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 to allow the website to remember your visit when you return to that page. Although many people don’t 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, a Trojan horse, a worm, spam, 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 card, or other personal information. The data they store is technical in nature, such as personal preferences, content customization, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person, but rather your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and then try browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you’ll see that the website doesn’t recognize you as the same person because it’s actually associating the browser, not the individual.

What types of cookies are there?

• Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, the website to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, and whether the user is anonymous or registered—essential tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.
• Analytics cookies: These collect information about your browsing activity, such as the sections you visit most often, products viewed, time of day, language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: These display advertising based on your browsing activity, country of origin, language, etc.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

First-party cookies are generated by the website you are visiting, while third-party cookies are 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 this website on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network.
• The website will not be able to personalize content based on your preferences, as is common in online stores.
• You will not be able to access your personal area on this website, such as “My Account,” “My Profile,” or “My Orders.”
• Online stores: You will be unable to make online purchases; you will have to place orders by phone or visit the physical store, if one exists.
• You will not be able 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, which will make it difficult for the website to remain competitive.
• You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate, or review content. The website will also be unable to determine if you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
• Targeted advertising will not be displayed, which will reduce the website’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. You can not only delete them, but also block them, either generally or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete cookies from a website, go to your browser settings, find the cookies associated with the domain in question, and delete them.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Below are instructions on how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: These steps may vary depending on your browser version:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the upper right corner.
2. You will see different sections; click the Show advanced settings option.
3. Go to Privacy, Content settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. A list will appear with all cookies sorted by domain. To easily find the cookies for a specific domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search cookies field.
6. After applying this filter, one or more lines will appear on the screen with the cookies for the requested website. Now you just have to select it and click the X to delete it.

To access cookie settings in the Internet Explorer browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on your browser version):

1. Go to Tools, Internet Options.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. Move the slider to adjust your desired privacy level.

To access Firefox’s cookie settings, follow these steps (they may vary depending on your 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. You will now see the Accept cookies option; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.

To access cookie settings in the Safari browser for macOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):

1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
2. Here you will see the Block cookies option, allowing you to adjust the type of blocking you want.

To access cookie settings in 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 & Security; you will see the Block cookies option, allowing you to adjust the type of blocking you want.

To access cookie settings in the browser for 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’ll see the Accept cookies option where you can check or uncheck the box.

To access your browser’s cookie settings on Windows Phone devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on your browser version):

1. Open Internet Explorer, then tap More, then Settings.
2. Now you can check or uncheck the Allow cookies box.