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 a cookie is to enable the website to remember your visit when you return to browse that page again. Although many people are unaware of it, cookies have been used for over 20 years, since the first web browsers appeared for the World Wide Web.

 

What is NOT a cookie?

It is not a virus, a trojan, a worm, spam, spyware, or pop-up windows.

 

What information does a cookie store?

Cookies usually do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank data, photographs, your ID, or personal information, etc.
The data they store is of a technical 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 access the same website using Firefox or Chrome, you’ll see that the website doesn’t recognize you as the same person, because it’s actually associating the browser, not the person.

 

What types of cookies are there?

Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, to know whether a human or an automated application is browsing, whether it’s an anonymous or registered user, and perform basic tasks necessary for the operation of any dynamic website.
Analytics cookies: These collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products viewed, time zone of use, language, etc.
Advertising cookies: These show advertisements based on your browsing, country of origin, language, etc.

 

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

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

 

What happens if I disable cookies?

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

You won’t be able to share content from that website on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network.
The website won’t be able to adapt its content to your personal preferences, as is often the case with online stores.
You won’t be able to access your personal area on the website, such as My Account, My Profile, or My Orders.
Online stores: You won’t be able to make purchases online, and would have to do so by phone or by visiting the physical store if available.
You won’t be able to customize your geographic preferences such as time zone, currency, or language.
The website won’t be able to perform web analytics on visitors and traffic, which will make it harder for the site to stay competitive.
You won’t be able to post on the blog, upload photos, comment, rate or review content. The site also won’t be able to tell whether you are a human or an automated application that posts spam.
Sector-specific advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the site’s advertising revenue.
All social networks use cookies, so if you disable them, you won’t be able to use any social network.

 

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. You can not only delete them but also block them either globally or for a specific domain.

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

 

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Below is how to access a specific cookie in Google Chrome. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:

Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the top right.
You will see different sections; click on Show advanced options.
Go to Privacy, then Content settings.
Select All cookies and site data.
A list of all cookies sorted by domain will appear. To make it easier to find the cookies for a specific domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search cookies field.
After applying this filter, one or more lines with the website’s cookies will appear. Now just select it and click the X to delete it.

To access the cookie settings in Internet Explorer (steps may vary depending on the version):

Go to Tools, then Internet Options
Click on Privacy.
Move the slider to set the level of privacy you want.

To access the cookie settings in Firefox (steps may vary depending on the version):

Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
Click on Privacy.
In History, choose Use custom settings for history.
Now you’ll see the Accept cookies option, which you can enable or disable according to your preferences.

To access the cookie settings in Safari for OSX (steps may vary depending on the version):

Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
There you’ll see the Block cookies option where you can choose the type of blocking you want.

To access the cookie settings in Safari for iOS (steps may vary depending on the version):

Go to Settings, then Safari.
Go to Privacy and Security, where you’ll see the Block cookies option to adjust the type of blocking you want.

To access the cookie settings in Android devices (steps may vary depending on the version):

Open the browser and press the Menu key, then go to Settings.
Go to Security and Privacy, where you’ll find the Accept cookies option to enable or disable it.

To access the cookie settings in Windows Phone devices (steps may vary depending on the version):

Open Internet Explorer, then tap More, then Settings
You can now enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.