Help Safeguard Your Privacy on the Web
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On This Page
 | What's a Cookie? |
| Tell Internet Explorer 6 How to Manage Cookies |
| Delete Cookies |
| Review a Web Site's Privacy Policy |
You probably already know that Web sites can collect information about your Web browsing habits through the use of cookies. Internet Explorer 6 helps protect your privacy by giving you the means to find out what Web sites do with that information and what kind of cookies Internet Explorer 6 can accept without your explicit consent.
Internet Explorer 6 can help you protect your privacy in a few ways:
| • | Manage cookies. Find out what cookies are and how you can use the Internet Explorer 6 privacy settings to control what cookies Web sites may place on your computer without your consent. |
| • | Review a Web site's privacy policy. Find out what a privacy policy is and how you can use it to help protect your privacy online. |
What's a Cookie?
No, not that kind. These are virtual cookies—small text files that Web sites can create on your computer to store information gathered about your visit to the site including, where you went, what you did, and any personal information you gave. Web sites may also allow other Web sites (their advertisers, for example) to put cookies, known as third-party cookies, on your computer.
Cookies are a necessary part of using the Web. Web sites use the information in cookies to deliver personalized content (local news and weather, hot sales, and so on), to complete transactions (for online banking or shopping, for example), and to gather demographic data. However, a Web site only has access to personal information that you provide; otherwise, it only records the steps you've taken on the site, so you remain anonymous.
Tell Internet Explorer 6 How to Manage Cookies
Internet Explorer 6 gives you a range of options for managing cookies—from accepting every cookie that comes your way to blocking all cookies (which could make using the Web a bit difficult).
Internet Explorer 6 sets a medium level of privacy when you first install it. This privacy setting allows the use of cookies with some restrictions—for example, it blocks certain third-party cookies. But Internet Explorer 6 puts you in the driver's seat so you can further restrict the use of cookies or direct Internet Explorer 6 to be more liberal in the kinds of cookies it accepts.
Your privacy settings only affect Web sites in the Internet zone, the security zone where Internet Explorer 6 places all Web sites (until you determine otherwise). Read about security zones and settings.
1. | On the Internet Explorer 6 Tools menu, click Internet Options. |
2. | Click the Privacy tab, and drag the slider up for a higher level of privacy (and more restrictions on cookies) or down for a lower level.  Internet Options box |
Be careful! If you choose to block all cookies, you may not be able to take advantage of features that personalize a site for you or even visit some Web sites at all.
Delete Cookies
If you believe a Web site has placed a cookie on your computer that you don't want, you can delete it. When you change how Internet Explorer 6 handles cookies, the new privacy settings might not apply to cookies that are already on your computer. To make sure that all the cookies meet your new settings, you can delete all the existing cookies.
1. | On the Internet Explorer 6 Tools menu, click Internet Options. |
2. | On the General tab, click the Settings button, and then click the View files button. |
3. | In the window (to your hard disk drive) that opens, find the cookie you want to delete. |
4. | Click to select the cookie you want to delete. |
5. | Press the Delete key. |
6. | When you are finished, click OK twice. |
Be careful! Some Web sites store your member name, password, or other personal information in a cookie, so if you delete that cookie, you may need to re-enter this information the next time you visit the site.
Review a Web Site's Privacy Policy
A Web site's privacy policy tells you what kind of information the Web site collects, to whom it gives that information, and how it uses the information. The privacy policies of many Web sites conform to the standards set by the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P). A compact privacy policy refers to one that complies with P3P standards.
If a Web site has a P3P policy, Internet Explorer 6 can display a summary of the policy for you to review. It can also compare the Web site's privacy policy with your privacy settings (which tell Internet Explorer 6 how to handle cookies). Based on its comparison, Internet Explorer 6 can decide whether or not to allow the Web site to block cookies coming from sites with privacy policies that do not match your privacy settings.
Note: When Internet Explorer 6 displays a Web site's privacy policy, it has no way to verify that the Web site complies with its own privacy policy.
1. | On the Internet Explorer 6 View menu, click Privacy Report. |
2. | In the Privacy Report box, click the Web site whose privacy policy you want to review, and then click the Summary button.  Privacy Report box |
3. | In the Privacy Policy box, browse through the summary of the Web site's policy.  Privacy Policy box |
4. | If you want, you can tell Internet Explorer 6 how to handle cookies from the selected Web site. |
5. | When you've finished, click OK, and then click Close. |