# Using the Cookie Manager

A cookie is a small amount of information on your computer that is used by some web sites. For a brief overview, see What Are Cookies and How Do They Work?

Before loading a web page that uses cookies, your browser handles the page's cookies by doing two things:

- Accepts or rejects any requests by the web site to set (store) one or more cookies on your computer.
- Accepts or rejects any requests by the web site to read cookies it previously stored on your computer. A web site can't actually read cookies or any other data on your computer—instead, your browser gets the cookies and sends them back to the web site.

In this section: Enabling & Disabling Cookies Managing Cookies Site-By-Site Viewing Cookies Removing Cookies Setting Privacy Levels Cookie Manager Settings

## Enabling & Disabling Cookies

You can specify how cookies should be handled by setting your Cookies preferences. The default setting is "Enable all cookies".

To change your Cookies preferences:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Set your Cookies preferences.

For more information about the effect of each setting, see Privacy & Security Preferences - Cookies.

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## Managing Cookies Site-By-Site

To control cookies on a site-by-site basis:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Cookie Manager.
2. Choose "Unblock Cookies from this Site" or "Block Cookies from this Site."

Alternatively, if you have selected "Warn me before storing a cookie" in Privacy & Security Preferences - Cookies, you will be warned (while browsing) that a web site is asking to set a cookie. When you see such a warning, you can click Yes to allow or No to deny the cookie. You can also select the option for your browser to "Remember this decision."

If you select "Remember this decision," you will not be warned the next time that site tries to set or modify a cookie, and your "yes" or "no" response will still be in effect.

If you want to change a remembered response later, use Cookie Manager to edit your list of automatically stored cookies.

To stop automatically accepting or rejecting cookies from a site:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Cookie Manager.
2. Choose Manage Stored Cookies from the submenu. The Cookie Manager window opens with a list of all the cookies stored on your computer.
3. Click the Cookie Sites tab. The web sites for which you have allowed or denied cookies are listed.
4. Click to select the site from which you no longer want to automatically accept cookies, and then click Remove Cookie.

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## Viewing Cookies

To view detailed information about cookies:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Cookie Manager.
2. Choose Manage Stored Cookies from the submenu. The Cookie Manager window opens with a list of all the cookies stored on your computer.
3. To see details for a particular cookie, click it.

For more information about the information displayed, see Stored Cookies.

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## Removing Cookies

Important: To remove cookies, follow the steps in this section. Do not try to edit the cookies file on your computer.

To remove one or more cookies from your computer:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Cookie Manager.
2. Choose Manage Stored Cookies from the submenu. The Cookie Manager window opens with a list of all the cookies stored on your computer.
3. Select one or more cookies and click Remove Cookie, or click Remove All Cookies.

Even though you've removed the cookies now, you will reacquire those same cookies the next time you return to the web site.

To prevent that from happening, select the checkbox labeled "Don't allow sites that set removed cookies to set future cookies". When this checkbox is selected, web sites for the cookies that you are removing are added to the list of sites whose cookies will automatically be rejected.

You must click OK for your changes to take effect.

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## Setting Privacy Levels

Many web sites develop and publish their privacy policies based on the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) standard. The information that follows applies only to web sites that post a privacy policy based on the P3P standard and the browser's implementation of that standard. The browser's implementation may not be, in all cases, identical to the standard published by the World Wide Web Consortium.

A web site's P3P privacy policy describes, in a standardized way, what kind of information the site collects, to whom it gives that information, and how it uses the information. For information about viewing a web site's privacy policy, see Viewing Privacy Policies.

Navigator's implementation of the P3P standard defines three levels of privacy: low, medium, and high (the default is medium). You can select one of these predefined privacy levels, or you can specify your own custom privacy settings in detail. Once you have set your preferred privacy level, your browser can compare your preferences with the web site's P3P policy (if any) and accept or reject cookies accordingly.

For example, your privacy settings may require the browser to reject cookies that collect personal information without informing you. Alternatively, you can adjust your privacy settings so that the browser simply warns you when a cookie is used in this way, while allowing the action to take place.

To control the privacy settings you want your browser to enforce for all web sites:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Select the option labeled "Enable cookies based on privacy settings."
4. Click View.
5. In the Privacy Settings dialog box, select the level of privacy you want, or select "custom" and specify your own privacy settings as discussed below.
6. Click OK to confirm your settings.

Your browser handles cookies according to the settings you select. If you do not select a preferred setting, the browser defaults to medium. The low, medium, and high options are predefined by Mozilla. For more information about these predefined options, see Privacy Settings.

