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 website is able to remember your visit when you re-navigate that page. Although many people don’t know it cookies have been used for 20 years, when the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.

What is not a cookie?

It’s not a virus, or a Trojan, or a worm, or spam, or spyware, or pop-up windows.

What information a cookie stores?

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 of a technical nature, personal preferences, customization of content, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person but your web browser. In fact, if you regularly browse with Internet Explorer and try browsing the same web with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the web does not realize that you are the same person because you are actually associating the browser, not the person.

What types of cookies are there?

  • Technical cookies: They are the most elementary and allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is navigating, when an anonymous user and a registered user navigate, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic web.
  • Analysis cookies: They collect information about the type of navigation you are doing, the sections you use most, products consulted, time zone of use, language, etc.
  • Advertising cookies: They show advertising according to your navigation, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are “own cookies” and “third party cookies”?

The own cookies are those generated by the page you are visiting and those of third parties 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 scope 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 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, or My profile or My orders.
  • Online shops: It will be impossible for you to make purchases online, they will have to be telephone or visiting the physical store if you have it.
  • It will not be possible to customize your geographical preferences as a time zone, currency or language.
  • The website will not be able to perform web analytics on visitors and web traffic, making it difficult for the web to be competitive.
  • You will not be able to write on the blog, you will not be able to upload photos, post comments, rate or rate content. Nor will the web be able to tell if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
  • It will not be possible to show sectored advertising, which will reduce the advertising revenue of the web.
  • All social networks use cookies, if you disable them you cannot use any social network.

Can I delete cookies?

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

To remove cookies from a website you must go to your browser settings and there you can search for cookies associated with the domain in question and proceed to their removal.

Setting cookies for the most popular browsers

Google Chrome

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More Moreand then Settings.
  3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  4. Under “Privacy and security,” click Site settings.
  5. Click Cookies.
  6. From here, you can:
    • Turn on cookies: Next to “Blocked,” turn on the switch.
    • Turn off cookies: Turn off Allow sites to save and read cookie data.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Click the menu button and select Content Blocking.
  2. The Privacy & Security panel of Firefox Options will open. (This is where you can view your settings for Content Blocking, which includes cookies.)
  3. If Standard is selected, it means that you are using the default settings for content blocking and cookies are enabled.

    To block cookies: Select the Custom radio button and select the Cookies checkbox.

    Third-Party Trackers is the default setting for blocking cookies. Use the drop-down menu to change the type of cookies blocked. Note that disabling cookies can cause problems with websites.

    To enable all cookies, do one of the following:

    • Select the Custom radio button and deselect the Cookies checkbox.
    • Alternatively, select Standard to restore the default settings.

     

Microsoft Edge (How to disable all cookies)

  1. Click on the More actions button in the top right corner and select Settings.
  2. Click View Advanced Settings. You’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page.
  3. Press the dropdown arrow under the Cookies field.
  4. Select Block All Cookies.

Microsoft Edge (How to disable third-party cookies)

  1. Click on the More actions button in the top right corner and select Settings.
  2. Click View Advanced Settings. You’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page.
  3. Press the dropdown arrow under the Cookies field.
  4. Select Block Only Third Party Cookies.
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