more information about cookies_

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit just about any website. The purpose of the cookie is to allow the website to remember your visit when you visit the page again. Although many people are unaware of it, cookies have been used for 20 years, since the appearance of the first browsers for the World Wide Web.

What ISN’T a cookie?

It isn’t a virus, a trojan, a worm, spam, spyware, or a pop-up opener.

What information is stored in a cookie?

Cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, your credit cards or bank information, photographs, your ID card (DNI) or personal information, etc. The data that is stored is technical in nature, personal preferences, personalization of content, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person, but rather your web browser. In fact, if you normally browse with Internet Explorer and try visiting 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 associated with the browser and not the person.

What types of cookies are there?

  • Technical Cookies: These are the most basic type and they allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous or registered user is browsing, basic tasks for the functioning of any dynamic website.
  • Analytical Cookies: These collect information on the type of browsing that is being done, the sections that are used most frequently, products consulted, time-zone of use, language, etc.
  • Advertising Cookies: These display advertising based on your browsing, country of origin, language, etc.

What are proprietary and third-party cookies?

Proprietary cookies are those that are generated by the page that you are visiting, and third-party cookies are the ones that are generated by external providers like Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What will happen if I turn off cookies?

To understand the impact that turning off cookies may have, here are a few 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 is normally the case in online stores.
  • You won’t be able to access the personal area of the website, such as My account, or My profile or My orders.
  • Online stores: It will be impossible to make purchases online; they will have to be by phone or going to the physical store, if there is one.
  • You won’t be able to personalize your geographic preferences, such as time-zone, currency or language.
  • The website will be unable to carry out analyses of visitors and its web traffic, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
  • You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, publish comments, evaluate or rate content. The website also won’t know if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
  • It will not be possible to display sectorized advertising, which will reduce the advertising income of the website.
  • All social networks use cookies; if you turn them off you won’t be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not just deleted, but also blocked, generally or specifically for a specific domain.

To delete the cookies of a website, go to the browser configuration and look for the cookies associated with the domain in question, and then delete them.