When the "custom" option is selected, you can specify your own privacy settings in detail. Depending on the P3P policy of the site setting the cookie, and depending on whether or not the site setting the cookie is the one you are viewing, you can select whether you want the Cookie Manager to accept the cookie, reject it, accept it just for the current session (that is, until you exit the browser), or flag it.

If you choose Reject, Flag, or Session for a given category of cookies, the Cookie Manager displays the cookie notification icon () near the lower-right corner of the browser window whenever a web site that fits the category sets a cookie. When this icon is displayed, you can click it to get information about the affected cookies.

"First party cookies" are cookies set by the site you are visiting. "Third-party cookies," also known as foreign cookies, are set by sites other than the one you are viewing.

For more details, see Privacy Settings.

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# Cookie Manager Settings

This section describes how to set your Cookies preferences and control other aspects of cookie handling.

For step-by-step descriptions of various tasks related to cookies, see Using the Cookie Manager.

In this section: Privacy & Security Preferences - Cookies Stored Cookies Cookie Sites Privacy Settings Cookie Notification

## Privacy & Security Preferences - Cookies

Your browser is set by default to accept all cookies. This section describes how to use the Cookies preferences panel to change that setting. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)

Cookies help web sites keep track of information for you, such as the contents of your on-line shopping cart or which cities' weather you want to know about. For a brief overview, see What Are Cookies and How Do They Work?

You can select one of these options:

- Disable cookies: Select this option to refuse all cookies.

- Enable cookies for the originating web site only: Select this option if you don't want to accept or return foreign cookies.
- Enable cookies based on privacy settings: Select this option if you handle cookies based on your privacy settings. If you select this option, click the View button to confirm or modify your privacy settings.
- Enable all cookies: This is the default option. Select this option to permit all web sites not explicitly blocked to set cookies on your computer.

  Note: If you select this option and later choose to disable all cookies, you may still have old cookies stored on your computer (though no new ones will be set).

If you enable cookies or do not change the default setting, you can also select the following preferences:

- Disable cookies in Mail & Newsgroups: Select this if you want Cookie Manager to disable cookies received when a message contains a web page.
- Ask me before storing a cookie: Select this if you want Cookie Manager to warn you each time a web site is about to store a cookie on your computer.
- Limit maximum lifetime of cookies to: Select this if you want to limit the length of time any cookie can remain on your computer. Then choose one of these options:

- current session: Choose this to delete the cookie the next time you exit your browser.
- __ days: Choose this to specify cookie lifetime in days, then type the number of days.

You can also get more information about your stored cookies:

- Manage Stored Cookies: Click this button to view information about the cookies currently stored on your computer and which sites are allowed to set them.

## Stored Cookies

This section describes how to use the Stored Cookies tab of the Cookie Manager. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Manage Stored Cookies.

The Stored Cookies tab lists all the cookies stored on your computer, the sites they belong to, and their current status.

If you can't see the Status column, click the icon in the upper-right corner of the table and select Status. This column indicates which cookies have been flagged or accepted according to your Privacy Settings.

When you select a cookie in this list, the following information about that cookie appears in the bottom portion of the tab:

Item | Explanation
Name | The name assigned to the cookie by its originator.
Information | A string of characters containing the information a web site tracks for you. It might contain a user key or name by which you are identified to the web site, information about your interests, and so forth.
Host or domain | Provides the name of the cookie's host or domain. A host cookie is sent back, during subsequent visits, only to the server that set it. A domain cookie is sent back to any site that's in the same domain as the site that set it. A site's domain is the part of its URL that contains the name of an organization, business, or school—such as netscape.com or washington.org.
Path | The file pathway. This is provided only if the cookie should be sent back to all URLs that are on that path or lower. For example, `http://a.b/x/y/z.html` means that the cookie can also be set for path `x/`.
Server Secure | When this field is "Yes" it means that the browser checks the connection whenever the server asks for a cookie and will not send it unless the connection is encrypted (HTTPS).
Expires | The date and time at which the cookie will be deactivated. The browser regularly removes expired cookies from your computer.
Policy | The type of privacy policy information that the site has explicitly declared that it publishes. (Even if this field is blank, it may still be possible to view the site's policy; see Viewing Privacy Policies for details.)

To remove cookies, click one of these buttons:

- Remove Cookie: Removes the selected cookie or cookies from the list.
- Remove All Cookies: Removes all cookies from the list.

