They can give you seemingly innocuous scripts with 'back doors' in them to let them control your applications. Or they can simply harass you. By taking proper precautions, you can protect your privacy and your data from prying eyes. Recently, the press and the public have focused attention on Internet and Web privacy, including the ease with which some unscrupulous users can gather personal information about others. In this first part of a multi-part series, the Newswire looks into 'cookies', the bits of data sent to your computer when you look at Web sites.
Many people worry that cookies are harmful.
We'll take a look at the good and the bad about cookies, and try to dispel some the myths. They're one of the most common methods of personalizing Web sites and tracking their usage. In the Internet world, the word 'cookie' refers to a chunk of information that is passed back and forth between a Web server to your browser. Cookies can be used to see which Web sites you visit and how often you visit them, causing some people worry that cookies will be used to track the specific browsing and buying habits of individual Web users.