What is a cookie?

A  cookie  is a harmless text file   that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any web page. The usefulness of the  cookie  is that the web is able to remember your visit when you return to browse that page. 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, not a Trojan, not a worm, not spam, not spyware, nor does it open pop-up windows.

What information does a cookie store  ?

The  cookies  not often store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank account information, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they keep is of a technical nature, personal preferences, personalization of content, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person but with your web browser. In fact, if you regularly 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 it is actually associating the browser, not the person.

What type of  cookies  are there?

  •  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 navigation you are doing, the sections you use the 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   own and third party cookies ?

The  party cookies  are those generated by the page you’re visiting and  third  are generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable  cookies ?

In order for you to understand the scope of disabling  cookies,  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 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 by telephone or visiting the physical store if you have 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 web, which will make it difficult for the web 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 web will also not be able to know if you are a human or an automated application that publishes  spam .
  • It will not be possible to show sectorized advertising, which will reduce the advertising revenue of the web.
  • All social networks use  cookies , if you deactivate them you will not be able to use any social network.

Can you delete  cookies ?

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

To eliminate  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 eliminate them.

Here’s 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 the personalization icon that appears on the top right.
  2. You will see different sections, click the option  Show advanced options .
  3. Go to  Privacy ,  Content Settings .
  4. Select  All cookies and site data .
  5. A list will appear with all the  cookies  ordered by domain. To make it easier for you to find the  cookies  of a certain domain, enter the address partially or completely in the Search for cookies field  .
  6. After performing this filter, one or more lines with the cookies  of the requested web will appear on the screen  . Now you just have to select it and press the  X  to proceed with its elimination.

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 level of privacy you want.

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 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):

  1. Go to  Preferences , then  Privacy .
  2. In this place you will see the option  Block cookies  so that you can adjust the type of block 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 , you will see the option  Block cookies  to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.

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

  1. Launch the browser and press the Menu key  , then  Settings .
  2. Go to  Security and Privacy , you will see the option  Accept cookies  to enable or disable the box.

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

  1. Open  Internet Explorer , then  More , then  Settings
  2. You can now enable or disable the Allow cookies box  .