More Information About Cookies

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 purpose of the cookie is for the website to be able to remember your visit when you return to browse that page. Although many people do not know this, 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, Trojan, 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 data, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they store is of a technical nature, personal preferences, content personalization, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person, but rather associates your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and then try to browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realize 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, among other things, allow us to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user or a registered user is browsing, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic web page.
Analytics cookies: They collect information on the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products viewed, time slots of use, language, etc.
Advertising cookies: They show advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

First-party cookies are those generated by the website 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 adapt the contents to your personal preferences, as often happens in online shops.
You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as My account, My profile, or My orders.
Online shops: It will be impossible for you to make online purchases; they would have to be made by phone or by visiting the physical shop if it exists.
It will not be possible to personalize your geographic preferences such as time zone, currency, or language.
The website will not be able to perform web analytics about visitors and web traffic, making it difficult for the website to be competitive.
You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or score content. The website will also not be able to know if you are a human or an automated application that posts 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 deleted, but also blocked, generally or for a specific domain.

To delete the cookies of a website, you must go to your browser settings and there you can search for the cookies associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.

Cookie Settings for the Most Popular Browsers

Below we indicate how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:

Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon that appears 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 cookies ordered by domain. To make it easier for you to find cookies from a specific domain, enter all or part of the address in the Search cookies field.
After applying this filter, one or several lines will appear on the screen with the cookies of the requested website. Now you just have to select it and press the X to proceed with its deletion.

To access the cookie settings of Internet Explorer, 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 level of privacy you want.

To access the cookie settings of Firefox, 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.
You will now see the option Accept cookies, which you can activate or deactivate according to your preferences.

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

Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
There you will see the option Block cookies so you can adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.

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

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

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

Run the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
Go to Security & Privacy, you will see the option Accept cookies so you can check or uncheck the box.

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

Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
You can now check or uncheck the Allow cookies box.