What is a cookie?
A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The purpose of a cookie is for the website to be able to remember your visit when you return to browse that page. Although many people do not know it, cookies have been used for 20 years, since the first browsers appeared for the World Wide Web.
What is NOT a cookie?
It is not a virus, nor a trojan, nor a worm, nor spam, nor spyware, nor does it open pop-up windows.
What information does a cookie store?
Cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank details, photographs, your ID, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical, personal preferences, content personalization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person but associates your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and then try to browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realize you are the same person because it is actually associating the browser, not the person.
What types of cookies exist?
- Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user or a registered user is browsing, and perform basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.
- Analytics cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products viewed, time zone of use, language, etc.
- Advertising cookies: They show advertising based on your browsing, country of origin, language, etc.
What are first-party and third-party cookies?
First-party cookies are those generated by the page you are visiting, and third-party cookies are those generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
What happens if I disable cookies?
To help you understand what might happen if you disable cookies, here are some examples:
- You will not be able to share content from that website on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network.
- The website will not be able to tailor content to your personal preferences, as is often the case in online stores.
- You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as My account, My profile, or My orders.
- In online stores: it will be impossible for you to make purchases online, you will have to do them by phone or by visiting the physical store if it exists.
- It will not be possible to customize your geographic preferences such as time zone, currency, or language.
- The website will not be able to perform web analytics on visitors and website traffic, making it difficult for the site to remain competitive.
- You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or score content. The website will also not know if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
- Targeted advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the site’s advertising revenue.
- All social networks use cookies; if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social network.
Can cookies be deleted?
Yes. Not only deleted, but also blocked, either in general or for a specific domain.
To delete cookies from a website, you need to go to your browser settings where you can search for the cookies associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.
Cookie settings for the most popular browsers
Below we explain how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:
- Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon at the top right.
- You will see different sections, click on Show advanced options.
- Go to Privacy, Content settings.
- Select All cookies and site data.
- A list will appear with all cookies sorted by domain. To make it easier for you to find cookies from a specific domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search cookies field.
- After performing this filter, one or more lines with the cookies of the requested website will appear on screen. Now you just have to select it and press the X to proceed with its deletion.
To access cookie settings in Internet Explorer, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Tools, Internet Options.
- Click on Privacy.
- Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you want.
To access cookie settings in Firefox, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
- Click on Privacy.
- In History choose Use custom settings for history.
- You will now see the option Accept cookies, you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.
To access cookie settings in Safari for OSX, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- Here you will see the option Block cookies so you can adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.
To access cookie settings in Safari for iOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy & Security, you will see the option Block cookies so you can adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.
To access cookie settings in the browser for Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Launch the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
- Go to Security & Privacy, you will see the option Accept cookies so you can check or uncheck the box.
To access cookie settings in the browser for Windows Phone devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
- You can now enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.