Sowbug, you oversimplify a bit I think. There are things that
even "responsible" sites can do with cookies that many people,
I among them, don't want them doing, such as compiling a
list of books I've browsed at Amazon.com. These innocuous
sounding things can be, and have been, misused many times
in history.
Yes, certain kinds of server transactions are practically
impossible without context from the user, and yes cookies
can definitely be used innocuously just to complete a
transaction and then be forgotten, but they can be used
in many many other ways as well, most of which I'd rather
not have happen.
A few sites that I visit routinely demand cookies and fail
to provide access even though the cookie isn't required.
Microsoft is the most glaring. That site demands to set
a cookie just to look at the published knowledge base.
There is absolutely no way context is required for those
transactions--they just want a dossier on you. They
even admit it in their "you have to set a cookie" blurb,
though of course they make it sound like a technical
necessity. I don't trust these guys as far as I can
throw a Volkswagon.
I routinely refuse all cookies unless I have to allow one
to gain access to a site. Every now and then, I have
to allow one. Occasionally I erase all of my cookies.
I don't recommend this to everyone, but once your privacy
is compromised, you have great difficulty getting it back.
There is also "Cookie cutter" software available that allows
you to specify which sites you'll accept cookies from and
reject others automatically. I have not used it myself,
mostly due to lack of time to experiment.
A final caution. Cookies are plain-text files that reside
in well-known locations. Browse through the cookies on
your hard disk with a text editor and you will find many
of them are amazingly easy to interpret and would be
even easier if you were a hacker after a certain body of
knowledge. Say you wanted my reading lists, and had
figured out the Amazon.com cookie formats somehow (how
much would it be worth to an Amazon web programmer?).
You could put a download on your website which, if I
download it and execute it, collects my info and transmits
it to you next time I browse your site. It could even
write it into YOUR cookie for you to retrieve at leisure.
(Microsoft tried a version of this in the original Win 95
product registration, you may recall.)
Sorry, this has gone on too long. But for my part, I
refuse cookies as a matter of policy.
Regards,
Spots |
