What is a cookie?
A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored on your browser when you visit almost any website. The usefulness of the cookie is able to remember your next visit when you browse the page. Although many people do not know that cookies already exist 20 years ago, the same time when the first browsers started for the World Wide Web.
What is NOT a cookie?
It is not a virus or a Trojan, not a worm, or spam or spyware, or open pop-up windows.
What kind of information stores a cookie?
Cookies usually do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank account information, photographs, your identity card or personal information, etc. The saved data are technical, personal preferences, personalization of content, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person if your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse the same web with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the web does not realize that you are the same person because you are actually associating the browser, not the person.
What kinds of cookies exist?
- Technical Cookies: These are the most basic and allow, knowing when a human or an automated application is browsing, when anonymous users or registered users are navigating and basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic web.
- Cookies analysis: collect information on the type of navigation is performing, most used sections, reference numbers, time period of use, language, etc.
- Advertising Cookies: are display advertising based on the navigation, the country of origin, language, etc.
What are the difference between own cookies and third-party cookies?
Own cookies are generated by the page while you are visiting the page and third-party cookies are generated by internal or external providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
What if I turn off the cookies?
To understand the scope of deactivating the cookies, we show you some examples:
- You can not share content from the page to Facebook, Twitter or any other social network.
- The web site will not adapt content to personal preferences, as often happens in the online stores.
- You can not access to your personal area of the web, such as or My Account, My Profile or My Orders.
- Online Stores: It will be impossible to make purchases online, you will have to contact by telephone or by visiting the physical store.
- You can not customize the geographic preferences as time zone, currency or language.
- The web site will not perform web analysis of visitors and web traffic, making it difficult for the website to be competitive.
- You can not write on the blog, you can not upload photos, post comments, evaluate or rate content. The web may not know whether you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
- It can not display sectioned advertising, which will reduce income from the web.
- All social networks use cookies, if you deactivate the cookies you can not use any social network.
Can I delete cookies?
Yes. Not only can you eliminate cookies but as well to block the cookies in general or particular to a specific domain.
To remove cookies from a website you should go to your browser settings and find the associated domain and proceed to its elimination.
Cookie settings for the browsers
Here’s how to access a particular cookie of the Chrome browser. Note: These steps may vary depending on the browser version:
- Go to Settings or Preferences using the File menu or by clicking the icon personalization that appears on the top right.
- You will see different sections; click the option Show Advanced Options.
- Go to Privacy Content settings.
- Select All cookies and site dates.
- It will appear a list of all cookies ordered by domain. To make it easier to find a specific cookie domain partially or completely, enter the address in the search field cookies .
- After making this filter, it will appear on the screen one or more lines with the requested web cookies. Now you just have to select it and press X to proceed to its elimination.
To access the cookie settings of the Internet Explorer follow these steps (may vary depending on the version of the browser):
- Go to Tools, Internet Options
- Click on Privacy.
- Move the slider to adjust the level of privacy you want.
To access cookie settings of the Firefox browser follow these steps (may vary depending on the version of the browser):
- Go to Options or Preferences.
- Click on Privacy.
- Go to History and choose Use custom settings for history.
- Now you can see the Accept cookies option and you can turn on or off as desired.
To access the cookie settings of the Safari browser for OSX follow these steps (may vary depending on the version of the browser):
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- You will see the Block cookies to adjust the block settings.
To access the cookie settings of the Safari browser for iOS follow these steps (may vary depending on the version of the browser):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy and Security, you will see the block cookie settings to adjust them.
To access the browser cookie settings of the Android devices follow these steps (may vary depending on the version of the browser):
- Open the browser and press Menu, then Settings.
- Go to Security and Privacy, and go to the Accept cookies option to check or uncheck the box.
To access the browser cookie settings of the Windows Phone devices follow these steps (may vary depending on the version of the browser):
- Open Internet Explorer, then go to More and then to Settings.
- Now you are able or disable the Allow cookies.