Select this checkbox to prevent the cookies you remove from being added back into the list later:

- Don't allow sites that set removed cookies to set future cookies

Even if you remove cookies now, you will reacquire those same cookies the next time you return to the web site. To prevent that from happening, select this checkbox. When this checkbox is selected, web sites for the cookies that you are removing are added to the list of sites whose cookies will automatically be rejected.

You must click OK for your changes to take effect.

## Cookie Sites

This section describes how to use the Cookie Sites tab of the Cookie Manager. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Manage Stored Cookies.
4. Click the Cookie Sites tab.

If the "Warn me before storing a cookie" option is selected in Privacy & Security Preferences - Cookies, you will be warned (while browsing) each time a web site requests permission to set a cookie. The warning allows you to accept or deny the cookie. The warning also allows you to select an option for your browser to "Remember this decision."

The Cookie Sites tab of the Cookie Manager lists the sites for which your decisions have been remembered, and what your decisions were. It also allows you to remove sites from the list, so that the Cookie Manager no longer remembers your decisions about them:

- Remove Site: Removes the selected site or sites from the list.
- Remove All Sites: Removes all sites from the list.

Once you've removed a site from this list, Cookie Manager remembers nothing about it. If the "Warn me before storing a cookie" option is selected in the Cookies preferences panel, you will be again be warned when the web site you removed from this list requests permission to set a cookie.

## Privacy Settings

This section describes how to use the Privacy Settings window. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Select the radio button labeled "Enable cookies based on privacy settings."
4. Click View.

For more information about using privacy settings, see Setting Privacy Levels.

In this section: Level of Privacy Cookie Acceptance Policy

### Level of Privacy

The level of privacy you set here determines how your browser treats cookies according to privacy policies based on the P3P standard that published by some web sites and on the settings displayed under Cookie Acceptance Policy for first-party and third-party cookies.

"First party cookies" are cookies set by the site you are visiting. "Third-party cookies," also known as foreign cookies, are set by sites other than the one you are viewing.

You can select one of the following privacy levels:

- low: Select this if you want to accept all first-party cookies without regard to a site's privacy policy.

  When this setting is selected, the browser accepts all third-party cookies, but flags third-party cookies from sites that indicate they may collect personally identifiable information without your consent. Flagged cookies are listed as "flagged" in the status column of the Cookie Manager's Stored Cookies tab.

  When a cookie is first flagged, the Cookie Manager displays the cookie notification icon () near the lower-right corner of the browser window (if it's not already present). You can click the cookie notification icon to see more detailed information about the flagged cookies.

- medium: Select this if you want to accept and flag both first-party and third-party cookies set by sites that may be collecting personally identifiable information without your consent. This is the default setting.
- high: Select this if you want the same settings as medium, with the following differences:

- Reject third-party cookies set by sites that may be collecting information without your consent that can be used to identify you.
- Accept, for the current session only, third-party cookies that may be collecting information without your consent that can be used to identify you, but also provide a web page or some other mechanism that allows you to withhold your consent.

- custom: Select this if you want to set your own custom Cookie Acceptance Policy. The default settings for "custom" are whatever they happened to be just before you select this option. You can modify them by selecting from the drop-down menus in the Cookie Acceptance Policy portion of the dialog box.

To see the exact effect of each privacy-level setting, select it and then examine the Cookie Acceptance Policy settings.

### Cookie Acceptance Policy

If you select the custom option in the top portion of the Privacy Settings dialog box, you can choose one of four settings from the drop-down list in each of the eight categories shown in the bottom portion. These settings cause Cookie Manager to perform the following actions:

- Accept: Accept all cookies in the category.
- Session: Accept all cookies in the category for the current session only—that is, until you exit the browser.
- Reject: Reject all cookies in the category.
- Flag: Lists the cookie's status as "flagged" in the status column of the Cookie Manager's Stored Cookies tab and display the cookie notification icon.

The cookie notification icon () appears near the lower-right corner of the browser window. You can click it to get information about the affected cookies or modify your privacy settings.

Web sites are classified in four categories for each of the two types (first-party and third-party) of cookies:

- Site has no privacy policy: Site does not publish any kind of privacy policy. There is no way of knowing what kinds of information such sites collect or what they do with it.
- Site collects personally identifiable information without your consent: Site publishes a privacy policy, but does not ask your permission when it collects personally identifiable information.
- Site collects personally identifiable information with only your implicit consent: Site collects information about you unless you go to a web page (or use some other designated mechanism) to explicitly withhold your consent (opt-out).
- Site does not collect personally identifiable information without your explicit consent: Sites will not collect personally identifiable information unless you have explicitly agreed (opt-in).

