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 allow the website to remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people do not know it, cookies have been used for the past 20 years, since the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.

What is NOT a cookie?

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

What information does a cookie store?

Cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank details, photographs, ID numbers, or personal information. The data they store is generally technical in nature, such as personal preferences, content customization, and similar information.

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

What types of cookies exist?

• Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, the website to know whether a human or an automated application is browsing, whether an anonymous or registered user is browsing, and to perform essential tasks 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 slots of use, language, and more.
• Advertising cookies: These display advertising based on your browsing habits, country of origin, language, and similar factors.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

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

What happens if I disable cookies?

To help you understand the impact that disabling cookies may have, 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 its content to your personal preferences, as is often the case in online stores.
• You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as My Account, My Profile, or My Orders.
• Online stores: It will be impossible to make purchases online; they will have to be made by phone or by visiting the physical store, if one exists.
• 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 on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate, or score content. The website will also not be able to determine whether 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, so if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not only can they be deleted, but they can also be blocked, either generally or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete cookies from a website, you must go to your browser settings, where you can find those associated with the relevant domain and proceed with their deletion.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Below is 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 from the File menu, or by clicking the customization icon in the top right corner.
2. You will see different sections; click Show advanced settings.
3. Go to Privacy, then Content settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. A list of all cookies organized 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.
6. After applying this filter, one or more lines with the cookies from the requested website will appear on screen. You only need to select the cookie and click the X to delete it.

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

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

To access 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 Privacy.
3. Under History, choose Use custom settings for history.
4. You will now see the Accept cookies option, which you can enable or disable according to your preferences.

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

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

To access cookie settings in 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, where you will see the Block cookies option to adjust the type of blocking you want.

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

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

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

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