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The E-Privacy Imperative: Hands in the Cookie Jar - Part 2
By Mark Merkow, CCP, CISSP
April 26, 2002

Following is an excerpt of Chapter 8 from my newest book, The E-Privacy Imperative: Protect Your Customers' Internet Privacy and Ensure Your Company's Survival in the Electronic Age
By: Mark S. Merkow, CCP, CISSP and James Breithaupt
Copyright ® 2002 Mark S. Merkow and James Breithaupt

(Read Part I)

How the Cookie Crumbles?
Given the public outcry over the use of cookies, browser producers such as Netscape and Microsoft are giving users more of a voice in how cookies are used on their computers. Depending upon the browser and the version of the browser that a particular user has installed, he is able to tell his browser that he does not want to accept cookies. Earlier versions of browsers require the user to reject cookies each time a Web site attempts to write to his hard drive (typically browsers numbered below 4.0), but later versions allow the user to set his options to reject cookies once. The basic commands that the user can use to disable (or reactivate) cookies follow:

For Netscape 3.0 users:

• Select the Options menu
• Select Network Preferences, then Protocols
• Under the Show an alert before accepting a cookie check the option button.

For Netscape Communicator 4.0 users:

• Click Edit on the task bar
• Select Preferences
• Click on Advanced
• Select your options to accept all, accept selected, or accept none in the box labeled "Cookies"

For Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 users:

• Select View
• Select Options
• Select Advanced
• Check the box: Warn before accepting cookies.

For Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 users:

• Select View
• Select Internet Options
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security
• Select one of the three options there to regulate your use of cookies

For Internet Explorer 5.0 users:

• Select Tools
• Select Internet Options
• Click the Security tab
• Click Internet
• Select Custom Level
• Scroll down to Cookies and choose one of the two options

Privacy advocacy sites such as Junkbusters.com encourage users to disable cookies unless they absolutely need to use them. They also recommend using their Internet Junkbuster program which sits between the user's browser and the Internet. This service checks outgoing HTTP requests for each resource (including graphics) against a list of URLs of advertisers that the user has pre-selected not to see from the Junkbusters.com Web site. If the Junkbuster program determines that the user does not want to see specific advertising, it will block transmission of the content to the user's browser.

In addition to the Internet Junkbuster, a number of other "anti-cookie" tools are available to the user. Cookie Central, for example, offers a number of tools at their site (www.cookiecentral.com) that assist users in heeding their recommendation against generally accepting cookies including: Cookie Web Kit: Using a simple batch file (.bat), this kit automatically deletes cookie files whenever the user boots up his computer.

• Cookie Pal: A management system that allows the user to automatically accept or reject cookies from selected sites.
• ZDnet Cookie Master 2: Monitors cookie activity on the user's computer, giving the user access to his cookies including the ability to delete cookie files.
• Cookie Crusher 1.5 The Limit Software: Automates the rejection of cookies in Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer by eliminating the need to respond to each cookie alert.
• Luckman's Anonymous Cookie for Internet Privacy^TM: A free utility that enables the user to disable all cookies in his cookie directory or file.
• Buzof: Eliminates cookie warnings by allowing users to close automatically unwanted dialog or message boxes.

The Final Word On Cookies?
Few organizations, including the staunchest privacy advocacy groups, would argue that cookies should be outlawed categorically. They can, when used prudently and with notification, improve the user's experience on the Internet by eliminating repetitive tasks and introducing him to products and services tailored to his needs and interests. However, the user must also be able to choose when and how cookies are used. Advocates of the "opt in" policy feel that cookies should not be allowed at all unless the user requests them. "Opt out" advocates feel that the user needs to be educated on the role cookies play on the Internet, and he should be given the tools to disable cookies, the tools that are being built in to recent versions of the most popular browsers. Either way, education appears to be key to the continued success of electronic commerce on the Internet. Otherwise, a feeling of powerlessness and a feeling of intrusion into their personal lives will deter potential users as well as experienced users of the Internet from "surfing the Web."

Re-printed with permission from the American Management Association, AMACOM Books Purchase this book at Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.com.