Just a little FYI:
There has been a lot of debate as to what parameters make
up a tracking cookie. Since there is no single consensus
as to what defines a tracking cookie, every anti-spyware
program defines tracking cookies differently. And some
of these definitions are made arbitrarily, without much
input from the end-user. This is bad for everyone
involved, as there are differing views as what a tracking
cookie is amongst end-users. Microsoft has said that
they are going to decide what course of action they will
take depending upon the reponses they recieve (in the
newsgroup) during the beta testing period. This will
allow them to address this issue in a manner that will
appeal to most users, which is different than what many
other software companies operate (i.e. they (other
companies) make a program that we (end-users) either
like, or we hate, with little ground inbetween). Now
onto other matters pertaining to "tracking cookies."
First of all, most tracking cookies are third-party in
origin. A third-party cookie is from a differnt host
domain than the host domain of the web page you are
currently viewing. Many of these types of cookies are
from advertisers.
The main thing to be concerned about isn't if it's
a "tracking cookie," it's to be concerned if it uses
personally identifiable information. Since we are mainly
concerned with our privacy and security, the cookies
(both first-party and third-party) that really need to be
dealt with are of this type. You can block these in IE 6
by going to Tools > Internet Options... and click on the
Privacy tab, and set the level to Medium High, or
higher. BE WARNED, setting the level TOO HIGH can result
in some web pages NOT working at all.
The problem that I have with the way some programs
approach tracking cookies, and cookies in general, is to
deal with all of them the same. This is totally the
wrong approach, as many cookie only contain preference
settings, and deleting these have caused many naive users
the curse the web designer who created the web site, or
their computer for "not remembering" their preferences.
Since this program is designed to be distributed to the
mases, a different approach to cookies is indeed
warrented. The reason for this is that Microsoft is
trying to redesign this program to be aimed towards all
users, not just the experienced users that most other
programs of this type were designed towards.
So basically, the point is, most tracking cookies ARE NOT
spyware. Spyware, as the name implies, are programs, not
data files. Most spyware is written to obtain personal
information, damage your system, gain control of your
system and use it to do what the program writers wants it
to do, or any combination of the above points.
Alan
