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 for the website to remember your visit when you return to that page. Although many people don’t 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, a Trojan horse, a worm, spam, spyware, or a pop-up window.
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, or personal information, etc. The data they store is of a technical nature, such as personal preferences, content customization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as an individual, but rather with your web browser. In fact, if you normally browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse 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 person.
What types of cookies exist?
- Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user is browsing, and when a registered user is browsing—basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.
- Analysis cookies: These collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products viewed, time zone of use, language, etc.
- Advertising cookies: These show ads 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 page 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 potential implications of disabling cookies, here are some examples:
- You won’t be able to share content from that website on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network.
- The website won’t be able to adapt content to your personal preferences, as is often the case with online stores.
- You won’t be able to access the personal area of that website, such as My Account, My Profile, or My Orders.
- Online stores: You won’t be able to make online purchases; they will have to be made by phone or by visiting the physical store, if one is available.
- You won’t be able to customize your geographic preferences, such as time zone, currency, or language.
- The website won’t be able to perform web analytics on visitors and website traffic, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
- You won’t be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate, or rate content. The website also won’t be able to tell if you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
- Targeted advertising won’t be displayed, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
- All social networks use cookies; if you disable them, you won’t be able to use any social network.
Can cookies be deleted?
Yes. Not only delete them, but also block them, either generally or specifically for a specific domain.
To delete cookies from a website, go to your browser’s settings. There you can search for those associated with the domain in question and delete them.
Cookie settings for the most popular browsers
Here’s 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 in the top right corner.
- You’ll see different sections; click Show advanced options.
- Go to Privacy, then Content settings.
- Select All cookies and site data.
- A list of all cookies sorted by domain will appear. To make it easier to find cookies from a specific domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search cookies field.
- After applying this filter, one or more lines will appear on the screen with the cookies from the requested website. Now simply select it and click the X to delete it.
To access the cookie settings in Internet Explorer, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Tools, Internet Options,
- And then click Privacy.
- Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you want.
To access the cookie settings in 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.
- Under History, choose Use custom settings for history.
- You will now see the Accept cookies option; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari browser for OS X, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- There, you will see the Block cookies option, where you can adjust the type of blocking you want.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari browser for iOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy & Security. You will see the Block cookies option, where you can adjust the type of blocking you want.
To access the browser’s cookie settings for Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Launch the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
- Go to Security & Privacy, where you will see the Accept cookies option, so you can select or deselect the checkbox.
To access the browser’s cookie settings for Windows Phone devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
- Now you can select or deselect the Allow cookies checkbox.
