Internet users or experts

[n2mark]

I'm don't totally understand the "cookies" on the internet. Should I delete them after using the internet each time? Should I turn cookies off? A message asks if I accept or decline cookies when I enter a site, should I decline? Do cookies have anything to do with spyware?

[steve2470]

1. cookies are not all bad. For example, DU uses a cookie

to tell the website to log you in for 30 days. If you turn off all cookies, then some websites are not going to work for you. Spyware can be cookies that report back to a corporate website about your browsing patterns. Definitely delete the "bad cookies" that serve no useful purpose. On Internet Explorer, you may want to use the medium or default position.

[n2mark]

3. That explains why I had to enter my password again at DU

after deleting all my cookies. I thought cookies caused spyware and all the garbage email that I've been receiving.

[Aiptasia]

2. It depends

Cookies are a way for websites to save your preferences and personal information about you so that they can keep track of your habits on their website and/or so that you don't have to repetitively re-enter information to access websites.

For example, if you used Netflix to rent movies, they have a cookie set up so that every time you access their site, the cookie automatically inputs your user information so that you don't have to type it all in over and over again. Ebay has one that does the same thing, etc.

Cookies can be good or bad depending on how they're used. They really don't have ties to spyware, although some websites can capture cookie information that perhaps were intended for other websites.

It's probably a good thing to clean out your cookies from time to time and only accept cookies to websites you trust.

[McKenzie]

4. I see what others have said but

I only enable cookies if they are required for authentication purposes. They are not a huge security risk because they are only small text files. However, they are used for tracking to build up marketing databases. Doubleclick is a case in point.

The worst offenders are persistent cookies, ones that live for ages, as oppposed to per session, or limited life cookies. I've opened some of the nastier ones in a text editor to discover they live for tens of years. Now WTF is that necessary?

No biggie but, if one considers how commercial the net is becoming, It's probably wise to disable 'em. Cookies are only functionally necessary for authentication purposes. Other than that, if a site won't let me in unless I accept a cookie, I walk.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. I delete them...

and I set Opera to delete them every time I exit.

The small advantages of what cookies can do to make things a little more convenient aren't worth the hassle of the more malignant ones that track what I do.

Note that all cookies aren't deleted by the browser.

Even us Mozilla and Opera users will see a whole load of cookies in Windows subfolders that have to be deleted manually. They were put there by IE functions built into Windows whether you use IE or not.

[baldguy]

6. Imagine walking into a store in the mall.

And theres an employee standing at the entrance who won't let you in unless you let him stamp the store's logo on your forehead.

That's what a "cookie" is.