A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your hard drive by a web page to be used in a subsequent page.

Typically, a cookie is used as a convenient way of telling a subsequent web page what information you have done on a previous page. Examples of where a cookie is used are to remember a login name and password entered on a previous page or a "shopping cart" feature on a retail site. They are also sometimes used by advertisers to keep track of which pages from which a particular user is viewing their advertisements.

 

Do cookies affect my privacy?
Not really. A cookie can not scan your hard disk or read your files. Cookies are limited to information that you voluntarily enter into forms on web pages. Also, if one web site creates a cookie on your hard drive, it can not be read by a different site. For example, if www.golden.net created a cookie, it couldn't be accessed by www.microsoft.com but could be accessed by any page in the www.golden.net site.

 

Can I disable cookie use in my web browser?
Certainly. Most web browsers that support cookies have an option in their settings to disable or disallow them. You should be aware that if you disable cookies in your browser, features such as "shopping carts" will not function normally.