Are cookies dangerous?

[Michael Lee]

Hi Warriors,

I'm often scanning my computer using different anti-spyware programs, and they usually detect cookies, which they regard as "threats."

As far as I know, cookies do not pose any threat. But I could be wrong. Are there any cookies that pose a risk?

Thanks,
Michael

[Michael D Price]

Generally, No they are not.

You get the alert in spyware because the sites who dropped the cookies, are known for data mining. I usually delete them as well in the spyware tools, but generally, there not a serious threat. They just store and report data like site hits, browsing history, and are usually used to place you in a browsing niche, so they can deliver more targeted advertising.

[Pat Jackson]

They can be dangerous to your waistline.

[jcaviani]

Cookies are benign text files whose abilities have been greatly exaggerated by....oh my God, say it isn't so..... security companies who seek to scare you into purchasing their products.

While security is a big concern, many of the explanations of these issues tend to gloss over far too much relevant information and are targeted at users emotions rather than their intellect.

[lovesexlaughs]

I have no problem with cookies (the internet kind - the sugar ones are murder on the diet). They are the definitive function of affiliate marketing. It will be murder to affiliate marketers if folks start automatically detecting and deleting cookies. Yes?

[mywebwork]

Many sites use cookies to store your user preferences, for example CNN.com uses one the first time you visit to see if you want to view the US or International version of their site. Sites that "remember your login name" also use cookies to do that.

Some cookies have a very short lifespan and are used to hold session information when you are logged int a site. Disabling cookies would make these sites completely useless.

There are strict security rules applied to cookies, this prevents cookies left by one site from being read from another.

And yes, advertisers use cookies to track some of your habits and get information for their demographics studies. Many people are opposed to this, yet the same people have no problem using a "discount club" type card at their local grocery store - the store gives you a discounted price in return for collecting information regarding your buying habits. They even sell this information to advertisers, essentially the same thing that advertisers do with information collected from tracking cookies.

I personally just ignore cookies and allow them on my computer. There are many greater threats to be concerned about than someone tracking my buying habits, at least to me there are.

Bill

[HeySal]

Even if not dangerous you don't want to save them up - it can slow down your computer.