When you communicate over the Web,
you want to know that other people cannot intercept or
decipher the information that you send and receive and
cannot use your passwords and other private information.
You want to ensure that Web sites do not share your
personal information without your consent. You also want
to ensure that no one can access information on your
computer without your knowledge.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
helps protect your privacy on the Web by giving you more
control over cookies and more information on a Web site’s
privacy policy.
A cookie is a small text file
created by a Web site and stored on your computer so that
next time you visit, the site can automatically access
information about you, such as your browsing preferences,
or your name, address, and phone number. There are several
types of cookies, and with Internet Explorer 6 you can
choose whether to allow some, none, or all of them on your
computer.
A Web site's privacy policy tells
you what kind of information the site collects, to whom it
gives that information, and how it uses the information.
Many Web sites provide a privacy statement or a Platform
for Privacy Preferences (P3P) policy that you can view
with Internet Explorer 6.
With Internet Explorer 6, you can
configure privacy options based on privacy level in the Internet
Options dialog box. Using the Privacy, Content,
and Advanced tabs in the Internet Options
dialog box, you can do the following:
- Configure privacy preferences.
By specifying setting for cookie handling, or
importing custom privacy settings.
- Configuring privacy settings
for the Internet Zone. Your privacy settings only
affect Web sites in the Internet zone, one of the four
security zones in Internet Explorer. The Internet zone
by default contains anything that is not on your
computer or an intranet.
- Configure Profile Assistant.
You can use Profile Assistant to store or update your
user profile, which contains the information you want
to share with Web sites
- Configure advanced security
options for user privacy. You can configure a variety
of advanced security options for users' privacy in
Internet Explorer
Configuring Privacy Preferences
On the Privacy tab, you can
perform the following tasks:
- Set your privacy level for the
Internet zone.
- Import custom privacy settings.
- Customize your privacy settings
for cookie handling (if you want to specify settings
for cookie handling other than the settings defined
for Internet Explorer privacy levels).
- Customize your privacy settings
for individual Web sites.
To set your privacy level for the
Internet zone
- On the Tools menu, click
Internet Options, and then click the Privacy
tab.
- Under Settings, move the
slider to the privacy level you want:
| Block
All Cookies. |
Internet
Explorer prevents all Web sites from storing
cookies on your computer, and Web sites cannot
read existing cookies on your computer. |
| High. |
Internet
Explorer prevents Web sites from storing cookies
that do not have a compact privacy policy—a
condensed computer-readable privacy statement. The
browser also prevents Web sites from storing
cookies that use personally identifiable
information without your explicit consent. |
| Medium
High. |
Internet
Explorer prevents Web sites from storing
third-party cookies that do not have a compact
privacy policy or that use personally identifiable
information without your explicit consent. The
browser also prevents Web sites from storing
first-party cookies that use personally
identifiable information without your implicit
consent. |
| Medium. |
Internet
Explorer prevents Web sites from storing
third-party cookies that do not have a compact
privacy policy or that use personally identifiable
information without your implicit consent. The
browser allows first-party cookies that use
personally identifiable information without your
implicit consent but deletes these cookies from
your computer when you close the browser. |
| Low. |
Internet
Explorer allows Web sites to store cookies on your
computer, including third-party cookies that do
not have a compact privacy policy or that use
personally identifiable information without your
implicit consent. When you close the browser,
though, it deletes these third-party cookies from
your computer. |
| Accept
All Cookies. |
Internet
Explorer allows all Web sites to store cookies on
your computer, and Web sites that create cookies
on your computer can read them. |
NOTE If you decide to select a
privacy level that does not allow cookies to be saved on
your computer, you may not be able to view certain Web
sites.
When you change your privacy
level, it may not affect the cookies that Web sites have
already stored on your computer. If you want to ensure
that all cookies on your computer meet your selected
privacy level, delete all of the existing cookies on your
computer.
To import custom privacy settings
- On the Tools menu, click
Internet Options, and then click the Privacy
tab.
- Click Import.
- Locate the file that contains
the custom privacy settings, and then click Open.
The file must be located on your
computer. You can download files that contain custom
privacy settings from privacy organizations and other Web
sites on the Internet.
To customize your privacy
settings for cookie handling
- On the Tools menu, click
Internet Options, and then click the Privacy
tab.
- Click Advanced.
- Click Override automatic
cookie handling, and then for first-party and
third-party cookies, click Accept, Block,
or Prompt.
To customize your privacy
settings for individual Web sites
- On the Tools menu, click
Internet Options, and then click the Privacy
tab.
- Click Edit.
- In the Address of Web
site box, type the complete address of the Web site
for which you want to specify custom privacy settings.
- If you want Internet Explorer
to always allow cookies from the specified Web site to
be saved on your computer, click Allow.
-Or-
If you want Internet Explorer to never allow cookies
from the specified Web site to be saved on your
computer, click Block.
The Managed Web sites list shows all of the Web
sites for which you have specified custom privacy
settings.
- If you want to delete custom
privacy settings for a specific Web site, highlight
the site on the Managed Web sites list, and
then click Remove.
-Or-
If you want to delete custom privacy settings for all
the Web sites on the Managed Web sites list,
click Remove All.
NOTE When you remove a Web site
from the Managed Web sites list, your privacy
settings for all Web sites without custom privacy settings
will apply to that site.
Configuring Profile Assistant
You can use Profile Assistant to
store or update your user profile, which contains the
information you want to share with Web sites. Other
Internet programs, including Microsoft NetMeeting® and
Microsoft Outlook® Express, also use Profile Assistant.
To create or update a user
profile
- On the Tools menu, click
Internet Options, and then click the Content
tab.
- Click My Profile.
- If you are creating a new user
profile, in the Address Book - Choose Profile dialog
box, click Create a new entry in the Address Book
to represent your profile, and then click OK.
- In the appropriate boxes on the
Name, Home, Business, Personal,
and Other tabs, type the personal information
you want to share.
Configuring Advanced Security
Options for Users' Privacy
You can configure a variety of
security options for users' privacy in Internet Explorer.
To configure advanced security
options for users' privacy
- On the Tools menu, click
Internet Options, and then click the Advanced
tab.
- In the Security area, review
the selected options.
- Depending on your needs, select
or clear the Security check boxes. For example, if you
want to enable Profile Assistant, select the Enable
Profile Assistant check box.
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