HOME INTRODUCTION PRIVACY DEFINED E-COMMERCE COOKIES SELF REGULATION CHILD PRIVACY PRIVACY ORGANIZATIONS RECENT EVENTS REFERENCES COOKIES
A �cookie� is the name given to a text file that is placed onto a person�s computer as the person is viewing a web site, usually an E-commerce site. The cookie is then stored on the person�s computer hard drive. Whenever the person requests to view a page, the cookie text file is then sent back to the server and allows the E-comerce site to identify the return visitor, track the time of the visit to collect frequency data, possibly learn where else they have been surfing, etc. As one can see, it would be almost as if every time you went out, you had someone following you and recording this information. This gives online businesses a great marketing tool in better defining market segments for particular product interests. The use of cookies is a major concern for those interested in protecting their privacy. Fortunately, there are ways in which a person can either, completely or partially, block the use of cookies. However, it was interesting to discover that in a recent finding, �56% of internet users cannot identify a cookie.� The survey also reported �only 10% of internet users have set their browsers to reject cookies.� (PEW) There are several ways in which to foil the use of cookies. Some ways involve setting up your computer to send back garbage data instead of your real name, real address and browsing patterns. However the simplest thing to do is go to your web browsers tool bar and click on Tools, then scroll down and click on Internet Options. A pop screen will appear, select the Security tab, and then click on the Custom Level or Advanced options button, depending on your Internet service provider. From this you can select what options you want to enable or disable. It is highly recommended that the stored cookies option be disabled. People may or may not want the per-session cookies enabled, but any of these cookies will be deleted read once you shut down your computer. The Privacy.net tracking demo is a nice tool offered by Privacy.net to show exactly how cookies can be placed onto your computer and the information it can gather. Give it a try and see exactly what information you are giving away every time a cookie is being placed on your computer.