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 to allow the website to remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people don’t know it, cookies have been in use for 20 years, dating back to the early days of the World Wide Web.

What is NOT a Cookie?

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

What Information Does a Cookie Store?

Cookies typically do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank data, photos, your ID card, or personal information, etc. The data they store is of a technical nature, personal preferences, content customization, and more.

The webserver doesn’t associate you as a person but rather your web browser. In fact, if you typically browse with Internet Explorer and then try to browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you’ll notice that the website doesn’t recognize you as the same person. It associates the browser, not the individual.

What Types of Cookies Exist?

• Technical Cookies: These are the most basic cookies that perform tasks like distinguishing between human and automated browsing, determining if a user is anonymous or registered, and other essential functions for the operation of any dynamic website.
• Analytical Cookies: These gather information about the type of browsing you’re doing, which sections you use the most, products viewed, usage time, language, and more.
• Advertising Cookies: These display advertisements based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are First-Party and Third-Party Cookies?

First-party cookies are generated by the page you are visiting, while third-party cookies are generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What Happens if I Deactivate Cookies?

To understand the impact of disabling cookies, here are some examples:

• You won’t be able to share website content on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network.
• The website won’t be able to tailor content to your personal preferences, as is common in online stores.
• You won’t be able to access the personal area of the website, such as My Account, My Profile, or My Orders.
• Online shopping will be impossible, and you’ll need to make purchases via phone or by visiting a physical store if available.
• You won’t be able to customize your geographical preferences, such as time zone, currency, or language.
• The website won’t be able to perform web analytics regarding visitors and traffic, making it harder for the website to remain competitive.
• You won’t be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or review content. The website also won’t be able to distinguish between human users and automated applications that generate spam.
• Targeted advertising will not be displayed, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
• All social networks use cookies, so if you disable them, you won’t be able to use any social network.

Can You Delete Cookies?

Yes, you can not only delete but also block cookies, either in a general or site-specific manner.

To delete cookies from a website, you need to go to your browser’s settings and find cookies associated with that specific domain and proceed to delete them.

Cookie Settings for Popular Browsers

Here’s how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences through the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the top right.
2. You will see different sections; click on Advanced Options.
3. Go to Privacy, Content Settings.
4. Select All Cookies and Site Data.
5. A list of all cookies, sorted by domain, will appear. To make it easier to find cookies for a specific domain, enter all or part of the address in the Search Cookies field.
6. After applying this filter, one or more lines will appear on the screen with the cookies of the requested website. Now you just need to select it and press the X to proceed with its deletion.

For Internet Explorer:

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

For Firefox:

1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. In History, select Use Custom Settings for History.
4. You will now see the Accept Cookies option. You can enable or disable them according to your preferences.

For Safari (OSX):

1. Go to Preferences, Privacy.
2. In this place, you will see the Block Cookies option to set the type of blocking you want to perform.

For Safari (iOS):

1. Go to Settings, Safari.
2. Go to Privacy and Security, where you will see the Block Cookies option to set the type of blocking you want to perform.

For Android devices:

1. Run the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
2. Go to Security and Privacy, where you will see the Accept Cookies option to enable or disable the checkbox.

For Windows Phone devices:

Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings. 2. Now you can enable or disable the Allow Cookies checkbox.

Please note that the steps may vary depending on the browser version you’re using.

This is the general information about cookies and how to manage them in different web browsers. If you have any specific questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask.