Are cookies safe?

Some people are nervous about cookies. Privacy is a valid issue for all of us; however, cookies are very limited in scope. A cookie can only contain plain text, not code, so cannot spread computer viruses. They go into a specific folder or directory location that you control, via your web browser software. As a result, cookies can't read or write to arbitrary files or folders on your computer. Also, each cookie is limited to 1,024 characters, so contains very little information. Most cookies include expiration dates and those that don't, expire (and are deleted) as soon as you close your browser. Web browsers give you the ability to disable cookies entirely so that no web server can read or write them; however, doing so will make many web sites function improperly or not at all.