There are two ways a website can retain user information during a browsing session. The first way is to use the session itself and the second way is to use cookies which are small text files stored on your computer. Many modern browsers discourage the use of cookies due to privacy reasons as cookies sometimes store usernames and even passwords to assist the user while browsing. If a website has a “remember me” or “keep me logged in” checkbox, most probably it will store a cookie on your computer to store your login information. This is why your username and password will be automatically filled in when you browse certain websites. Despite this, cookies are mostly harmless.
Some web browsers or privacy policies will require you to turn on cookies explicitly. There are certain websites and online systems which are cookie based. Therefore if you need to use a cookie based system, you will need to enable cookies on your web browser.
Here’s how to do it for Internet Explorer 8:
Step 1: Open IE8. Navigate to “Internet Options” under the “Tools” menu.
Step 2: Select the “Privacy” tab. By default the privacy level would be set to Medium.
Step 3: Click on the “Advanced” button. You will now see an “Advanced Privacy Settings” box.
Step 4: Tick the “Override automatic cookie handling” checkbox. Then tick the “Always allow session cookies” checkbox. Press OK to save.
Step 5: Now your privacy setting will be set to Custom. Press “Apply” to save the new settings.
You will now be able to use any online system which uses cookies to function.
To reset your privacy settings to the default value, repeat Step 1 and Step 2 and press the “Default” button. This will re-set your privacy setting to the default value.
To clear all the cookies which were stored in your computer during your browsing session follow the steps below.
Step 1: Navigate to “Delete Browsing History” in the “Safety” menu.
Step 2: Select which data you want to delete and press “Delete”.
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