There’s nothing like a relaxing afternoon break with a cup of coffee in front of your computer, and if you can’t find anything else to do, you play free online games.

A simple search can bring up over a hundred sites that let you play popular and obscure games the world over. Some let you play against other site members who happen to be logged in at the same time. The games differ on some sites, and many sites do require registration which can take some time.

Anytime something is free, however, there’s a catch. As they say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. These sites are not in business to provide you with an interesting coffee break. They are in between to capture your web surfing habits and sell your information to other companies who want to target you for various sales promotions.

Before getting too involved with any particular site, make sure you read their privacy policy. This might take a while and most people just blindly check it off to get to their games, but if you take the time to read it thoroughly you’ll see that every move you make on their site, and others, is being tracked, monitored and sold.

A simple game of checkers can have spyware, adware and even more malicious Trojans hiding on your hard drive – bypassing even some of the most intricately programmed security software. Have you ever wondered how you could do a simple search on cameras, and suddenly you’re getting emails and pop-ups about cameras? That’s why!

In reality, if you’re interested in playing games online, you’d be better off paying for a membership. In exchange for your membership fees they reduce the adware (cookies!) they place on your computer. In any case, read the privacy policy before committing to anything.