"One Foot in the Grave" actor Richard Wilson will be spotlighting the use of cookies this week  in a controversial Channel Four documentary that says routine tracking of web users made him feel 'spied on'.

He told the Daily Mail website: "Perhaps the most shocking discovery I made on the TV programme was that machines don't just make life more difficult, many are also tracking what we do.

"Like millions of others, I spend more and more time online. I love my Mac and laptop as much as the next person. During the making of the programme, the producers asked me  to look for something I might want  to buy on the internet. I chose a camera and looked at some sites. Then they told me to click on to a news website.

"Adverts for cameras immediately began popping up even though it was a completely unrelated site. It felt as though I was being spied on.

"And, according to web expert Dr Joss Wright, in a way, I was. He explained web browsers to me. This is the software that allows us to look at the internet. Every time we connect to a website, the browser puts a small piece of information on our computer called a cookie.

"These cookies build up a complete profile of our online activity and personal interests which are then traded by retailers and advertisers.

"There are now such things as 'retargeting companies' - which  are paid by a third party to try to move appropriate consumers to their site. I'd never even heard  of them yet apparently they are making hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

"In the spring, new laws will start to be enforced so that websites will need our consent before using cookies to retrieve and store our personal data. This will at least give us a say in who profits from our information." he added.

The programme is likely to bring the issue that most companies have been talking about to the wider public ahead of a one-year delay in implementing the new EU law he mentioned. The new law will apply to all companies with websites. Sitemorse offers products that will, among many other things, allow users to track their cookies - including our free Snapshot tool. For more information on the background to the legislation and how users can keep track of their cookies, see the Cookie Reports website.

The programme, On Hold, airs at 8pm on January 17 on Channel Four. The full article is available on the Daily Mail website.