Cookie

A cookie is identifiable information about you (such as your login info or shopping preferences) that a web server requests your computer to save and remember for the next time you visit their website. The web server (or CGI script) can retrieve and store information about you, at their discretion, on your computer. The cookie itself is a small file or portion of a file that's stored on your personal computer. (This is why you can "clear cookies" on your computer's browser and it will erase them all out.)

When you visit a particular website, you allow the web server to read your cookie information and use this information to bring you to frequently-visited pages, remember your wish list, or your ordering information (including features like "My eBay" that shows ordering and bidding history and "My Yahoo" that shows your local weather or news.) A cookie allows the website to appear to recognize you and keep track of your individual activities and preferences on their website.

Electronic cookies allow a website to keep track of your shopping cart, your order information, session ID, your login info, and your customized preferences. Cookies are necessary in order to customize and personalize our web experience, although they can also leak personal information. Laws and regulations determine what kind of personal information can be stored by web servers as cookies, although it is a subject of debate whether or not most companies comply with these regulations.

To clear cookies, go to the tool bar of Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and select "Preferences" (in Firefox) or "Internet Options" (in IE).

If you're in Mozilla Firefox, go to "Privacy" and select "view cookies." It will show you all the cookies stored on your computer. You can delete them individually or delete all of them (Delete All).

To delete cookies in Microsoft Internet Explorer, select the "General" tab under Internet Options. Go to Temporary Internet Files and find the option "Delete Cookies." Click on "Delete Cookies" to clear all cookies in IE, then "OK".

A Cookie is also referred to as a: computer cookie, electronic cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie, tracking cookie, web cookie, or as an HTTP cookie. See also: Cache.