Now then… What is a cookie?
A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The utility of the cookie is that the website can remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people do not know it, cookies have been used for 20 years, since the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.
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 cards or bank details, photographs, your ID card, 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 rather your web browser. In fact, if you regularly browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realize that you are the same person because it is actually associating with the browser, not the person.
What types of cookies are there?
- 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 and a registered one are browsing, basic tasks for the functioning of any dynamic website.
- Analysis cookies: Collect information about the type of navigation being carried out, the sections that are most used, products consulted, time zone of use, language, etc.
- Advertising cookies: Show advertising based on your browsing, your 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 understand the scope that disabling cookies can have, we show you 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 adapt the content to your personal preferences, as usually happens 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.
- Online stores: You will be unable to make online purchases, they will have to be made by phone or by visiting the physical store if there is one.
- You will not be able to customize your geographical preferences such as time zone, currency, or language.
- The website will not be able to carry out web analytics on visitors and traffic on the web, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
- You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or rate content. The website will also not be able to tell if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
- Targeted advertising cannot be displayed, reducing the advertising revenue of the website.
- 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 delete, but also block, either generally or specifically for a specific domain.
To delete cookies from a website, you must go to your browser’s settings and there you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.
Cookie settings for the most popular browsers
Below we indicate how to access a specific cookie from the Chrome browser. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:
- Go to Settings or Preferences through the File menu or by clicking the customization icon that appears 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 the cookies sorted by domain. To make it easier to find the cookies of a certain domain, enter the address partially or completely in the Search cookies field.
- After applying this filter, one or more lines with the cookies of the requested website will appear on the screen. Now you just have to select it and press X to proceed with its deletion.
To access the cookie settings of the Internet Explorer browser, 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 desired privacy level.
To access the cookie settings of the Firefox browser, 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.
- Now you will see the Accept cookies option, you can activate it or deactivate it according to your preferences.
To access the cookie settings of the Safari browser for OSX, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- Here you will see the Block cookies option to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.
To access the cookie settings of the Safari browser for iOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy and Security, you will see the Block cookies option to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.
To access the cookie settings of the browser for Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Run the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
- Go to Security and Privacy, you will see the Accept cookies option to activate or deactivate the checkbox.
To access the cookie settings of the browser for Windows Phone devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
