In simple terms explain what a "tracking cookie" is... 3

[humour]

Sorry for my newbie question, I searched and looked at FAQ's : problem not enough information or simply too much.

In simple terms explain what a "tracking cookie" is...?

Why is it bad, why does AdAware detect them? Why am I deleting them...

Here is an example of a tracking cookie from a site I have grown to trust (even love) ;-)

obj[0]=File : c:\documents and settings\john doe\cookies\John Doe@ads.tucows[1].txt

What is this cookie tracking? Does anyone know? Can someone guess? Should I be concerned with tracking cookies?

 

[diogenes10]

http://www.beeradvocate.com/cookies_about.php

 

[Xemus]

As a general rule, any cookies that Ad-aware finds are worth deleting. There are a few sites that I stay logged into (by using cookies), and they remain logged in after I've let Ad-aware decide which cookies are evil.
You might want to review the privacy policies on the sites that get detected and decide if you want them to know what they are learning about you.

http://www.closedsocket.com