Block Cookies

[bar5]

I know I can block cookies from selected web sites in Firefox and IE.

My understanding is when I block cookies from a web site, that means they can not deposit one on my computer.

Some one asked me a question about cookies and I don't know the answer. There question was the reverse.

Do I leave a cookie on their web site if I have blocked them from leaving one on my computer?

I hope I'm making sense.

[JDoors]

Do you mean, if a site tries to leave a cookie on your computer but cannot because you have blocked cookies, does that cookie have to go SOMEWHERE, like on THEIR computer? Then no. The cookie is tied to your browsing session and wouldn't make sense anywhere else.

[TheTerrorist_75]

You do not leave a cookie, but your IP Address would probably be logged. This is why paranoid people use proxies.

[bar5]

Thanks JDoors and TT.

I thought the answer was no, but thought I would ask to make sure. I never had anyone ask me that before.

I don't block them myself.

Since we are on the subject of logging your IP address, what do you think about the software "Hide My IP"? Is it worth it? I never heard of it, until this person mentioned it. I checked on what it does and how to use it, and my opinion is, it is more trouble than it is worth.

[TheTerrorist_75]

I would stear clear. Read the reviews.

Hide My IP 1.9 User Reviews

[bar5]

Thanks TT. I didn't think it was worth it. My instincts were correct. I guess I just wanted verification from some one here.

[Pete_C]

Most cookies are harmless; they are simple text files which keep track of your customizations and history on the site so that they do not have to keep them on their servers. Wouldn't you rather have your marketwatch stock tracking preferences stored on your computer than on theirs? How about search history? Would you prefer google to keep a record of what you search for on their servers or on your computer?

In general the cookie is designed to only be read by the issuing site and only record information about what you do on that site.

When you "delete private data" or clear cache and cookies you remove it .

But if they kept all that info on their servers then how would you be able to remove it and if you did how do you know it is really gone?

Yes, there are bad cookies; some advertisers use "tracking cookies" which are cross domain. They keep track of what sites you saw their ads on or worse yet of all the sites you visit so that the advertiser can build up a profile and decide what ads to put on pages you visit and contact sites they do not have contracts with and say "I get traffic from xxx number of people to your site every day and would really like to advertise there". No, I really do not want them doing this. So how do you battle that? Immunization; this is one of the things that the Immunize feature in Spybot or Javacool spywareguard/ spywareblaster do . They prevent these tracking cookies from being saved to your computer. Thus the advertiser gets no information on what ads you viewed and what sites you visited.

Best to leave it to the experts and trust they know what they are doing, rather than trying to manage all cookies manually.

[martymas]

i block all my cookies

first party and third party

i learned this at techtv

when pete and chappy taught me

and ive used the method since then

and i must say i havent had as much trouble as some

some times it is an inconvenience

when you need to log in

if the cookie is blocked you need to allow the first party cookie

other wise it is safer

to block em all

ami paraniod

marty

[jcl]

Most cookies are harmless; they are simple text files which keep track of your customizations and history on the site so that they do not have to keep them on their servers. Wouldn't you rather have your marketwatch stock tracking preferences stored on your computer than on theirs? How about search history? Would you prefer google to keep a record of what you search for on their servers or on your computer?

Google does record your search history on their servers if you have a Google account and search history is enabled. I can't remember if it's opt-in or opt-out but it's easy enough check if it's enabled. As far as I know, that's the only user-visible search history that Google provides. Odds are that MarketWatch stores your preferences on their servers, too.

Cookies are really only useful for storing very small quantities of often used but utterly unimportant information. For everything else, it's cheaper, safer, and more reliable to store the information on the server and use cookies to identify browser profiles or sessions.

Incidentally, HTML5 is (probably) going to introduce a more general client-side storage mechanism that will drive the tin foil hat crowd up the wall.

[darthvader]

Try firefox and its addons

cookie culler

better privacy

customize google

TACO

noscript

[martymas]

some times i set my first party cookies at cookies at prompt

this way i can see whats comming and going

some people see this as ardous

and get a bit impatient

but for the safety of your compt

you need to sort out which you prefer

as pete pointed out some are harmless

and some arnt

so the user has to decide

marty

[bar5]

Thanks again for everyone's input. Very helpful as usual.