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 the cookie is for the website to be able to remember your visit when you return to 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 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 do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or bank details, photos, your ID, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, personal preferences, content customization, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person but rather 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 realize that you are the same person because it is actually associating with 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 Browse, when an anonymous user and a registered user are Browse—basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.
• Analysis cookies: They collect information about the type of Browse you are doing, the sections you use most, products consulted, time slot of use, language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: They display advertising based on your Browse, 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 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 content to your personal preferences, as often happens 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 stores: It will be impossible for you to make online purchases; they will have to be by phone or by visiting the physical store if one is available.
• 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 website traffic, which will make it difficult for the website 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 tell if you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
• Targeted 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 deleted, but also blocked, either generally or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete cookies from a website, you must go to your browser settings, and there you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Below, we show you how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the top right.
2. You will see different sections; click the Show advanced options option.
3. Go to Privacy, Content settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. A list will appear with all cookies ordered by domain. To make it easier to find the cookies of a specific domain, partially or fully enter the address in the Search cookies field.
6. After performing this filter, one or more lines with the cookies of the requested website will appear on the screen. Now you just have to select it and press the X to proceed with its deletion.

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

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

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

1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. Under History, choose Use custom settings for history.
4. Now you will see the Accept cookies option; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.

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

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

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

1. Go to Settings, then Safari.
2. Go to Privacy & Security, you will see the Block cookies option to adjust the type of blocking you want to perform.

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

1. Launch the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
2. Go to Security & Privacy, you will see the Accept cookies option to check or uncheck the box.

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

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