More info about 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 purpose of the cookie is to allow the website to remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people don’t know it, cookies have been used for 20 years since the first web 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 usually do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or bank details, photographs, your ID card, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, personal preferences, content customization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person, but rather 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 with the browser, not the person.

What types of cookies exist?

Technical cookies: These are the most basic ones and allow, among other things, to know whether a human or an automated application is browsing, whether an anonymous or a registered user is browsing. These are basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.
Analytics cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use the most, consulted products, time of use, language, etc.
Advertising cookies: They display advertising based on your browsing, country of origin, language, etc.

What are first-party cookies and third-party cookies?

First-party cookies are generated by the page you are visiting, and third-party cookies are generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

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 usually happens 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: You will not be able to make online purchases; they will have to be done by phone or by visiting the physical store if it has one.
You will not be able 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 website traffic, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
You will not be able to write in the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or review content. The website will also not be able to determine if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
Targeted advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
All social networks use cookies, so if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not only can they be deleted, but they can also be blocked, either in a general way or specifically for a particular domain.
To delete cookies from a website, you must go to your browser’s settings and search for the ones associated with the specific domain and proceed to delete them.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Below, we indicate how to access specific cookie settings for the Chrome browser. Note: These steps may vary depending on the browser version:

Go to Settings or Preferences through the File menu or by clicking the customization icon located at the top right.
You will see different sections, click on the option Show advanced options.
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 to find the cookies for a specific domain, enter either part or the entire address in the Search cookies field.
After applying this filter, one or several lines with the website’s cookies will appear on the screen. Now, you just have to select them and click the X to proceed with their deletion.

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

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

To access cookie settings for 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 on Privacy.
In History, choose Use custom settings for history.
Now you will see the option Accept cookies; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.

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

Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
In this place, you will see the option Block cookies to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.

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

Go to Settings, then Safari.
Go to Privacy & Security; you will see the option Block cookies to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.

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

Open the browser and press the Menu key, then go to Settings.
Go to Security and Privacy; you will see the option Accept cookies to activate or deactivate the checkbox.

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

Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
Now you can enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.