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112 McAfee Internet Security 5.0
Conversely, cookies can record “what you did” on a particular Web site.
For example, you visit one of the major search engine’s Web site and
shop for an automobile. You revisit the same Web site a few days later
and shop for an automobile again. The following week, you turn on your
computer and go directly the same Web site. This time you’re looking for
the local weather forecast. As the page loads into memory, there are ads
for autos all over the screen. The cookie retained information about your
past actions at their Web site. The Web page displayed information
based upon what was stored in the cookies.
To maintain privacy on the Internet, filter cookies. This allows you to
select only those cookies that are truly good cookies. Additionally, you
should delete unwanted cookies as you complete an Internet session, to
remove the footprints resulting from your travels in the digital highway.
n Block Web bugs.
Web bugs are very small graphic files, usually 1 pixel by 1 pixel in size
(hence the term "bug" or invisible) that send messages to third parties
about your Internet browsing habits. Third parties use this information
to create user profiles. Web bugs have been known to capture the date
and time the Web bug was accessed, the browser version used and even
the IP address of the computer that received the Web bug.
To maintain your privacy against Web bugs, always block Web bugs.
n Protect your identity.
It you want to make a purchase online, do not provide personal
information (name, address, credit card numbers) unless the Web Site
uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. You can recognize secured
sites if the Web site's URL begins with https://.
It is also makes for good practice to use software that monitors your
Internet connection and warns you if there is an attempt to transmit
personal information over the Internet. This type of software requires
that you create a database of information about you and the other users
of the computer; thus establishing a record of that which should not be
transmitted via the Internet.
Remove records of where browsed the Internet from your computer. As
you browse the Internet, your browser stores files in a repository called
Temporary Internet or "cache" files. Basically, as you revisit a Web site or
click your browser's Back button, rather than download all of the
graphics displayed on the Web page, your browser reloads the cached
files. In a location on your hard disk labeled History, your browser
records all of the URLs visited as well s the URLs that you typed into
your browser's address bar. All of these records reveal information
about where you’ve been on the Internet.