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 purpose of the cookie is to allow the website to remember your visit when you navigate to that page again. Although many people do not know it, cookies have been used for 20 years, since the first web browsers appeared.

What is NOT a cookie?

It is not a virus, a Trojan horse, a worm, spam, spyware, or a pop-up ad.

What information does a cookie store?

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

The web server does not associate you as a person but rather with your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse the same site with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not recognize you as the same person because it is actually associating with the browser, not the individual.

What types of cookies exist?

  • Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, to determine when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user and a registered user are navigating, and perform basic tasks for the functioning of any dynamic website.
  • Analytics cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use the most, products consulted, time of use, language, etc.
  • Advertising cookies: They display ads based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are first-party cookies and third-party cookies?

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

What happens if I disable cookies?

To understand the impact of disabling cookies, 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 tailor content to your personal preferences, as is often the case in online stores.
  • You will not be able to access the personal area of the website, such as My Account, My Profile, or My Orders.
  • Online stores: You will be unable to make purchases online; you will need to do so by phone or by visiting the physical store if one is available.
  • It will not be possible to customize your geographic preferences, such as time zone, currency, or language.
  • The website will not be able to perform web analytics on visitors and traffic, which will make it harder for the site to remain competitive.
  • You will not be able to write in the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or score content. The website will also not be able to determine 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. You can not only delete cookies but also block them, either generally or for a specific domain.

To delete cookies from a website, you need to go to your browser’s settings where you can search for the cookies associated with the specific domain and proceed to delete them.

Below we explain 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 through the File menu or by clicking the customization icon that appears in the upper right corner.
  2. You will see different sections; click on the “Show advanced options” option.
  3. Go to Privacy, then Content settings.
  4. Select All cookies and site data.
  5. A list will appear with all the cookies organized by domain. To make it easier to find cookies from a specific domain, enter the address partially or fully in the Search cookies field.
  6. After applying this filter, one or more lines with the cookies from the requested website will appear on the screen. Now you just need to select it and click the X to proceed with its deletion.

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

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

To access the cookie settings in 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. In History, choose Use custom settings for history.
  4. You will now see the option Accept cookies; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.

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

  1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
  2. Here you will see the option to Block cookies, where you can adjust the type of blocking you wish to apply.

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

  1. Go to Settings, then Safari.
  2. Go to Privacy Security, and you will see the option Block Cookies to adjust the type of blocking you want to apply.

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

  1. Open the browser and tap the Menu key, then Settings.
  2. Go to Security and Privacy, and you will see the Accept cookies option to enable or disable it.

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

  1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings
  2. You can now enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.