8 Reasons People Laugh About Your Cookies CartsPosted by Wynn Hodge on May 26th, 2021 YOU are Being Tracked! cookies carts Cookies & Your Privacy Since identity protection is every internet users right, it pays to understand what threats cookies can pose. What are Cookies? Cookies are small, often encrypted text files, located in browser directories. They are utilized by web developers to greatly help users navigate their websites efficiently and perform certain functions. Because of their core role of enhancing and enabling usability or site processes, disabling cookies may prevent users from using certain websites. How are they Created? Cookies are created whenever a user's browser loads a specific website. The web site sends information to the browser which in turn creates a text file. Each time the user dates back to the same website, the browser retrieves and sends this file to the website's server. Computer Cookies are manufactured not just by the website the user is browsing but additionally by other websites that run ads, widgets, or other elements on the page being loaded. These cookies determine how the ads appear or the way the widgets along with other elements function on the page. Legitimate uses for Browser Cookies Session Cookies: Login information is stored in a cookie so the user can enter and leave the website without having to re-enter the same authentication information over and over. These cookies can also save ordering information needed to make shopping carts work instead of making the user to remember all the items an individual put in the shopping cart. Tracking Cookies: Are employed by the server to inform the server what pages to show the user so the user doesn't have to remember or start navigating the website all over again. Tracking Cookies may also be employed to store user preferences. Many websites permit the user to customize how information is presented through site layouts or themes. These changes make the website simpler to navigate and/or lets user leave a number of the user's data at the website. Privacy Issues: Cookies use a plain text format. They cannot be executed. They can not make copies of themselves and spread. Since they cannot perform these functions, they are not viruses. Since they store information regarding a user's browsing preferences and history among several sites, cookies may be used to act as a form of spyware. Anti-spyware product companies are aware of this issue and flag these cookies for deletion after standard virus and/or spyware scans. Just how ethical and responsible web developers deal with privacy issues due to cookie tracking is by including clear descriptions of how cookies are used on their site. Other cookie-based threats: As cookies are transferred backwards and forwards between an internet site and a browser, if an attacker hacks into the data transmission, the sensitive cookie information can be intercepted. Although relatively rare, this may happen if the browser is connecting to the server utilizing an unencrypted network for instance a non-secured WiFi channel. Other cookie-based attacks may involve exploiting faulty cookie-setting systems on servers. If a website will not require browsers to use only encrypted channels, attackers may use this vulnerability to trick browsers into sending sensitive information over insecure channels. The attackers then siphon off the sensitive data for criminal purposes. Empower yourself with privacy: Even probably the most innocent browsing has been watched by advertisers, identity thieves, data miners and spammers. There are numerous of methods to gain control of your private information, preventing others from collecting and making use of your data without your permission. Most browsers have privacy settings that provide different degrees of cookie acceptance, expiration time, and disposal, but blocking cookies on your browser could have undesirable results. BLOCKING TRACKING should be your first priority. Do Not Track+ (DNT+) makes it simple to see and block who's trying to track you, and it is totally free from Abine, and is highly recommended. You can get it here: http://www.abine.com/products.php.Like it? Share it! |