For example, I use a site called movielink.com, which gives you movie times at nearby theaters. The first time I visited the site, I typed in my zip code to let them know where I was. Now, when I log onto the site, the site automatically knows that I am in the Lucerne Valley area because it reads the zip code from the cookie stored on my computer. That saves me from having to login multiple times and from having to enter my interests multiple times. That saves me time.

It is sometimes strange to me to hear the notion that cookies somehow invade my privacy. In many ways, a cookie provides an added level of privacy. By storing information on my own computer rather than the Internet servers, I can examine the data files and see exactly which information is being recorded by the Internet service using cookies. I can also delete the cookie files, and the information is never recorded on anyone else's computer at all. Right now, our server does use cookies. We use the cookies to gather statistical information about the websites visited on our server. As we begin to offer more personalized services, cookies could be used to save you time logging in to new services.

Cookies can be used by Internet services to make their services much more convenient and personalized, and I would hate to be denied that benefit by concerns over their misuse. The Internet sites that use cookies do so responsibly, and I've never heard of a case otherwise. At Sunrise Internet Services, we will continue to tell you exactly what we plan to do with cookies and how they will be used to improve our service to you. And we encourage you to make up your own mind about cookies.

If you would like more information about cookies, you may wish to do a search on Yahoo or visit www.cookiecentral.com.

As Sunrise Internet Services continues to grow as our local Internet Service Provider, these issues are becoming more important. We are committed to keeping the needs of our community at the forefront of the decisions we make.