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How to purge your cookies

December 16, 2009


Ready or not, it's cookie season once again.

I'm talking about the little bits of tracking software that Web sites deposit on your computer.

People used to pout and cry about these digital cookies and their privacy risks, but nobody seems to pay much attention anymore.

One reason is the convenience of cookies can outweigh the discomfort for some people. Sites use cookies to store logins, for instance, so you don't have to enter passwords when you return,

There's no need to panic over cookies again, but it might be time to review what's happening now that Google and other giants are changing the way they deliver ads and services online.

We're entering an era where they know even more about our location, history and preferences, and profiling technology is extending from computers to phones, televisions, game consoles and set-top boxes.

If you're not quite ready for these "personalized" services, here are a few tips to get rid of unwanted cookies delivered by the jolly elves in Silicon Valley .

Remember, they're making a list and checking it twice, they're gonna find out whose naughty or nice.

—Cookie monster Google quietly rolled out a major change to its core search service two weeks ago and began personalizing search results for everyone, even if you're not logged into a Google account.

It means Google is using information from cookies to tailor your search results, so that the top entries may not result purely from algorithms ranking the most universally popular sites. Rather, they may be based in part on what Google knows about your last six months of searches.

As search expert Danny Sullivan pointed out on SearchEngineLand.com, this was a huge enough shift that Google should have given people the choice to opt in to this personalized search.

Instead Google just started doing it, although it's not hard to get rid of this fruitcake if it's not to your liking.

The simplest way is to click the "Web history" link that appears in the upper right corner of the search result page. You'll get the option to enable or disable customized search results.

You can also delete cookies that Google and others store in your browser.

If you log in to Google to use its services, you can change your personal Web history settings, although people who log in or use Google's phone software probably aren't overly worried about its cookies.

—If you watch a Web video or play animated online games, you've probably received a more exotic cookie, delivered by Adobe's Flash software.

Flash cookies can store the same kind of information as browser cookies, but they don't go away when you delete your browser's cookies and history cache. They can be convenient and store information such as your progress in a Flash game, but you've got to trust that the site won't misuse the information.

To get rid of them, you've got to right click your mouse while it's hovering over a Flash video, then click on "settings." This should bring up a control panel. Click on the folder icon to pull up a slider control that lets you decide how much data the hosting site can store on your computer. If you don't want it to leave any cookies, slide it to zero.

You can also modify your computer's Flash settings and purge existing cookies by going to Adobe.com and searching for "Global Storage Settings panel." This gets you to a systemwide control panel, with the slider and a list of cookies on your PC.

—If you're concerned about targeted ads on your mobile phone or TV, take the time to scan the privacy notices that appear in your phone and cable bill. They should provide an option to block them from sharing information they gather with partners, such as ad networks

—Privacy was a big topic for Facebook users last week, after the company rolled out new privacy settings and plans to surface more information about users. After you've entered all sorts of personal information into a social-networking site funded by targeted advertising, semi-anonymous cookies may not be a big concern.

Facebook's holiday gift to users was a new game — an online Rubik's cube.

That's what its new privacy settings seemed like to me. I spent hours twisting and moving them around and couldn't get everything to line up right.

What I wouldn't have given for a plain old cookie.

Happy holidays!

 


McClatchy-Tribune Information Services