## Cookie Notification

The cookie notification icon () is displayed in the status bar near the lower-right corner of the browser window. It appears when a web site has used a cookie in a way that requires you to be notified according to your current Privacy Settings.

This section describes how to use the Cookie Notification dialog box, which appears when you click the Cookie Notification icon. You can take the following actions from this dialog box:

- Turn Off Privacy Settings: Click this button to disable your Privacy Settings. This has the same effect as selecting "Enable all cookies" in Privacy & Security Preferences - Cookies. After you take this action, your browser will accept all cookies.
- View Cookie Manager: Click this button to open the Cookie Manager, where you can view the current status of all your cookies and identify the cookies that caused the notification icon to appear.
- View Privacy Settings: Click this button to open the Privacy Settings dialog box. The settings in this dialog box determine how web sites can use cookies on your computer and what actions cause the cookie notification icon to be displayed.
- Close: Click this button to exit the Cookie Notification dialog box without taking any action.

For more information about using privacy settings, see Setting Privacy Levels.

# Using the Password Manager

Many web sites require you to type a user name and password before you can enter the site. For instance, personalized pages and web sites containing your financial information usually require you to log in.

The user name and password you use at a particular site can be read by the site's administrator. Potentially, that person could then attempt to log into other sites where you may have used the same user name and password. If this concerns you, you may wish to use a different password at every site with which you register.

Password Manager can help you remember some or all of your names and passwords by storing them on your computer's hard disk, and entering them for you automatically when you visit such sites.

In this section: Using Password Manager to Remember User Names and Passwords Entering User Names and Passwords Automatically Turning Password Manager On and Off Viewing and Managing Stored Passwords Password Settings

## Using Password Manager to Remember User Names and Passwords

When Password Manager is active (as it is by default), it gives you an opportunity to save user names and passwords on your hard drive that you enter while using the Internet.

For example, after you log onto a web site from a page that requests a user name and password, a dialog box appears asking, "Do you want Password Manager to remember this logon?" When you see this dialog box, you can click one of the following buttons:

- Yes: The next time you return to the web site you'll see that your user name and password are already filled in. All you have to do is click the Login button (or equivalent) to send them to the server.
- Never for this site: Password Manager will not ask in the future if you want to save your user name and password for that site.
- No: Password Manager won't remember the user name and password, but will ask again the next time you visit the site.

Similarly, when you log onto an email account or an FTP site, or perform any other action that requires the browser itself to display a special dialog box for your login information, you can select this option in the dialog box:

- Use Password Manager to remember these values

The next time you check your email or perform other tasks that require a password only, the password will be submitted directly without any further action on your part. For tasks that require you to enter both a user name and password, you need to click a Login button or equivalent after Password Manager fills in the information.

Password Manager saves your user names and passwords on your own computer in a file that's difficult, but not impossible, for an intruder to read. See Encrypting Stored Sensitive Information for information on protecting your stored user names and passwords with encryption technology.

If the Password Manager dialog box described above does not appear when you click Submit after typing your user name and password, Password Manager may be turned off or the web site may disallow its use.

To check whether Password Manager is currently active, see Turning Password Manager On and Off.

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## Entering User Names and Passwords Automatically

There are two different ways that Password Manager can fill in user names and passwords on your behalf:

- You use Password Manager to remember your user name and password for a web site (using the three-button dialog box described in Using Password Manager to Remember User Names and Passwords).

The next time you visit the site, Password Manager automatically fills in your user name and password on the site's log in page. You can then click the Login button, or equivalent, to send the information to the server.

- You use Password Manager to remember your user name and password for an email account, an FTP site, or in any other situation where you type login information in a dialog box that displays a checkbox labeled "Use Password Manager to remember these values."

  In most cases, the next time you attempt to access that server, Password Manager automatically fills in your user name and password in the same dialog box. You can then click OK to send the information to the server.

  In some cases, such as when you open your email account, Mozilla needs to send only the password to the server, and does so immediately without displaying the dialog box or requiring any further action on your part.

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## Turning Password Manager On and Off

Password Manager is on by default. To turn it off:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Passwords. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. In the Password Manager section, deselect "Remember passwords" to turn Password Manager off.

To turn Password Manager on, follow steps 1 and 2 above, but select the checkbox in step 3 rather than deselecting it.

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## Managing Stored Passwords

To see a list of the user names and passwords you have stored:

1. Open the Tools menu, choose Password Manager, and then choose Manage Stored Passwords from the submenu. You see the Password Manager window.
2. Click the Passwords Saved tab. You see a list of all the stored sites and user names. (Passwords are not listed.)

