What are cookies

A.� A cookie is a piece of text that a web server can store on a user's hard disk and retrieve later.

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Q.� What are cookies used for

A.� They aid a web site's interactive capabilities. If you've used an e-commerce site, have you noticed that after your first visit on your return the site will use information you offered on your initial visit,�such as what items are in your shopping basket It does so by using cookies.

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Sites let you browse goods for sale, adding items to a shopping basket so that you can pay for everything at the end. Cookies allow the site to keep track of you so that no matter what or how many items you have viewed only those that you selected end up in your basket.

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Q.� Why do people get upset about cookies

A.� Partly because they're misunderstood. Some people think that cookies are programmes that gather personal information about you and everything you do on the Internet.

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However, these perceptions are incorrect: a cookie can only contain personal information that you've volunteered and as they're simple text files they cannot be run like a programme, or gather any personal information you don't want them to.

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However, there is some basis to the general mistrust of cookies regarding privacy: a very sensitive and important issue for many Internet users. Because of the web's interactive and hypertextual nature a website using cookies can monitor exactly how you move around, what pages you visit, what pages you don't visit. Such information is invaluable to marketing companies.

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If you don't want to be a marketing statistic or be targeted by marketing companies, check a sites policy statement before submitting any information about yourself.

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Q.� Can I view the cookies on my computer

A.� Yes, they're just text files and you can, therefore, view them in any word processing package. Just do a search for cookies.txt, or cookies if you've got a Mac.

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Q.� Can I stop cookies

A.� You can limit or disable the use of cookies in your browser in the Preferences section of the Edit menu. The downside is that since so many sites increasingly use cookies it may affect a site's functionality if you decide to limit or deny them.

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Do you have a question about the web Click here to ask

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by Lisa Cardy