|
TEXT K
First read the following questions.
39. What are "Cookies" in the following passage?
A.Computer data.
B.Shopping habits.
C.Websites.
D.Passwords.
40. How many pieces of advice are offered by the author to protect online shoppers privacy?
A.1
B.2
C.3
D.4
Now go through TEXT K quickly and answer the questions.
We all enjoy a little extra-special every now and then, whether it's a prime table at our favourite restaurant or an upgrade on that long flight across the Pacific. Being recognized makes us feel valued-and we re more likely to do business with someone who takes the time to go that extra mile. E-commerce sites know this, and they re doing everything they can to create personalized environments so we'll want to spend money online. How? By employing cookies.
Cookies are bits of data stored on your computer s hard drive when you visit a website. They can only be read by the site that sets them. Companies use them to store information about you and to track your behaviour on a particular website and, of course, your shopping habits.
Cookies help companies personalize their websites. This is how an online bookstore knows you're you, or how a news website knows to show you headlines from your hometown. Retailers use cookies to promote products they think you might like or to target ads that you might find appealing. Cookies also record user IDs and passwords so you don't have to log in each time you visit a site.
Cookies, however, have a darker side too, and all kinds of privacy issues lurk at every bend. On their own, cookies are generally harmless, if mildly intrusive. One potential problem, though, crops up when you enter personal information on a survey. This can be easily linked up with cookies about your surfing habit and the website knows pretty much everything there is to know about you. Often this information is used simply to show you an advertisement for a product you might want to buy. But privacy advocates worry that this information could be misused.
Here's what you can do as an online shopper to protect your privacy:
Accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server. But Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Communicator offer this option.
Shop only with sites that post online privacy policies.
Be careful about what sort of information you give out in surveys.
Set up a secondary profile using an anonymous e-mail account and bogus ID. It s clandestine, but you'll surf with greater anonymity. Of course, when you actually want to buy something you'll have to give out your real name and address.
相关资料
| 