- To remove a user name, click it and then click Remove. The next time you visit the web site, you will need to enter your user name and password again, since Password Manager will no longer have the information.
- Click the Passwords Never Saved tab to see a list of the web sites for which you instructed Password Manager never to store user names. To remove a web site from this list, click it and then click Remove. The next time you log into the web site, you can use the stored user name and password (if available) or indicate that you want Password Manager to save the information for that site.

3. Click OK to accept your changes.

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# Using the Form Manager

Many web pages contain forms for you to fill out—order forms for online shopping, information databases, and so forth.

Form Manager can save the personal data you enter into online forms, such as your name, address, phone, credit card numbers, and so on. This information is stored on your hard drive. Then, when a web site presents you with a form, Form Manager can fill it in automatically.

In this section: Saving Form Data Filling Out Forms Automatically Turning Off Form Manager Notification Managing Stored Form Data Editing Stored Site Information Viewing Privacy Policies Form Settings

## Saving Form Data

By default, when you fill out an online form and click Submit, Form Manager detects the form and displays a dialog box asking if you want to save the personal data you just entered. Soon, Form Manager will have enough data to begin filling out forms automatically.

There are two ways to save personal data:

- Each time you submit an online form that includes certain kinds of information, such as your name and address, Form Manager asks if you want the information saved. Click Yes.

  Note that Form Manager prompts you only if its automatic notification feature is turned on. (This feature is turned on by default.) For details, see Turning Off Form Manager Notification.

- After you fill out a form (but before you submit it), open the Edit menu and choose Save Form Info.

When Form Manager asks if you want to save values that you've entered in a form (the first method described above), it gives you three options:

- Yes: Click this button to save the information you entered. In the future, you can automatically fill in a form that requests the same information.
- Never for this site: Click this button to ensure that Form Manager will not ask in the future if you want to save information that you enter in forms at this site.

  You may want to do this if you want to ensure that you'll always have to enter sensitive information manually at a particular site. You can change your mind later if you like; for details, see Editing Stored Site Information.

- No: Form Manager won't save the information you entered, but will ask again the next time you enter form information at this site.

Form Manager stores your personal data on your own computer in a file that's difficult, but not impossible, for an intruder to read. See Encrypting Stored Sensitive Information for information on protecting your information with encryption technology.

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## Filling Out Forms Automatically

You can use the Form Manager to fill out forms automatically in two ways: either one field at a time, or multiple fields at once. In both cases, the information is not actually sent to the site until you click the Submit button or perform some similar action.

To fill out a single field automatically in an online form, double-click in the field. If Form Manager has stored the data for that field, it will fill it in. You can edit the filled-in data if necessary.

To fill out multiple fields in an online form all at once:

1. Go to the online form you want to fill out.
2. Open the Edit menu and choose Fill in Form.

   Note that the Fill in Form menu item won't be accessible if the Form Manager hasn't yet stored any relevant information.

3. A dialog box called Prefill Form Data appears (unless you have previously chosen to bypass it for this site). This shows exactly what information Form Manager is about to fill in. You can use this dialog box as follows:

- To prevent a field from being filled in automatically, deselect the checkbox beside it.
- To prevent any fields from being filled in automatically, click Cancel.

Important: You can also choose to bypass this dialog box in the future. However, if you bypass this screen, you risk filling in personal information (such as your credit card number) inadvertently. For details, see below.

4. Click OK to confirm your choices. Form Manager then fills in the form as you specified.

The form is now filed in with the saved information. You may still need to provide some additional information that the Form Manager does not have available. The information is not actually sent to the site until you click Submit or perform some similar action.

In addition to providing a convenient way to confirm saved data and fill in a form all at once, the Prefill Form Data dialog box is useful for two reasons:

- Prefill Form Data can help you prevent malicious web sites from collecting data you are not aware of.

  For example, it's possible for a web site to hide a field on a form where you can't see it and specify that field to be a credit card number. If you prefill the form without first examining the information displayed in the Prefill Form Data dialog box, you may end up providing your credit card number to such a web site without realizing it. Prefill Form Data lets you see every value that will be provided to the site, allowing you to detect such tricks.

- Prefill Form Data allows you to select which of several saved values for a given field you want to use for a particular web site.

For a detailed description of the Prefill Form Data dialog box, see Prefill Form Data.

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## Turning Off Form Manager Notification

Form Manager is set to prompt you to save information whenever you submit an online form that includes certain kinds of information, such as your name and address. To stop these messages from appearing on your screen:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Forms. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. In the Form Manager section, deselect "Save form data from web pages when completing forms."

