About Cookies

What are internet cookies?

Cookies are small bits of information. Its information that a website stores in a secure area on your computer. This area is known as the 'cookie jar'! This is the only area that cookies can be stored and retrieved. Each website can only access its own information not information stored by other websites, (unless a website deliberately passes information across.)
Websites uses cookies so that they still remembers you when you click to the next page, or come back to the website later. Information such as the fact you have logged in to the website.
Most websites assign you a unique number and store that in the cookie - this is known as a session cookie. These are usually used to keep track of your actions, such as log in. If you try login without them, you will soon find yourself logged back out, as it would not be able to keep track of the fact you have logged in, or you had just upload a photo for example. It would forget who you are and what you did. Without cookies, you soon find your being asked again to upload photo or you have been logged out.

Should I disable cookies?

Cookies are not as scary as people make out. Its a personal choice, but we say you should have cookies enabled.
Cookies are enabled by default. If your cookies are not working its likely because someone has disabled them.
You will notice all sorts of internet problems if you disable your cookies. Any website that perform some sort of task for you is not likely to work; when you click to go to the next page, everything you had done will be lost. Very few websites do try to operate without cookies, but they do this by storing your cookie information somewhere else.

What can be stored within a cookie?

Often information that you have typed in to a form is stored within the cookie, so that when you return back to the website days later, it can pre-populate the form with the previous information.
Advertisements on a web page often uses cookies, as they use cookies to assign a unique number to you, this enables them to track which adverts you have seen, so that they can build a picture of what kinds of things you like and enable them to display adverts that they think you would be interested in.

Why are cookies risky?

Some viruses try to copy cookies stored on your computer and send them to someone else. If a virus manages to steal your cookies, it is then possible for it to use it to login to websites pretending to be you. This is only possible if have been infected by a virus and you have not logged off from the websites you have visited. This is the reason why many websites do log you off automatically just to be safe. But it is advisable to log off from websites (eg. Social networks) rather than just close the window.

How are cookies created?

Most websites send and store cookie information just by putting the cookie contents within http header. http header can not be seen within the contents of a page.
The same cookies can also be accessed by using JavaScript within a page. JavaScript is also able to send and retrieve this information by using Ajax.

FAQ
Q. Can too many cookies slow down your computer?
A. Yes. Your computer has to lookup your cookie every time you visit a website, this can slow your computer down slightly, also cookies are constantly sent to and from the internet which slows down your connection very slightly. If a website uses cookies, it will have to send that cookie to the website every time you visit a page from that website.
Q. What are tracking cookies and how do they infect computers?
A. Cookies are harmless, they dont 'infect' your computer. But often used by advertising companies to see which websites of theirs you are visiting. Potentially they can build a picture of your browsing habits across their advertising network. They would store and use this information to send you adverts which they think are more likely to interest you.
Q. How do you delete or erase cookies on your herddrive.
A. It depends on what kind of computer you have, and which kind of browser you using. In most cases, on the menu bar click [tools > options > delete cookies]
Q. Have internet problems with my cookies?
A. Read the information above!