Cookie Monsters
by Linda L. Grubbs and Scott Mendham

Advertisers crave information about how you spend your time on the Internet. They want to know what products you like, where and how much you spend - and how long you visit a particular Web site. If that sounds harmless, then think again. Earlier this year, there was an uproar about the practices of DoubleClick, an Internet advertising firm. At issue is the company's use of consumer information acquired from cookies that were located within banner ads placed on Web sites and future plans to use this information. You should remember that cookies are also used for practical purposes and totally disabling them may prevent access to secure content, shopping sites or pages requiring you to log in (such as banking, share trading or subscription content).

These programs will help you protect your privacy by blocking, tracking and deleting cookies before they can reveal information about you. Many come with additional tools for blocking banner ads, pop up windows and protecting privacy. Evaluate which one works best with your browser by trying out one or all of them.

• Cookie Cruncher
  Cookie Cruncher lets you view and then delete cookie files that have accumulated on your hard drive. This program works with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and AOL.
  
  
• Cookie Crusher 2.5d
  Protect your privacy by rejecting Web site cookies before they hit your hard disk. The program will tell you whether the cookie is used for ad tracking, online shopping, or site tracking.
  
  
• Cookie Pal 1.5
  Control cookie files from all the popular Internet browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, CompuServe, AOL, and others. You decide which cookies to keep and which ones to reject. The program can run on the fly or behind the scenes while you do other things.
  
  
• Cookie Web Kit
  This simple batch file and PIF combination will help you quickly eliminate any cookies, cache files, and even history files from your system, preventing snoops from seeing how and where you spend your time on the Internet.
  
  
• History Kill 2000
  This Internet tool protects your privacy by deleting cached files and cookies while you surf the Web and after your browsing session. This version adds an option for auto-clearing at boot-up, auto-configuration capabilities, and support for Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, and AOL 4.0 and 5.0.
  
  
• NetWatcher 2000
  This utility runs in the background while you're connected to the Internet. If it detects queries for information from your PC, it alerts you and immediately closes the connection. NetWatcher 2000 then logs the date and time and the IP address, port number, and host used by anyone trying to access data on your system.
  
  
• Norton Internet Security 2000
  More than a cookie manager, this program includes Norton Antivirus, a firewall, content monitor and will also strip out banner advertising. Anyone who has used AtGuard from our previous CDs we instantly recognise this Symantec branded version (a detailed review appeared in March 2000 PC World)
  
  
• SurfSecret 2
  Use this Web privacy utility to cover your surfing tracks. SurfSecret periodically deletes temporary Internet files, cache and cookie files, and Web images and text stored on your hard drive.