The resulting numbers are now seen as a measure of how busy a site is. Cookies track where you've been and what you've looked at on the Web. Cookie Central, a clearinghouse for cookie information, states that some Web advertising companies, including FocaLink and DoubleClick, surreptitiously set cookies that report back directly to them and keep track of your cookies with a database. Using data Abacus may have on you, such as your name and address, DoubleClick could use its cookies, which contain a record of your surfing habits, to create a profile of your activities. Both Communicator and IE let you disable cookies completely or will prompt you when a cookie is being set.
Communicator includes an option to accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server.
Instead of using your browser to block them, you can run utilities that remove cookies from your hard drive, such as IEClean or NSClean, Cookie Crusher, and Cookie Cutter. For even more protection, sites such as The Rewebber and tools such as Zero Knowledge's Freedom mask your identity while surfing, so even if a site places cookies on your hard drive, it has no idea who you are. About Cookies Netscape's Cookie Page Andrew Brandt is an associate editor for PC World.