Viruses used to be the major concern when using the internet. While this is
still a problem, it has lessened over the years with anti-virus software and
businesses reworking their software to make them less susceptible to virus
attack.
However, there are still many types of software which can get onto your
computer and hamper your computer’s performance, particularly online. These
software programs are called ad-ware and spyware, and they are used by
businesses to gather marketing information on you.
Tracking Cookies
One information tracking tool that is not exactly software is the tracking
cookie. Cookies are little bits of information about your computer that a
server gathers when you log onto their web site. This little piece of
information is then stored on your computer so that when you log back onto that
web site, the server needs to merely pick up the cookie rather than look for
the information all over again.
Often times cookies are put onto your computer that are used to track your
internet surfing habits. Then, when you log back onto the web site from which
you received the cookie, they are able to load quite a bit of information on
you that they will use for marketing.
Cookies for the most part are harmless, but there are problems with the idea
of people using your information for their own gain, when you have no idea they
are even doing it.
The best way to deal with these sorts of cookies is to delete them. Because
there are a number of sites which require you to use cookies in order to simply
log on, it isn’t possible to simply set your computer to not accept cookies,
like it was just a few years ago. However, that doesn’t mean you have to keep
the tracking cookies on your computer. If you use an anti-spyware program, they
will often scan for and delete these tracking cookies themselves.