File Not Found: I Clean the Body Electric

By Douglas McDaniel

Terabytes of e-mail with technical questions arrive daily at Access Internet Magazine . But one of the more memorable queries seems to be a true indicator of the moral complexities the Internet creates for some married couples.

As one woman wrote in:.

"I'm having a slight problem with learning how to get into ‘cookies.' I have caught my husband going into the cookie files and deleting anything and everything he has done on the computer. He absolutely refuses to show me how to do this. On the other hand, he goes into cookies when I'm in the shower or at the store to look at what I've been doing. Myself, I have nothing to hide. But there are some things I'd rather he not know that I'd really like to do searches on….

"How do I get into cookies and how do I delete anything that I don't
want him snooping at?".

----Name withheld for obvious reasons.

Dear Name Withheld: Paranoia about the Internet abounds. People worry that Satan himself can get access to your credit card number and then, with the information obtained, spam your 8-year-old's e-mail with links to the latest Pamela Lee Anderson, er, "exercise" photos. Even worse, your boss is reading your e-mail. Bill Gates is watching you, too. But don't worry, Big Brother is watching Bill Gates. So he doesn't have much time to watch you… right now..

While a lot of media attention reminds us how the Internet is invading our privacy, we seem to be forgetting that security begins at home..

Ma'am, clearly, cookies are only part of the problem. Where there is no trust, well … the worry once associated with keeping a diary private is even worse for a PC user. The Internet is about free-flowing information, a wonderful tool for receiving and distributing anything imaginable in heaven or hell. For a prying detective, though, that also means fingerprints all over the crime scene..

As you surf the Web, the pictures and text that you run across get stored on your hard disk. Such things as cookies or your Internet Explorer history are like confession booth transcripts..

A number of software programs will scan and sanitize your system. For example, one, called SurfSecret, periodically cleans your cache files, cookies and toolbar, as well as recollections of your Internet Explorer history. Your computer is rendered more forgetful than Ronald Reagan at a deposition. It vaporizes your e-trail, giving you a read out of the vanquished list, the rough equivalent of the bottom of your shoes after a trip to the circus..

You could spend half the day exploring your secret self, the other half cleaning your tracks..

But truly, ma'am, cookies are better shared than hidden. And certainly, there's nothing worse for a marriage than a home-based personal info pirate. In an environment of distrust, how can information flow freely between you, your man, or your favorite Web site? Your husband's cookies could be clues to understanding his needs and inclinations. Maybe it would spice things up. Maybe you could share your own cookie curiosity. There's only one thing worse than cookies being watched: cookies being totally ignored..