Allow Cookies, Yes or No

Do you allow Web "Cookies" to be installed on your PC?

This is the definition of Cookies (from Wiki):-

"An HTTP cookie (also called web cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie or simply cookie) is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user's computer by the user's web browser while the user is browsing. Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember stateful information (such as items added in the shopping cart in an online store) or to record the user's browsing activity (including clicking particular buttons, logging in, or recording which pages were visited in the past). They can also be used to remember arbitrary pieces of information that the user previously entered into form fields such as names, addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers"

When you read that, it probably comes as no surprise to see why you get all of those "helpful" shopping ads and other items local to your area.

But what about those financial details, like Credit Cards, Transactions, etc.

It's a NO for me!

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

I clear 'cookies' every day without fail, and do frequent scans.
I never store passwords on my computer either.

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

So if you go to Settings and disable cookies are you then destroying stuff that you may have been relying on without realising it?

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

I find computers very confusing I have set my cache to clear every day but when my computer was running slower than usual I downloaded malware bytes and it found 142 problems which I have quarantined. Thing is how did they get there? Blinkin things, they are out to get me

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

I allow them as many sites won't work without them, but I clear those I don't need regularly.

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

Cookies have a multitude of uses with the most common being the ability to store usernames and passwords. There are other reasons for cookies though such as the ability to remember menu choices. As Julie mentioned if you block them entirely then some websites will not display correctly and make user experience a less smooth and pleasant experience. There is also one many don't consider and that is the affiliate cookie where data can be stored from a visit to one website and passed to another. This is how many website owners make a few bucks for their efforts - as this one does in fact. I make my living from them.

There are also sessions which can act in a similar manner - remember username and passwords etc which collapse on closing the web browser. I have created shops entirely from scratch that use both - sessions and cookies. Such shops are capable of handling many thousands of products (some have half a million!) but because of the cookies in the main it is possible to quickly find a particular one - the filtration process where your selection is remembered each time and can be added to.

Affiliate cookie blocking and blockers are of concern so other means of passing data from one website to another is being looked at all the time. There is a massive industry behind affiliation practices so great effort is made to try to keep one step ahead else many people will lose out financially.

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

For those whose interest might be piqued by my mention of affiliation practices and cookies (and the chance to earn a few bob )then let me explain how it works in a little more detail. Who knows it might well inspire some to create a website of their own - a blog maybe?

Depending on the country you reside in will govern the available merchants who offer affiliation - obviously. Taking the UK for example, well there are many thousands of merchant affiliation opportunities a budding website entrepreneur can make use of. Some are more picky then others but for many you just join making use of their online form - no real questions asked. Once you become a member you are free to offer their wares or to create links to their website - special links that inform the merchant it was YOU who sent them the visitor. There are also affiliate middle men who control many merchant affiliate programs such as Affiliate Window (look them up) which makes it a lot easier to locate merchants in the first place.

With regard to how the affiliate cookie works.

The merchant will have set terms and conditions. There will also be information regarding cookies and the length of time they last. How this works is this: if a merchant offers a 30 day cookie length then should a user (YOU say) click a link on the person's website that sends them to the merchant site then from that day on the clock counts down. Even if you didn't buy on the first visit but revisited say 20 days later to make a purchase the affiliate would still get a percentage cut of the proceeds. Once the 30 days elapses though the affiliate will not get anything. This is all controlled by cookies. Because of them the merchant site knows it was you who visited some 20 days ago and it was the affiliate numbered ***** who should get the reward. It is a fascinating system and it can be a very lucrative one too.

So, if you think you have the wherewithall to create an interesting website that many will visit and subscribe to then there could be a considerable pot of gold waiting in the wings.

The above takes time, knowledge in some cases of a particular interest and patience. It is no longer the way to earn a quick buck as it once was.

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

In my opinion, Malware bytes is an excellent choice if you are concerned that malware may be coming your way. You have to keep it up to date (they are constantly changing their fixes based on incidents being experienced by their users) and run it regularly.

Having said that, it's not unusual for virus/malware programs to get quite a number of what may be false positives on early passes. It makes the adverts look good if they say that they found more hits than the competition!We'd need to know what your "hits" were before advising.

Where are they coming from? There are lots of strange people writing malware with a view to hooking into your pc, often by linking them in via web sites which you visit. Some do it for fun, some do it to rip you off. They could be anywhere on the planet so, the only real answer is to scan your pc about once a month.(or continuously if you use the net a lot)

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

I'd say that a user, probably, gets very little value out of these things.

Don't see it making any positive difference, to me, if the store is tracking what I bought on my last visit.

It makes a big difference to the store, though, as you are letting them watch all of your on line buying activity.

Honest Cookies may help the store to understand what you want and what you do not want.

Dishonest Cookies, well there might be quite a few who tell you they are helping when, in fact, they could be marketing your profile.

Re: Allow Cookies, Yes or No

Hi

I have a big issue with cookies and affiliates.

Your info is sold, without your permission, to others, who use it to try to get you to buy something which is not necessarily the best such thing, merely the thing that generates the most profit for them.

To my mind, these practices should be banned.

My son used to do this sort of thing, we argued long and hard about it.