Note that deselecting this option turns off the notification feature, but not Form Manager. The form data it may have already collected is still available.

You can still open the Edit menu and choose Save Form Info any time you want to save information from a form you've just filled in, or choose Fill in Form (or double-click each field) to fill in a form automatically.

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## Managing Stored Form Data

To examine or edit personal data that Form Manager has saved:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. From the Privacy & Security category, click Forms. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Manage Stored Form Data.

The Form Manager dialog box for editing data appears. Click the subcategories on the left to view or edit the corresponding data in the panel on the right. To view subcategories that aren't visible, double-click a category to expand the list.

To add information not currently included in one of the drop down lists on the right, select the blank item and start typing. Similarly, select existing text to edit or delete it.

The last category on the left side, Other Saved Information, includes panels for two special kinds of data:

- Concatenations lists data stored as a single element that would normally be stored as two or more elements. For example, data stored from a single Full Name field that includes both your first and last names would be stored here together rather than separately in those individual categories.
- URL-Specific lists fields and the values to use for each of them that are applicable only for the web site where you entered them.

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## Editing Stored Site Information

As explained in Saving Form Data, you can choose "Never for this site" when Form Manager prompts you to save data you've entered in a form. Similarly, you can choose not to display the Prefill Form Data dialog box on a site-by-site basis.

Form Manager lets you change your mind about these decisions at any time. To view site-specific information about your saved form data:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. From the Privacy and Security category, click Forms. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Manage Sites.

The Form Manager dialog box for managing sites appears:

- The Forms Never Previewed tab lists the sites for which you've decided not to display the Prefill Form Data dialog box.
- The Forms Never Saved tab lists the sites for which you've asked not to be prompted to save form data.

To remove a site from either list and thus restore the default behavior, select the site and click Remove. For more details, see Form Manager - Sites.

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## Viewing Privacy Policies

When you provide personal information such as your name, phone number, or email address to a web site, or when the site collects personal information in other ways, the site can use the information for its own purposes (such as shipping you a product or customizing your browsing experience) and can potentially share it with others.

Before providing personal information on an online form, you must decide whether or not you trust the web site—just as you judge whether or not you trust a catalog company before you provide your credit card number on the company's order form.

One way to evaluate a web site's trustworthiness is to examine its published privacy policy. Web sites publish privacy statements online, and some of them publish such statements based on the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) standard and the browser's implementation of that standard.

A web site's privacy policy describes what kind of information the site collects, to whom it gives that information, and how it uses the information. Web sites publish privacy policies in both human-readable form and as a file that can be interpreted by the browser according to your Privacy Settings.

To view a web site's privacy policy, browse to the site and follow these steps:

- Open the View menu and choose Page Info. The Page Info window appears.
- Click the Privacy tab.
- Click these buttons to see the corresponding information:

- Policy: Click this button to view the site's published privacy policy on the web.
- Summary: Click this button to view a summary of the site's built-in XML policy file, which defines the site's policies in detail.
- Options: Click this button to view a web page provided by the site where you can choose to withhold or grant your consent to certain kinds of information gathering.

Many web pages are made up of a variety of text, images, advertisements, and other elements, some of which may be controlled by different companies.

To view the same information for any individual element of the web page:

1. Double-click the categories to see addresses for individual components.
2. Select the component whose privacy policy you want to examine.
3. Click the buttons as described above.

For more information on controlling your privacy, see Setting Privacy Levels.

[ Return to beginning of section ]

# Form Settings

When you fill out an online form, Form Manager normally detects the form and, when you click Submit, gives you an opportunity to save the data you entered.

This section describes the preferences and other settings that control the way Form Manager works.

For step-by-step instructions on using these settings, see Using the Form Manager.

In this section: Privacy & Security Preferences - Forms Form Manager - Data Form Manager - Sites Prefill Form Data

## Privacy & Security Preferences - Forms

This section describes how to use the Forms preferences panel. If you are not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Forms. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)

### Form Manager

When you fill out an online form and click Submit, Form Manager displays a dialog box that asks if you want it to save the form data you just entered (but only some of the filled-in fields include standard ones such as name and address).

If you click Yes at least some of the time, Form Manager will soon have enough data to begin filling out forms automatically.

Form preferences allow you to

- Save form data from web pages when completing forms: This checkbox determines whether are asked if you want to save form data every time you submit a new form. This option is selected by default. If you deselect it, Form Manager never asks if you want to save form data. The only way to save form data is for you open the Edit Menu and choose Fill in Form while viewing a form that you've just filled in.

