by Dr. David

Created on: January 24, 2009

Did you know cookies can lead to higher prices on sites such as Amazon.com? 1
Or that your computer and web browsing can be traced through cookies? These questions present some of the reasons why cookies should be deleted or blocked altogether.

First let's take a look at what a cookie really is.

Cookies are short pieces of data placed on your hard drive, and are used by web servers to help identify web users. A cookie is sent from the server of a web page to a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari when that browser visits a web page. The cookie is placed in a folder along with many other internet related files, but it isn't an executable program and it won't harm your computer.

The problem with cookies is that the servers of websites can keep track of how many times you visited their site, and could vary the prices of things if they so chose to. 1
Also cookies can help identify your computer's IP address which can allow hackers to target your machine, but this is very unlikely.

However, deleting cookies is very easy to do.

If using Internet Explorer:

1. Open your browser and click on Tools on the menu bar.

2. Scroll down to "Internet Options" and click on it.

3. On the General Tab about half way down from the top you should see a button "Delete Cookies" press it, and finally press Ok on the next window and voila, no more cookies.

If using Firefox:

1. Open your browser and click on Tools on the menu bar.

2. Scroll down to "Options" and click on it.

3. Click on the Privacy tab, and then press the "Show
Cookies" button.

4. Finally, click "Remove All Cookies".

You can also choose to deny cookies altogether, but I do not recommend this as you will not be able to view certain web pages, and your preferences at your favorite web pages will be deleted.

If using Internet Explorer:

1. Open the "Internet Options" screen.

2. Click the "Privacy" tab.

3. Slide the meter to the top and press "Ok" at the bottom of the box.

If using Firefox:

1. Open the Privacy tab on the Options screen.

2. In the middle of the box you should see "Accept cookies from sites," deselect the box and press "Ok" at the bottom of the box.

If all else fails you can download cookie blockers from:

http://www.cookiecentral.com/files.htmhttp://ww w.junkbusters.com/ht/en/links.html#nsclean Now you can delete your cookies freely.For more information visit: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/i-034.shtml . 1 Refer to: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/24/ramasastry.website .prices/

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