Guidescope: Junkbuster-Style Cookie Filtering

Junkbuster-Style Cookie Filtering

What are Cookies?

An explanation of cookies and how Guidescope's Cookie Blocking works is here.

How do I control cookies using Junkbuster-style filtering?

We recommend that you filter cookies using the Guidescope Cookie Blocking instead of the Junkbuster-style cookie filtering. These instructions are provided for those users that prefer using the Junkbuster-style cookie filtering.

Here's the simplest way to implement Junkbuster-style cookie filtering with Guidescope:

First, turn off the Guidescope Cookie blocking. When the Guidescope Cookie Blocking is on, all Junkbuster-style cookie files are ignored.
The next step is to tell Guidescope to forbid all Web servers from placing cookies on your computer:

Using a text editor, create a file named cookie.ini in the directory where you installed the Guidescope software. (On Windows machines, the directory is typically C:\Program Files\Guidescope\). As soon as the file is there, Guidescope will block all cookies. Without the file in place, no cookies will be blocked by Junkbuster-style cookie filtering. All versions of the Guidescope software use the same cookie file name: cookie.ini.
Finally, tell Guidescope what sites you want to be able to place cookies on your computer:

Using a text editor, add the domain names of the sites that you want to be able to place cookies on your computer to the cookie.ini file. Enter each domain name on a separate line. Only the sites you enter will be allowed to place cookies on your computer.

For example, if you want to allow www.mapsonus.com and www.nytimes.com to be able to place cookies on your computer, but no one else, then your cookie.ini file should contain two lines:

mapsonus.com
nytimes.com

If you want more sites to be allowed to place cookies on your computer, then add more lines to cookie.ini. You don't have to reboot or restart Guidescope after editing cookie.ini; it's read automatically.

Guidescope provides all of the pattern-based cookie control available in the Internet Junkbuster. For more information on compatibility with the Internet Junkbuster, click here.

Special limitations

SSL
To protect your privacy and maintain security, Guidescope (like the Junkbuster) does not block cookies or examine data streams associated with pages of Internet sites that use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), an option commonly used on order forms that collect personal information such as credit card numbers.

Cookies set by JavaScript
Our software (like the Junkbuster) does not block cookies that are set (placed on your computer) using JavaScript. For this reason, if you are monitoring cookie activity using your browser, you might see sites that are blocked still attempt to set cookies. Even if a cookie is set using JavaScript, the cookie will be stripped from the header when your browser attempts to send it back to the site that set it.