What is a cookie?
A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any webpage. The utility of the cookie is that the web is able to remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people do not know it, 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, nor a Trojan, nor a worm, nor spam, nor spyware, nor does it open pop-up windows.
What information does a cookie store?
Cookies usually do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or bank details, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they save are of a technical nature, personal preferences, content customization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person but to your web browser. In fact, if you regularly 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 type of cookies are there?
Technical cookies: They are the most basic and allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user and a registered one are browsing, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic web.
Analysis cookies: Collect information about the type of navigation you are carrying out, the sections you use the most, consulted products, usage time frame, language, etc.
Advertising cookies: Show advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.
Customization cookies: These are those that allow the user to access the service with some general predefined characteristics based on a series of criteria in the user’s terminal such as the language or the type of browser through which the service is accessed.
What are first-party cookies and those of 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 understand the scope that can have disabling cookies we show you some examples:
- You will not be able to share content from that web on Facebook, Twitter or any other social network.
- The website will not be able to adapt the contents to your personal preferences, as usually happens in online stores.
- You will not be able to access the personal area of that web, such as My account, or My profile or My orders.
- Online stores: It will be impossible to make online purchases, they will have to be by phone or visiting the physical store if it has one.
- It will not be possible to personalize 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, which will make 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. 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 show sectorized advertising, which will reduce the advertising revenues of the web.
- 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, also block, in general or particular for a specific domain.
You can access the configuration of the most frequent web browsers to accept, install or disable cookies:
Configure cookies in Google Chrome
Configure cookies in Microsoft Internet Explorer