems.

Here's a quick way to find the cookies on your hard drive in Windows: Go to Start, Find>, Files or Folders... The Windows Find program will open up. In the top open field that's labeled Named: type the word cookies. In the bottom open field that's labeled Look in: make sure it is set to look at your (C) drive. Click on the Find Now button. When it finds your cookie folder you can click on it to open it and delete all the cookies if you want to. Of course, if you do, you'll just have to create them again when you want to access the program which requires your username and password information.

To see the code in a cookie, click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.

More information about cookies can be found at Cookie Central.