different the first cookies from third party cookies

First- and Third-Party Context

Internet Explorer 6 defines first-party content as that associated with the host domain. Third-party content originates from any other domain. For example, suppose a user visits www.wideworldimporters.com by typing this URL in the address bar, and www.wingtiptoys.com has a banner ad on this page. If these two sites set cookies, the cookies from www.wideworldimporters.com are in a first-party context while the cookies from www.wingtiptoys.com are in a third-party context.

Often commercial Web pages are an amalgamation of first- and third-party content. The Internet Explorer 6 privacy features distinguish between first- and third-party content. The underlying assumption is that users have a different relationship with first parties than with third parties. In fact, users might not be aware of the third party or be given a choice in having a relationship with it. For this reason, default privacy settings for third parties are more stringent than for first parties.

Note The URLs, www.wideworldimporters.com and toys.wideworldimporters.com, both contain the same minimal domain, wideworldimporters.com. Content that shares the same minimal domain as the host domain is considered first-party content. Likewise, cookies set from these domains are considered first-party cookies. Minimal domains must have the same top-level domain (TLD). Some common examples of TLDs are .com, .net, and .org.

First-Party and Third-Party Cookies
First-Party and Third-Party Cookies

First-party cookies are cookies that are associated with the host domain. Third-party cookies are cookies from any other domain. For example, suppose that you visit www. example1.com by typing the URL in the address bar, and sample. example1.com, www. example2.com, and www. example1.net have banner ads on this page. If these sites all set cookies, the cookies from www. example1.com and sample. example1.com are in a first-party context, and the cookies from www. example2.com and www. example1.net are in a third-party context.

NOTE: If you visit www. example1.com over a secure connection by using Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), content on the page that is not using HTTPS is considered third-party content. Also note that if you gain access to a site that uses cookies by using a frameset, or portal, on another site, those cookies are considered third-party content.

Cookies are uniquely assigned to your user profile, and can only be read by the host domain that issues the cookie to you.

IMPORTANT: Because of a known issue in Internet Explorer 4 and Internet Explorer 5, a Web site may be able to retrieve cookies that were set by another host domain. This problem has been corrected in Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 1 and later and in Internet Explorer 5.5 and later. For additional information about this issue, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 
Q258430 Web Site May Retrieve Cookies from Your Computer 
NOTE: Aside from the Internet Explorer 5.5 Advanced Security Privacy Beta (Version 5.50.4308.2900), Internet Explorer 3.x, Internet Explorer 4.x, and Internet Explorer 5, 5.01, and 5.5 do not distinguish between first-party and third-party cookies.

Internet Explorer 6 implements advanced cookie filtering that is based on the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) specification. By default, Internet Explorer 6 blocks third-party cookies that do not have a compact policy (a condensed computer-readable privacy statement) or third-party cookies that have a compact policy which specifies that personally identifiable information is used without your implicit consent. First-party cookies that have a compact policy which specifies that personally identifiable information is used without implicit consent are downgraded (deleted when you close Internet Explorer). First-party cookies that do not have a compact policy are leashed (restricted so that they can only be read in the first-party context).