Posted by S.W. on May 26, 1999 at 08:42:00:
In Reply to: Repeat Cookie Contest announcement posted by drcello on May 24, 1999 at 13:47:36:
Cookies are a fact of life on the internet. If you can't deal with it, then you can't really do any unbridled surfing. Did you know that department stores use their survailance to watch what people touch, look at and buy. Credit card companies sell lots of information about buying patterns. How do you think you get so much targeted junk mail. How do you suppose my household gets catalogs with reading accouterments, but somehow we never get any junk mail or catalogs selling fishing tackle. Gee, I wonder how they knew. Do you think maybe it's because we have a lot of charges at Barnes and Noble (we're not on any B & N mailing list and get no mail from them)? Information on our buying patterns and where we go and what we do and what we eat, is out there to be purchased, only we just aren't aware of it. Cookies are obvious because we can actually see that some outside force has reached into our computer and placed something there. Like it or not, much of the same info on us is available from many sources. Another example--NYC is on an island, and of course there's also Long Island. One can't go anywhere without paying tolls on bridges or tunnels. Now they have a cool device that attaches to your windshield. With that device you can go right through special toll lanes without stopping and your credit card is charged. In fact, it works at most every toll booth throughout New York State. Each month we get a statement that gives us a record of our charges. Now someone knows when we leave Long Island, enter Manhattan, travel upstate on the Throughway, etc--including times and toll booth locations. If you think that cookies are giving companies info about you that they can't get anywhere else, think again. Ever buy anything at Price Club/Costco or Sam's? We have to produce our membership card to buy anything. Guess what? They keep a record of everything you buy. These days we are leaving our electronic trails everywhere. If you are concerned about cookies, you had well be concerned (in some cases more concerned) about other ways information is taken about you and given to some other source without your knowledge.