Understanding Cookies

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 don’t know it, cookies have been in use 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 or personal information, etc. The data they keep is of a technical nature, personal preferences, content customization, etc. The web server does not associate you as a person but to 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 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 is browsing or an automated application, when an anonymous user and a registered one 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 the most, products consulted, time slot of use, language, etc.

Advertising cookies: Display advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are own cookies 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, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

To help you understand the impact of disabling 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 with 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 online purchases, they will have to be made by phone or by visiting the physical store if it has one.
  • It will not be possible to customize your geographical preferences such as time zone, currency, or language.
  • The website will not be able to perform web analytics on visitors and traffic on the site, making it difficult for the website to be competitive.
  • You won't be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or score content. The website also won't be able to tell if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
  • Sectorized advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the advertising revenue of the website.
  • 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, either generally or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete cookies from a website, you should go to the settings of your browser, and there you can search for the ones associated with the domain in question and proceed with their deletion.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers.

Below we show you how to access a specific cookie from the Chrome browser. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:
  • 1. Go to Settings or Preferences through the File menu or by clicking on the customization icon that appears in the top right corner.
  • 2. You will see different sections, click on the Show advanced options option.
  • 3. Go to Privacy, Content Settings.
  • 4. Select All cookies and site data.
  • 5. A list will appear with all the cookies sorted by domain. To make it easier for you to find cookies from a particular domain, enter the address partially or fully in the Search cookies field.
  • 6. After applying this filter, one or more lines with the cookies from the requested website will appear on the screen. Now you just have to select it and click the 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):
  • 1. Go to Tools, Internet Options.
  • 2. Click on Privacy.
  • 3. Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you desire.
To access the cookie settings of the Firefox browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
  • 1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
  • 2. Click on Privacy.
  • 3. Under History, choose Use custom settings for history.
  • 4. Now you will see the option Accept cookies; you can enable or disable 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):
  • 1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
  • 2. Here you will see the option Block cookies 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):
  • 1. Go to Settings, then Safari.
  • 2. Go to Privacy and Security, and you will see the option Block cookies to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.
To access the cookie settings of the browser on Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
  • 1. Open the browser and tap the Menu key, then Settings.
  • 2. Go to Security and Privacy, and you will see the option Accept cookies to enable.

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