  Note that deselecting this option turns off the notification feature, but not Form Manager. The form data it may have already collected is still available. You can still open the Edit Menu and choose Fill in Form or Save Form Info.

- Manage Stored Form Data. Click this button to examine or edit personal data that Form Manager has saved. For details, see Form Manager - Data.
- Manage Sites: Click this button to view site-specific information about your saved form data. For details, see Form Manager - Sites.

## Form Manager - Data

This section describes how to use the window that allows you to edit data saved on your behalf by the Form Manager. If you are not already viewing this window, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Forms. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Manage Stored Form Data.

The Form Manager window for managing stored form data allows you to perform two tasks:

- Category: Double-click a category in the Category column to view its subcategories, and click a subcategory to view its data on the right side of the window. To edit or add to the displayed data, click in a field and type.

  To add information not currently included in one of the drop down lists on the right, select the blank item and start typing. Similarly, select existing text to edit or delete it.

- Remove All Saved Data: Click this button to remove all the saved data at once.

The last category on the left side, Other Saved Information, includes panels for two special kinds of data:

- Concatenations: The Form Manager typically captures and prefills individual elements, such as first and last name, and combines them when necessary. If it encounters a page that asks for a full name, for example, it prefills it with the first and last name it has stored previously.

  However, if the Form Manager hasn't yet stored your first and last name, it saves the full name (if you ask it to) as a single element in the Concatenations panel.

- URL-Specific: This panel lists URL-specific fields and the values to use for each of them at each URL for which you have entered such information.

For step-by-step instructions on using the Form Manager, see Using the Form Manager.

## Form Manager - Sites

This section describes how to use the dialog box that allows you to edit site information saved on your behalf by Form Manager. If you are not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Forms. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Manage Sites.

The Form Manager window for managing sites has two tabs:

- Forms Never Previewed: Click this tab to view the list of sites for which you selected "Bypass this screen when prefilling this form in the future" after choosing Fill in Form from the Edit menu.

  If you remove an entry from this list, Form Manager will again give you an opportunity to review form data for that site before filling it in.

- Forms Never Saved: Click this tab to view the list of sites for which you selected "Never for this site" in response to the Form Manager's request to store form data.

If you remove an entry from this list, Form Manager will again ask whether to store form data when you submit forms at that site (assuming that the main Form Manager notification option has been selected in Privacy & Security Preferences - Forms).

Regardless of which tab you are viewing, you can remove entries from the list as follows:

- Remove: Select one or more entries that you want to remove, then click this button to remove them.
- Remove All: Click this button to remove all the entries for the tab you are viewing.

See the descriptions of each tab above for the consequences of removing entries.

For step-by-step instructions on working with form data, see Using the Form Manager.

## Prefill Form Data

This section describes the window that normally appears when you open the Edit menu and choose Fill In Form.

However, the Fill in Form menu item is enabled only if you have previously used Form Manager to save some form data and are now viewing a web page that is requesting some of the same data. For step-by-step instructions on working with form data, see Using the Form Manager.

The Prefill Form Data window allows you to perform these actions:

- Click in a field to edit the displayed data: Any changes you make here will be reflected in the data used to fill in this form, but won't change your stored data.
- Select alternate data: Click the arrow on the right side of any field to display a drop-down menu for that field. If you have previously used Form Manager to save alternate information (for example, a different mailing address), the available alternates are listed in the menu.
- Check the items that you would like to have prefilled: Only the items with checkmarks beside them will be filled in automatically. When you first open the window, all the items are checked. Click to deselect any that you don't want filled in automatically.
- Bypass this screen when prefilling this form in the future: Select this checkbox to avoid seeing this window the next time you visit this web site. This can be convenient; for example, if you frequently need to enter the same data at the same web site.

Important: If you bypass this screen, you risk filling in personal information (such as your credit card number) inadvertently. For details, see Filling Out Forms Automatically.

If you change your mind about this decision, you can restore the Prefill Form Data window for this web site. For details, see Form Manager - Sites.

- View Stored Form Data: Click this button to examine or edit all personal data that Form Manager has saved. For details, see Form Manager - Data.

# Encrypting Stored Sensitive Information

If you use Password Manager or Form Manager to save passwords and personal data, then this sensitive information is stored on your computer in a file that's difficult, but not impossible, for an intruder to read.

For example, if your computer is in an area where unauthorized people have access to it, it's possible for a determined person to read the file containing your sensitive information.

For a greater degree of security, you may want to protect the file with encryption. Encryption makes it much harder for an unauthorized person to view your stored sensitive information.

Your decision about whether to use encryption for stored sensitive data is a tradeoff between improved security and convenience.

