Many people turn off the ability to accept cookies to protect their privacy. Some worry about viruses.

But, cookies, in and of themselves, are harmless. What's controversial is how some people use them. Some ad agencies use cookies to track users as they surf the web. Here are some common questions and answers about cookies to help you control the cookies on your computer.

What exactly are Internet cookies? Cookies are small text files that a web server may place on your computer when you view some sites (not all web sites set cookies). They are used to store information so that the server doesn't have to repeatedly ask for the same information again and again. A cookie file is NOT a secret way for a web server to find out everything about you and what you have on your hard drive.

When you shop online and add items to your "shopping cart'', a list of the items you choose is stored by your browser so that you can pay for all of the items at once when you're finished shopping.

It's much more efficient for each browser to keep track of information like this than to expect the web server to have to remember who bought what, especially if there are thousands of people using the web server at a time. If you use web-based email (for example, from Yahoo), a cookie keeps track of your read messages and un-read messages. Have you ever signed up for membership and the next time you visited the site, there was a message on the page that said, "Welcome Back Your Name?'' That is made possible by a cookie placed on your hard drive.

Ad companies use cookies to display different ads while you surf. If you have seen an ad for a new car three times and haven't clicked on it, chances are that you won't click on it the fourth time either. A cookie can track how many times you've seen a particular ad and measure its effectiveness.

Cookies can also be used to gather information about web surfing habits. The advertising company doesn't know who you are or where you live or anything like that, but every time you accept a cookie from them, you tell them a little bit about where your computer has surfed that day. If you go to web pages about health food, they can use that information to display banner ads about health food to your computer.

Are cookies dangerous -- could they carry a virus? No. Cookies are not dangerous. Cookies are simple text files and cannot hurt your computer since text files cannot start programs. Nor can they be used to view data on your hard disk, or capture other information from your computer.

Only the web server that set the cookie can access it data. This makes it impossible for one web server to snoop around in cookies set by other servers.

Then why all of the recent hysteria about cookies? Ad companies attach cookies to banner ads. Although the site that carries the ad can't track your progress through the web, the ad company that serves the ads can.

Tracking your web surfing isn't necessarily a bad thing. Tracking data can be used to make recommendations to users, a feature many users appreciate. For example, one of Amazon.com's most popular features is the recommendations it makes for new merchandise based on your past viewing and purchase history.

The recent cookie controversy in February 2000 stems primarily from the ad agency DoubleClick's efforts to identify web users by analysing the IDs placed on banner ads, and connecting this information with records in an offline catalogue sales database it owns.

Privacy advocates maintain that DoubleClick's methods compromise web users' right to anonymity. They are alarmed that DoubleClick collects and processes this information without permission from users. DoubleClick maintains that it is doing nothing illegal or unethical, but DoubleClick has responded to these concerns by allowing users to "opt out'' its of data collection procedures.

According to DoubleClick, opting out may cause you to see a particular ad more frequently, or see ads that you are not interested in.

Here's how to "opt out'' of the DoubleClick data collection procedures: 1. Go to DoubleClick's Web site: www.doubleclick.com 2. In the lower right corner of the page, in the Quick Nav section, click the Opt Out link.

3. Scroll down and click on the Opt Out Click Here button.

Should I disable cookies on my computer? Probably not. If you like sites that provide personalised content, you won't be able to see much of it if you disable cookies. Sites that provide valuable content may require you to use cookies.

The information they gather from you is their "fee'' for providing you information at little or no cost.

Jim Williams, a network professional and Webmaster with over 10 years of extensive experience in the network security field says, "In terms of security, cookies are the least that you have to worry about.'' How do I manage Cookies You can manage your cookies and even choose not to accept them.

If you choose to turn off cookies, you will not be able to personalise many sites.

You can put a "partial ban'' on cookies by setting your browser to warn you whenever a cookie is about to be sent, so you can accept or reject cookies on a case-by-case basis. But so many sites use cookies that a partial ban may force you to spend more time accepting or rejecting cookies than actually surfing the web.

Netscape 4.0 Users: 1. From the Edit menu select Preferences.

2. Click on Advanced.

3. Choose the options you want.

Netscape offers one more option than Internet Explorer, "Accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server''. This ensures that only the site that you are currently visiting will get the cookie data, and not some ad agency.

Internet Explorer 5.0 Users: 1. From the Tools menu select Internet Options.

2. Click on the Security tab.

3. Click the Custom Level button.

4. Scroll down to the cookies section.

5. In the "Control Browser Cookies in Internet Explorer'' section, choose Disable, Enable, or Prompt.

If you delete your cookies.txt file every once in a while or don't accept cookies from external servers, no cookie data can be gathered. Remember that ad agencies use separate web servers, so if you only accept cookies from the web site you are on, you still can use e-commerce on a site without giving away information about your surfing habits.

Cookies were designed to make life easier for web users. You can accept cookies for their benefits, or reject them for their potential privacy violations.

This colum appears the first and third Wednesday of every month in the Gazette's Personal Technology section. Michelle works on the Internet help desk at Logic and can be contacted at michelle y logic.bm or michelle ychristers.net