# Privacy preferences

The privacy preferences give you control over how Web servers handle and monitor your net activities.

The predefined settings should work for most users. Users that wish to increase their privacy can fine-tune the settings. Note that tampering with these settings can cause some Web services to function improperly, so be sure you know what you're doing.

## Privacy

### Enable referrer logging

It is common practice for Web sites to refer to each other. Many Web sites make a note of which page you came from, and behave accordingly. Whether or not you take issue with this is up to you, but disabling this option will prevent this kind of logging.

Note: Some sites may not work properly if you turn off referrer logging.

### Enable automatic redirection

Some Web pages redirect you to another site. This is not really a security problem, but can waste your time. Opera therefore allows you to turn this feature off.

### Use cookies to trace password protected pages

Normally, when you log in to a Web site using a password, the page is marked as sensitive and is thus deleted from your cache when you exit Opera. However, pages you navigate to within a site are not deleted, just the authentication page itself. To make sure all cached pages from a visit to an authenticated site are deleted when you exit Opera, check this option.

Note: Checking this option may cause customization pages, for example your configuration of a Web search service, to stop working.

## Cookies

Enable cookies | Choose whether to handle cookies at all.

### Action

Automatically accept all cookies | Accepts cookies regardless of who sets them and where they are referred.
Accept only cookies from selected servers | Use this to accept cookies from the servers you select.
Display received cookies | If this is selected, each and every cookie that is sent to Opera will be displayed in an accept/reject dialog box.

### Options

Only accept cookies for the server | Accepts all cookies set by the active server -- the server that you received the current page from. It will also accept cookies from within the active server's domain, so if you are viewing a page at http://www.example.com/, a page at http://www.example.com/folder/ can also place a cookie.
Don't accept third party cookies | Refuses cookies from other sources that are meant to apply to the active server.
Display third party cookies | Displays third party cookies on receipt, giving you the option to accept or refuse them.
Accept from any servers | Accepts all cookies from all servers.

### Cookie server filters

The cookie server filters allow you to configure cookie handling on a per server or per domain basis, for example accept cookies from trustable.example.com but refuse cookies from questionable.example.com.

With this dialog you can change how Opera handles cookies from different servers. Each "rule" has a list of servers that apply for that particular rule. To see all the rules, click the down arrow.

Server or domain | Address of current server or domain
Use as domain | Select whether this filter should apply for a server or domain address
Accept cookies from server/domain |
Accept third party cookies from server/domain |

- Allow illegal paths

Allows or refuses cookies for a top level domain, such as .com, .net or .org.

In the filters dialog box you have a dynamic button. The button shows as for filters that accept cookies, and as for filters that refuse cookies. Clicking the button in either case thus inverts the rule for the currently selected server.

### Other options

Throw away new cookies on exit | If checked, all cookies are deleted from your computer when you exit Opera.
Display warning for illegal domains | If checked, Opera displays a warning dialog if a server attempts to set a cookie for a top level domain, such as .com, .net, or .org.
Display warning for illegal path | If checked, Opera will display a warning dialog if a server attempts to set a cookie with a path that does not match the server.

Learn more about Opera's cookies handling

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