If you use encryption, you will need to enter a master password periodically, which can be inconvenient. If you don't, it may be easier for a stranger who has access to your computer to steal your passwords.

In this section: Turning Encryption On and Off Setting a Master Password Changing Your Master Password Logging Out of Your Master Password What to Do If You Forget Your Master Password

## Turning Encryption On and Off

To turn on encryption for your stored sensitive information:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Passwords. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. In the Encrypting versus Obscuring section, select "Use encryption when storing sensitive data."
4. Click OK. If you haven't previously set a master password, a new dialog box appears and leads you through the process of setting it.

To turn encryption off, deselect "Use encryption when storing sensitive data."

You must supply your master password when you turn encryption on or off.

[ Return to beginning of section ]

## Setting a Master Password

If you choose to encrypt your stored sensitive information, you'll need a master password. With encryption selected, you'll be asked for your master password at least once during a browser session in which you access any of your stored sensitive information.

If you choose encryption, but don't already have a master password, you'll be prompted to create one the first time you try to save or retrieve your sensitive information.

If your master password has not previously been set, you can set at this time:

1. Open the Tools menu, choose Password Manager, and then choose Change Master Password from the submenu (even though you are setting it for the first time, not changing it).

   You see the Set Master Password dialog box.

2. Enter your desired master password, and retype it to confirm the spelling.
3. Click OK.

Make sure your new password is difficult to guess. For some suggestions on how to improve password security, see the online document Choosing a Good Password.

[ Return to beginning of section ]

## Changing Your Master Password

To change your master password:

1. Open the Tools menu, choose Privacy & Security, and then choose Password Manager.
2. Select Change Master Password from the submenu. You see the Set Master Password dialog box.
3. Enter your current master password (if you have previously set one).
4. Enter your new master password, and retype it to confirm the spelling.
5. Click OK.

Make sure your new password is difficult to guess. For some guidelines, see the online document Choosing a Good Password.

[ Return to beginning of section ]

## Logging Out of Your Master Password

Normally, you are asked for your master password once during each browser session during which you access any of your stored sensitive information.

It's also possible to require that your master password be requested each time it is needed, or after a certain amount of time has passed. For details, see Master Password Timeout.

You can log out of your master password so that it must be entered again before any sensitive information can be stored or retrieved. This is useful if you are going to leave your computer unattended for a period of time.

To log out of your master password:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Password Manager.
2. Select Log Out from the submenu.

[ Return to beginning of section ]

## What to Do If You Forget Your Master Password

If you forget your master password and you have chosen to encrypt sensitive data (see Encrypting Stored Sensitive Information), you won't be able to access any of the stored password and form data that it protects (assuming you have turned on encryption. Your master password is your most important password. Make sure you remember it or record it in a safe place.

As a last resort, it's possible to reset your master password if you are sure you can't remember it. However, resetting your master password permanently erases all the web passwords, email passwords, and form data saved on your behalf by Password Manager and Form Manager. You will also lose all your personal certificates associated with the Software Security Device.

Before taking this drastic step, read Reset Master Password.

If you are sure you can't remember or retrieve your master password, follow these instructions to reset it:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Master Passwords. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)
3. Click Reset Master Password.
4. In the Reset Master Password dialog box, click Reset.

[ Return to beginning of section ]

# Managing Images

If you wish, you can choose not to download any images when you browse the web. This greatly restricts what you can view online, but may be helpful if you have a slow connection and wish to shorten the time it takes web pages to load.

You can also control how frequently animated images repeat their animation, or turn off animation completely

The next section describes how to control these image settings. The default settings allow all images to be accepted and allow them to repeat their animation.

## Privacy & Security Preferences - Images

This section describes how to set preferences for images. To view the preference settings for images:

1. Open the Edit menu (Mozilla menu on Mac OS X) and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Images. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)

### Image Acceptance Policy

Image Acceptance preferences allow you to control whether and where Navigator displays images:

- Do not load any images: Select this option if you do not want Navigator to display images.
- Accept all images: Select this option if you want Navigator to display all images. (This option is selected by default.)
- Do not load remote images in Mail & Newsgroup messages: Select this checkbox if you want to avoid downloading images embedded in web pages sent as message attachments. (This checkbox is selected by default.)

### Animated images should loop

These settings control how many times animated images repeat their animation:

- As many times as the image specifies: Select this if you want image animation to repeat as many times as specified within each image. (This option is selected by default.)
- Once: Select this if you want image animation to occur once, overriding the number of times specified within each image.
- Never: Select this if you do not want image animation.