COOKIES

INTERNET COOKIES

• What are they

• Where are they found

• What should you do about them

INTERNET COOKIES

• MISCONCEPTION

• A SMALL PROGRAM

• SEARCHES FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION

• CAN HARM YOUR COMPUTER

• IDENTIFIES YOU TO BUISINESSES

INTERNET COOKIES

• ACTUAL DEFINITION

• Short pieces of data used by web servers to help identify web users

• Placed on your hard drive by server

• Identifies your IP address during your visit

• Helpful on shopping sites

INTERNET COOKIES

• WEB BROWSER REQUESTS A FILE FROM A SERVER

• IF NO COOKIE, SERVER ISSUES ONE

• COOKIE IS SENT TO SERVER- IF ALREADY EXISTENT

• SERVER READS COOKIE AND SENDS IT BACK WITH UPDATE

INTERNET COOKIES

• COOKIE EXPIRATION

• NO EXPIRATION DATE

• PERSISTENT

INTERNET COOKIES

WHO CAN SEE THE COOKIES?

Only the server that put the cookie on your hard drive.

Larger sites can set a domain attribute for other servers in the same subdomain

INTERNET COOKIES

• WHAT INFO CAN COOKIES RETURN?

• IP ADDRESS

• YOUR TYPE OF BROWSER

• OPERATING SYSTEM

• NUMBER OF VISITS TO WEB SITE

• VOLUNTEERED INFORMATION

INTERNET COOKIES

SHOPPING COOKIES

IDENTIFIES YOU WITH A NUMBER

KEEPS TRACK OF YOUR SHOPPING CART

AT CHECK OUT - IT LISTS YOUR SELECTIONS

INTERNET COOKIES

• WHY A BAD REPUTATION FOR COOKIES??

• WHEN USED AS A TRACKING DEVICE

• CAN SEE WHAT WEB PAGES YOU VISIT, HOW OFTEN, AND HOW LONG

• CLICKING ON AD BANNERS

• USED TO INFER YOUR INTERESTS

INTERNET COOKIES• THE IMFAMOUS DOUBLECLICK• LARGE PROVIDER WITH AD

BANNERS ON MANY SITES• COOKIES ARE VISBILE ON MULTIPLE

SITES FOR TRACKING• CAN SEE SEARCH STRINGS YOU

TYPE INTO SEARCH ENGINES• FORMS RICH PROFILES OF USERS• THREATENED TO PERSONALIZE

INTERNET COOKIES

• WHERE ARE THESE COOKIES ON YOUR HARD DRIVE??

• DEPENDS ON WEB BROWSER

• C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES

• C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\COOKIES DIRECTORIES IN NT OR WINNT

INTERNET COOKIES

• WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM

• IN BROWSER TOOLS\INTERNET OPTIONS\TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES-- DELETE THEM

• IN C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES, SELECTIVELY DELETE THEM

INTERNET COOKIES• MANAGE COOKIES FROM BROWSER

• TOOLS\INTERNET OPTIONS\PRIVACY\ADVANCED PROMT BEFORE ACCEPTING OR BLOCK

• REMEMBER SOME SITES REQUIRE COOKIES FOR ACCESS!!

INTERNET COOKIES

• MANY COOKIE TOOLS TO MANAGE COOKIES WITH

• AD-AWARE WILL FIND ALL SPYWARE AND TRACKING COOKIES http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

• WWW.COOKIECENTRAL.COM/FILES.HTM• WWW.GUIDESCOPE.COM/HOME/

INTERNET COOKIES

• P3P- PRIVACY PREFRENCES PROJECT

• EMERGING INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR USERS TO GAIN MORE CONTROL OVER THEIR PRIVATE INFORMATION

• IN IE 6.0 IT READS THE PRIVACY POLICY ON WEB SITES AND ALLOWS YOU TO SET YOUR TOLERANCE.