Good cookies vs. bad cookies?

Could someone tell me how to retain the cookies that I like -- i.e., those that contain my passwords and login names for the NY Times and other sites I frequently visit -- while getting rid of cookies that have no value to me and may, in fact, threaten my privacy?

Is there a setting in IE that will restrict my cookie "intake" to only those that contain login or password information?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

Thanks, Steve. I just ran ad-aware and it found 83 "critical objects" which I deleted. I'm assuming (pollyanna that I sometimes am) that it truly was safe to delete those "critical objects" (but I created a restore point just in case).

Meanwhile, my IE setting allows all cookies. Is that correct?

 

dkline--

No, IE has no way of knowing which cookies contain that info.
However, a couple of things you can do to minimize the number of cookies you get, especially third party cookies (which are cookies other than those from the pages you think are visiting). Third Party cookies are the source of most of the bad cookies unless you visit some very unsavory sites.
1) In IE click Tools|Internet Options|Privacy tab. There set the slider to High or Medium High. Or click Advanced and fill the boxes to accept First Party cookies and Block Third Party cookies.
2) You might also find this program useful
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/programs.asp?Program=Cookie Jar
It will show you all the cookies you have acquired since the last time you used Cookie Jar and allow you to selectively remove those (from the Undecided Cookie Jar) you do not want.
P.S. AdAware tells you when it finds a "Tracking Cookie" as opposed to other spyware. Also AdAware keeps items in Quarantine until you Delete them. So you can run for a day or two to see if there are any bad results from having quarantined something. If so, you can restore from Quarantine.

 

Hey thanks, Jim.

So you're saying that the NY Times et. al. login info are "first party" cookies and that generally speaking "third party" cookies are the ones I don't want?

Is there any downside to blocking all third party cookies?

And are "tracking cookies" by definition good ones -- i.e., ones I want?

 

dkline--

Correct. They are from sites that the first party site surreptitiously redirects you to. Usually advertisement sites, but could be worse.

I cannot think of any, unless a first party site requires you to accept third party cookies in order to view it. But I suspect I would not want to visit such a site anyway.

Usually not. A tracking cookie calls "Home" and reports on your surfing ,etc. It is the rare tracking cookie that is beneficial. Although AdAware will usually tell you the source, I find that a tracking cookie, even from a "good" site, is in addition to the cookies(s) that site will deposit with password, etc. info. I delete all tracking cookies.
However, some people just ignore all cookies, and live to tell about it.
Just makes me feel good to be rid of baddies, even when they are not too bad.

 

Thanks again, Jim. You've given me a perfect primer on cookies. Exactly what I needed to know.

 

dkline--You are welcome!!