by Sue A. Sponte

Created on: January 02, 2011

Early in the development of the Internet, specifically, the worldwide web, web developers realized that it would be helpful if they could track people’s online behavior.  This can be for both legitimate and destructive reasons.  A simple, and usually benign, way for a web site designer to track some basic information about site visitors is through the use of cookies.  What are cookies and how do they work?

The name seems odd, but comes from the idea that the website will leave a little something behind on your computer when you visit.  Cookies are very small text files saved in your temporary internet files.  If you have more than one profile on the computer, there are cookies saved for all of them.  In a very simple form, a cookie is just a file with the name of the website that you visited, when you visited, and the website that referred you in the first place. 

The cookies might not always be so simple.  Search websites can place cookies on your computer listing exactly what you searched for.  If your web browser is accepting cookies, information about what you are looking for can be saved to your hard drive for later recovery.  This might not be a bad thing.  For example, if you searched for an old friend and then later you log onto a social networking site, the website can scour the names of people you were searching for and recommend potential matches.  Although this is a bit more intrusive than tracking whether you have been to my website recently, it is also potentially helpful in tracking down old friends or business leads.

In addition, there are times when cookies are absolutely required for certain applications.  Online shopping websites often require that cookies be enabled so that they can keep track of the items you want to buy.  Instead of making you log into an account first, a cookie can track of the items that you have “added to your cart.”  When you finish shopping and want to pay, the retailer knows what you want to buy.

Not all cookies are so harmless.  Some websites that gather personal information about you while you are visiting, your address or date of birth for example, might leave that information recorded on your computer.  When you move onto another website, that information is still on your computer.  Over the course of a many visits to many websites, you might give your name to one site, an e-mail address to another, and your zip code to a third.  Even if all those sites had legitimate uses for the information they asked for, you are leaving behind information that makes a very complete picture of you for somebody gathering all the information into one place.

If in doubt, try blocking cookies.  Websites will now tell you if cookies are necessary for using the site, and you can then make an educated choice.  In any event, periodically go to your temporary internet files controls and delete all your cookies.  If a legitimate website needs your information, they will ask for it again.

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