What are Cookies?
Cookies are simple text files that a browser saves on your computer based on a request from a website you visit. Normally your browser disallows a website to write anything to your computer, but for convenience sake, browsers allow this simple, highly regulated process. Below is a sample cookie that gets set on your computer when you visit the Bowdoin Faculty-Staff digests:
digests_usertype
staff
www.bowdoin.edu/digests/
1536
1779375104
29836851
4049901200
29763425
*
This small scrap of text tells your browser to remember that when you go back to the www.bowdoin.edu/digests URL that you are a staff person and should see the Faculty-Staff digest by default. This is just a simple example of a Cookie providing a convenient shortcut for a user.
Why are Cookies Safe?
The World Wide Web Consortium says this about Cookies:
Cookies cannot be used to "steal" information about you or your computer system. They can only be used to store information that you have provided at some point. To give a benign example, if you fill out a form giving your favorite color, a server can turn this information into a cookie and send it to your browser. The next time you contact the site, your browser will return the cookie, allowing the server to alter background color of its pages to suit your preferences.
Unlike viruses or Spyware, Cookies are not uncontrollable, unpredictable bits of code that covertly find their way onto your system. In fact, Cookies are highly regulated and manageable. Here are some of the enforced properties about Cookies that make them harmless:
1. They are simply text. Cookies are required to be simple text--they cannot be software such as a virus or Spyware.
2. They are localized. A website doesn't have access to your computer's file system. If it wants to place a Cookie on your computer, it can only set it in the Cookie folder specified by your browser.
3. They are limited in size. Browsers do not allow Cookies to take up more than a set amount of space.
4. They are manageable. Unlike Spyware and viruses, Cookies are up-front and transparent. They aren't meant to be hidden or covert. Browsers allow you to remove Cookies at any time or even set what sites may set Cookies.
To enable cookies, follow the instructions below for the browser version you are using.
Mozilla Firefox (1.0 final release and earlier)
- Go to the "Tools" menu.
- Select "Options".
- Select the "Privacy" icon in the left panel.
- Check the box corresponding to "Allow sites to set cookies".
- Click "OK" to save changes.
Netscape 7.1/Mozilla 5.0
- Select "Preferences" from the Edit menu.
- Click on the arrow next to "Privacy & Security" in the scrolling window to expand.
- Under "Privacy & Security", select "Cookies."
- Select "Enable all cookies".
- Click "OK".
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+
- Select "Internet Options" from the Tools menu.
- Click on the "Privacy" tab.
- Click the "Default" button (or manually slide the bar down to "Medium") under "Settings".
- Click "OK".
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x
- Select "Internet Options" from the Tools menu.
- Click on the "Security" tab.
- Click the "Custom Level" button.
- Scroll down to the "Cookies" section.
- To enable:
- Set "Allow cookies that are stored on your computer" to "Enable".
- Set "Allow per-session cookies" to "Enable".
- Click "OK".
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x
- Select "Internet Options" from the View menu.
- Click on the "Advanced" tab.
- Scroll down to find "Cookies" within the "Security" section.
- To enable:
- Select "Always accept cookies".
- Click "OK".
Netscape Communicator 4.x
- Select "Preferences" from the Edit menu.
- Find the "Cookies" section in the "Advanced" category.
- To enable:
- Select "Accept all cookies" (or "Enable all cookies").
- Click "OK".
