A lot of misinformation is floating around out there in cyberspace concerning the security threat of cookies. Truthfully, cookies are benign little nuggets that help make our browsing, shopping, and online research experiences much more convenient.

However, there is a simple way to disable cookies either permanently or temporarily in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in case you feel the need. In order to do so, you will need to make two decisions because there are two types of cookies, first-party and third-party. Read on to learn about first-party and third-party cookies and how to disable them in IE8.

What are Cookies?

Before you disable any cookies in IE8, make sure you understand what cookies are and the security threat, if any, they pose. A cookie is a small text file that contains some pertinent information about you and the website you are viewing.

Most cookies help you keep track of usernames, passwords, and what you have in your shopping cart while shopping online. Cookies are not executable programs and cannot contain or spread viruses.

Some cookies are used to track advertisements that have been displayed in your browser. This is so that you don’t see the same advertisement repeatedly. There are some cookies that keep track of your browsing habits but they do not identify you personally. Still, some people find this to be too intrusive and opt to disable cookies as a good measure.

First and Third-Party Cookies

Put simply, first-party cookies are those cookies that come from the site you have chosen to visit. When you visit Amazon.com and the company puts a cookie on your computer to track your shopping cart, this is a first-party cookie.

Third-party cookies are those that come from another source other than the website you are visiting. The majority of third-party cookies are used by advertising companies to serve up advertisements on the site you are viewing.

Just as a side note: There is no such thing as a second-party cookie. You, as the visitor of a website, are the second party.

How to Disable First and Third-Party Cookies in IE8

To disable cookies in IE8, begin by clicking on Tools and then Internet Options. You should now be looking at the Internet Options window.

Tools Internet Options in IE8

Click on the Privacy tab and then click on the Advanced button under Settings.

Click the Advanced Button on the Privacy Tab

This will open the Advanced Privacy Settings window. Next, click the box next to the option titled Override Automatic Cookies Handling to unlock the first and third-party cookies options

Override Automatic Cookie Handling in IE8

Here, you have a few decisions to make. Notice that each type of cookie has three settings. The first setting titled Accept will accept all cookies from either first or third-party sources. The Block setting will block all cookies.

The third setting is a good balance between accepting all cookies and blocking all cookies. By selecting Prompt, IE8 will notify you every time a website attempts to save either a first or third-party cookie to your computer.

Although this sounds like a nice option, be prepared to do a lot of clicking whenever you visit a website that uses either type of cookie. Also, keep in mind that some websites’ features will not work if you automatically block or choose to block cookies when prompted.

You may have noticed another option on the Advanced Privacy Settings window. You have the option to Always Allow Session Cookies. Session cookies are often used by a website to keep track of your immediate, but not long-term, website experience.

Some shopping carts use session cookies that are discarded once you leave the site. If you find that some website features are not working as expected, consider allowing session cookies to make those features work again.