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'1984' Do You
Like Cookies?
What is a cookie? Well if you
live in the USA it is a biscuit, if you are in Britain it usually
refers to a chocolate chip biscuit. I don't know about you
but I love them :-)
But there is another kind of
cookie in relation to the Internet. This is a small file that
can be stored on your system (sometimes without you even knowing
about it), that can transfer information about you and your
system to the web site which placed it on your computer.
PANIC! Well don't worry too much
just yet. If you have never heard of cookies before, then you
most definitely already have them planted on your system. Using
the Internet only once will usually guarantee this.
So how and why? Sites that use
cookie technology do so for various reasons, but usually for
marketing purposes. When you visit a web site that uses this
technology the site makes a request to your Internet browser
I.E, Netscape etc, to ask if it will accept a cookie to be
placed on your system, and depending on the response the cookie
will or will not be placed.
This cookie information file
will then gather basic information about you, your computer,
type, operating system, web browser your name possibly your
e-mail address this can sometimes depend on what information
you have submitted to the web site which set the cookie. For
instance, if you completed an online form with your personal
details then these may be also stored.
More worrying though is the possibility
of storing information of the web pages you have viewed. This
can then be used to make up a profile of your personal tastes,
so that certain advertising could be marketed to you. The cookie
will then be read on your return to the web site that set it.
So how can you choose which cookies
to accept and which to refuse?
Start with your browser window
open and in IE5 go to 'Tools' then 'Internet Options' click
the 'Security' tab and on the Internet Globe option click the
'Custom Level' button. Scroll down until you see Cookies and
from here you can disable them, a good option to choose is
'Prompt' you can then choose which you wish to accept. Click
OK and your options will be stored.
In earlier versions of I.E. these
options are to be found under 'View' then 'Internet Options'
and under the 'Advanced' tab. For Netscape users cookie options
are found under 'Edit' then 'Preferences' and under the advanced
option list.
Of course the really paranoid
amongst us can also choose to delete their history and cache
folders under these options before accepting a cookie so that
these may not be read by it.
If you have already accepted
cookies you can delete these from your system and start afresh
if you wish. On a PC running Windows they are stored on your
hard drive under 'Windows' 'Cookies' on other systems just
do a search for Cookies.
Open this cookie folder and you
may well be amazed by the number of cookies you have already
accepted, some you may recognise Microsoft, Yahoo etc but many
will be for advertising agencies. If you don't want them then
don't hesitate in sending them to your recycle bin.
Sites such as Microsoft insist
on you accepting a cookie before you access some resources,
also some of the web based e-mail services. You really have
to decide for yourself which cookies you want to accept. If
you can't access your web based mailbox and you want to use
that service then you are going to have to accept that cookie
or find another service. Also some online banks may make a
request to help track you.
Decide for yourself, your online
privacy is your own affair and you now have the knowledge to
control at least some of it ;->
About the teacher:
Publisher: http://nnh.co.uk
Copyright © NNH, nnh.co.uk
More articles like this and links to great Internet
resources can be found at: http://www.nnh.co.uk
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