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 can remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people are unaware, 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, a worm, spam, spyware, or 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, photos, your ID, or personal information, etc. The data they keep is of a technical nature, personal preferences, content personalization, 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 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 types of cookies are there?

• 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 and a registered user is browsing, basic tasks for the functioning of any dynamic web.
• Analysis cookies: These collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use the most, products consulted, time band of use, language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: These show advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are own cookies and third-party cookies?

• Own cookies: These are generated by the page you are visiting.
• Third-party cookies: These are generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

To help you understand the extent to which cookies can be deactivated, 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 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, My profile, or My orders.
• Online stores: It will be impossible for you to make purchases online, they will have to be telephone or visiting the physical store if there is 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, making it difficult for the web 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 publishes spam.
• Sectorized advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
• All social networks use cookies, if you disable them you will not be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be deleted?

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

To delete cookies from a website, you must go to the configuration of your browser and there you can search for the ones associated with the domain in question and proceed to their elimination.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Here is how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: these steps may vary depending on the version of the browser:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon at 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 with all cookies ordered by domain will appear. To make it easier for you to find the cookies of a specific domain, enter partially or completely the address in the Search cookies field.
6. After performing this filter, one or several lines with the cookies of the requested web will appear on the screen. Now just select it and press the X to proceed with its elimination.

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

1. Go to Tools, Internet Options.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you want.

To access the cookie settings of the Firefox browser, follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):

1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. In 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 (may vary depending on the browser version):

1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
2. Here you will see the option Block cookies to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.

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

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

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

1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
2. Now you can activate or deactivate the Allow cookies box.