Yeah, It Sounds Great -- But Does It Have A Good Privacy Policy And Is It Easy To Surf, Too?

Liz Thompson — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:53:14 -0600

You've just started your lunch break and decide to take a few minutes to check on the cost of that vacuum cleaner you've been eyeing, and -- Oh, snap...now you can get the same model "reconditioned" at much less than regular cost! -- you may have unknowingly jeopardized your Internet safety with something that is commonly used surfing the web and can appear on your computer as deceivingly delicious as "a cookie."

Curse you aqua scum...what's a consumer to do!?!

The National Consumer's League has a wonderful website offering consumer guides to issues such as health, fraud, finances, safety & nutrition and worker's rights.

The Consumer Guide to Internet Safety, Privacy and Security explains "cookies" simply:

Cookies identify the computer, not the person using it. But information that you provide about yourself to a Web site may be linked to the cookie that is placed on your computer.

Some Web sites use cookies to identify visitors instead of requiring them to enter their passwords every time they visit. It may be necessary to accept cookies from certain sites if you want to access them.

Be aware that cookies might be used not only by Web sites themselves, but by advertisers on those sites.

To check for cookie files that have been deposited on your computer, look for a file on your hard drive labeled "cookies.txt" or go to the directory\windows\cookies. You can delete these files from your hard drive if you wish.

Another way to protect ourselves -- the saavy consumers that we BlogHers are (grin) -- is to check out the website's "privacy policy."

Actually, the inspiration for this post came while engaging in my new obsession for finding bargains on the Internet, and I came across Finding More Stuff 4 Less Bargain Blog! -- Oh, snap...there's that nonstick 12-Inch covered omelet pan I've been hungry for...and it's only $26.99 Shipped! -- and then I clicked on their privacy policy:

For each visitor to our Web page, our Web server automatically recognizes no information regarding the domain or e-mail address.

We collect no information on consumers who browse our Web page.

With respect to cookies: We do not set any cookies that collect any personal information. We do however have links and banners on our website from third parties that set cookies. These cookies are used to track page views of products and to allow coupon usage on these third party sites. To see the information collected by these third parties we suggest reading the privacy policy of any site you visit by clicking through a link provided by our site.

Woop...there it is...plain and simple...in black and white...this website's got a good privacy policy...and is easy to surf, too!

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Yeah, It Sounds Great -- But Does It Have A Good Privacy Policy And Is It Easy To Surf, Too?