Understanding security and privacy features

Internet Explorer provides a number of features that help to protect your privacy and make your computer and your personally identifiable information more secure.

Privacy features allow you to protect your personally identifiable information by helping you to understand how Web sites you view may be using this information and by allowing you to specify privacy settings that determine whether or not you want to allow Web sites to save cookies on your computer.

Privacy features in Internet Explorer include:

Privacy settings that specify how your computer deals with cookies. Cookies are files created by a Web site that store information on your computer, such as your preferences when visiting that site. Cookies may also store personally identifiable information, such as your name or e-mail address.
Privacy alerts that let you know when you try to gain access to a site that doesn't meet the criteria in your privacy settings.
The ability to view a Web site's P3P privacy policy.

Security features help to prevent people from gaining access to information that you have not given them permission to access, such as credit card information you enter when shopping on the Internet. Security features can also protect your computer from unsafe software.

Security features in Internet Explorer include:

Certificates, which verify the identity of a person or the security of a Web site.
128-bit secure connection for using secure Web sites.
Microsoft Authenticode technology, which verifies the identity of programs you download.

For more information on the security and privacy features in Internet Explorer, click Related Topics.