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This document explains what cookies are, how they are used, and how you can gain control over the cookies stored on your computer by using the Cookie Manager in &brandFullName;.
A cookie is a file created by an Internet site to store information on your computer, such as your preferences when visiting that site. When you visit a site that uses cookies, the site might ask &brandShortName; to place one or more cookies on your hard drive.
Later, when you return to the site, &brandShortName; sends back the cookies that belong to the site. This allows the site to present you with information customized to fit your needs.
Cookies can also store personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable information is information that can be used to identify or contact you, such as your name, email address, home or work address, or telephone number. However, a web site only has access to the personal information that you provide. For example, a web site cannot determine your email address unless you provide it. Also, a web site cannot gain access to other information on your computer.
When you use the default cookie settings, this activity is invisible to you, and you won't know when a web site is setting a cookie or when &brandShortName; is sending a web site its cookie. However, you can set your cookies &pref.plural; so that you will be asked before a cookie is set.
By default &brandShortName; accepts all cookies. If you want to gain more control over what cookies are stored, follow these instructions:
After this is done, you may decide exactly which cookies should and should not be saved.
There are also other &pref.plural; that affect how cookies are managed by &brandShortName;. They are not needed for the cookie rules to work but are explained anyway:
If you don't want any sites to store cookies on your computer, uncheck this &pref.singular;. Note that some sites may not work properly when cookies are disabled.
If &brandShortName; stores a site's cookie, it will return the cookie only to that particular site. &brandShortName; will not provide one site with cookies set by another. Since a web site can only receive its own cookies, it can learn about your activities while you are at that site but not your activities in general while surfing the Web.
However, sometimes a web site displays content that is hosted on another site. That content can be anything from an image to text or an advertisement. The other web site that hosts also has the ability to store a cookie in &brandShortName;, even though you haven't visited the site directly.
Cookies that are stored by a site other than the one you are visiting are called third-party cookies or foreign cookies. Web sites sometimes use third-party cookies with transparent GIFs, which are special images that help sites count users, track email responses, learn more about how visitors use the site, or customize your browsing experience. (Transparent GIFs are also known as web beacons or web bugs.) When this checkbox is checked, it blocks these foreign cookies from being saved.
Assuming that you've enabled the cookie rules explained above, you'll see a dialog whenever a site tries to save a cookie on your computer:
Use the Cookie Manager to view and remove cookies and manage per-site cookie &pref.plural;. It is accessible through the Cookies tab in the Privacy panel of &pref.singularCaps;.
The Cookie Manager dialog lists all cookies currently stored on your computer, grouped by site. You can expand the sites and select a cookie to display more information about it. You can also search for a site or a cookie name by typing in the search bar. To access the Cookie Manager, click the View Cookies button in cookies &pref.plural;.
To remove a cookie from the list, select it and click Remove Cookie. To remove a site's cookies, select the site and click Remove Cookie(s). To wipe all cookies, click Remove All Cookies. (This is the same as clicking the Clear Cookies Now button from the Cookies tab of the Privacy panel of the &pref.pluralCaps; window.)
This is the list of sites that are either allowed or not allowed to store cookies on your computer. In the Status column, you can see if a site is blocked or allowed. Use the Exceptions button in cookies &pref.plural; to access this window.
To add a site to the this list, simply type the site's domain name in the field labeled Address of web site:. Then click Block to reject cookies from the site, or click Allow to allow cookies from the site.
To remove a site from this list, select it and click Remove Site. To clear the list completely, click Remove All Sites. This will reset the cookie rules and you will see dialogs for each cookie again.
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