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 utility of the cookie is that the web is able to remember your visit when you go back to that page. Although many people do not know, 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, nor a Trojan, nor a worm, nor spam, nor spyware, nor does it open pop-up windows.
What information does a cookie store?
The cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or bank details, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they store are technical, personal preferences, personalisation of content, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person but your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the website does not realise that you are the same person because it is actually associating the browser, not the person.
What kind of cookies are there?
- Cookies techniques: These are the most elementary 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.
- Cookies analysis: They collect information about the type of navigation you are doing, the sections you use most, products consulted, time of use, language, etc.
- Cookies advertising: They show advertising according to your navigation, your country of origin, language, etc.
What are your own cookies and those of third parties?
Own cookies are those generated by the page you are visiting and from third parties are those generated by external services or suppliers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
What happens if I deactivate the cookies?
To help you understand the extent to which you can deactivate the cookies we show you some examples:
- You may not 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 is often the case in online shops.
- You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as ‘My account’ or ‘My profile’ or ‘My orders’.
- Online shops: It will be impossible for you to make purchases online, they will have to be by telephone or by visiting the physical shop if you have one.
- It will not be possible 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 web traffic, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
- You may not write on the blog, 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 display sectorised advertising, which will reduce the advertising revenue of the website.
- All social networks use cookies, if you disable them you will not be able to use any social network.
Can cookies be eliminated?
Yes, not only delete, but also block, in a general or particular way for a specific domain.
To remove the cookies of a website you must go to your browser settings and there you can search for the ones associated to the domain in question and proceed to their removal.
Configuration of cookies for the most popular browsers
Here’s how to access a particular cookie from the browser Chrome. Note: these steps may vary depending on your browser version:
- Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking on the customisation icon 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 sorted by domain. To make it easier for you to find the cookies of a certain domain, enter partially or totally the address in the field Search for cookies.
- After making this filter, one or more lines will appear on the screen with the cookies of the requested website. Now you only have to select it and press the X to proceed to its elimination.
To access the settings of cookies of the browser Internet Explorer follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser)
- Go to Tools, Internet options
- Click on Privacy.
- Move the slider to the desired privacy level.
To access the settings of cookies of the browser Firefox follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser)
- Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
- Click on Privacy.
- In History choose Use custom history settings.
- Now you will see the option Accept cookies, you can activate or deactivate it according to your preferences.
To access the cookies settings of the Safari for OSX browser follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser)
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- In this place you will see the option Block Cookies to set the type of blocking you want to do.
To access the cookies settings of the Safari for iOS browser follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser)
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy and Security, you will see the option Block Cookies to set the type of blocking you want to do.
To access the browser’s cookies settings for Android devices follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version)
- Run the browser and press the Menu, then Settings.
- Go to Security and Privacy, you will see the option Accept cookies for you to check or uncheck the box.
To access the browser settings for cookies devices Windows Phone 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 box Allow cookies.