[thelist] selective cookie acceptance

Aylard JA (James) jaylard at equilon.com
Tue Jul 11 17:43:02 CDT 2000


Steve Maxey wrote:
> >Is it possible to set up one's browser to allow (or 
> dissallow) cookies
> >based on domain name or referrer/source?  I assume that, if 
> so, it will
> >require an add-on to existing browsers?
...
> On Windows, you need shareware.

	Actually, IE5 for Windows allows you to selectively block cookies
based on source domain, although perhaps not with the granularity of some
other platforms or shareware apps. To do this, you need to change your
cookie settings for IE5's "Internet" zone so that you are prompted to accept
them. Then when you are prompted to accept a cookie, you can copy the url
from the cookie-prompt dialog, open IE's security settings, then add the url
to IE's "Restricted" zone. By default, the browser will reject all cookies
from sites that are in the Restricted zone. After a bit of browsing, you
will likely have added most of the worst cookie offenders to your restricted
list so that you will never be prompted for them again; and, as you allow
cookies from acceptable sources, you will no longer be prompted to accept
them, either.
	One suggestion: if you are prompted to accept a cookie from a url
that includes a subdomain (e.g., server1.adsgalore.com), shorten the url so
that only domain name and TLD extension are added to your restricted list
(e.g., adsgalore.com). That way, you won't be prompted for cookies from
server2.adsgalore.com, etc.

James Aylard
jaylard at equilon.com




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