What are cookies? Should I allow my anti-spyware program to delete them?

Question: What are internet cookies and should I allow my anti-spyware program to delete them?

Answer: Cookies are used by web sites to differentiate users and to maintain data related to the user during navigation, possibly across multiple visits. HTTP cookies were introduced to provide a way for creating a personal “shopping cart”, a virtual device into which the user can “place” items to purchase, so that users can navigate a site where items are shown, adding or removing items from the shopping basket at any time.Several websites also use cookies for personalization based on users’ preferences. Sites that require authentication often use this feature, although it is also present on sites not requiring authentication. Personalization includes presentation and functionality. For example, the Google search engine allows users to decide how many search results per page they want to see. Cookies are not harmful and if your anti-spyware program finds cookies when performing it’s scan, you do not need to delete them. The only harm that will be done is any shopping carts will be emptied and your settings for individual web pages may have to be set again.

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