What is a cookie?

A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The usefulness of the cookie is that the website is able to remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people do not know it, cookies have been used for 20 years, when 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 card or bank details, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they store is of a technical nature, personal preferences, content customization, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person but with your web browser. In fact, if you usually 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 the browser, not the person.

What type of cookies exist?

Technical cookies: They 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 user are browsing, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.

  • Analysis cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products consulted, time zone of use, language, etc.
  • Advertising cookies: They show advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

Own 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, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

So that you 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, or any other social network.
  • The website will not be able to adapt the 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, or My profile, or My orders.
  • Online stores: It will be impossible for you to make purchases online, they will have to be made by telephone or by visiting the physical store if you have one.
  • 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 traffic on the website, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
  • You will not be able to write on the blog, you will not be able to upload photos, post comments, rate or rate content. The website will also not be able to know if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
  • Sectorized advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
  • All social networks use cookies, if you deactivate them you will not be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not only delete, but also block, in a general or particular way for a specific domain.

To delete cookies from a website you must go to your browser 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

Here’s how to access a specific  Chrome browser cookie . Note: These steps may vary depending on the browser version:

  • Go to Settings or Preferences through the File menu or by clicking the personalization icon that appears at the top right.
  • You will see different sections, click on the Show advanced options option.
  • Go to Privacy, Content Settings.
  • Select All cookies and site data.
  • A list will appear with all the cookies ordered by domain.
  • To make it easier for you to find cookies from a particular domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search Cookies field.
  • After performing this filter, one or more lines will appear on the screen with the cookies of the requested website. Now you just have to select it and press the X to proceed to delete it.

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 Privacy.
  • Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you want.

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 Privacy.
  • Under History choose Use custom settings for history.
  • Now you will see the option Accept cookies, you can activate 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 so you can 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 so you can adjust the type of blocking you want to do.

To access the browser cookie settings 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 and Privacy, you will see the option Accept cookies so you can activate or deactivate the box.

To access browser cookie settings 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 activate or deactivate the Allow cookies box