Should I have cookies turned on or off in my web browser?

Answer: Cookies are little preference files that web sites store on your computer. Many web sites such as Yahoo and Excite use them extensively. Cookies allow you to personalize the web pages you visit, which can save you a lot of time since you don't have to re-enter information every time you visit the site.

A lot of people seem to get worried that cookies store personal information in an unsafe way. Though cookies used to be relatively non-secure, they have been much improved. In fact, the only way that the cookies on your computer can be viewed is by the web server that sent you the cookies.

Because so many web sites rely on cookies, I'd recommend leaving cookies turned on in your browser. They aren't a major security risk and they can make your web browsing much more efficient. You can change your cookie settings in your browser preferences under the "receiving files" heading. The default setting is usually "accept all cookies," which is what I would reccomend.

Published: March 22, 2000 — by Per Christensson