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 do not know it, cookies have been used for 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, nor does it open pop-up windows.

What information does a cookie store?

Cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or banking details, photos, your ID number, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, personal preferences, content personalization, 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 browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realize you are the same person, because it is actually associating the visit with the browser, not the person.

What types of cookies exist?

• Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, knowing when a human is browsing versus an automated application, when an anonymous user is browsing versus a registered user, and carrying out basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website.
• Analytics cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products viewed, time of use, language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: They display advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

First-party cookies are those generated by the page you are visiting, and third-party cookies are those 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 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 common 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: You will not be able to make online purchases; you would have to do so by phone or by visiting the physical store, if 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, making it harder for the website 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 tell whether you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
• Targeted advertising will not be shown, 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. Not only can they be deleted, 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. There you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

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 using the File menu, or by clicking the customization icon at the top right.
2. You will see different sections; click Show advanced settings.
3. Go to Privacy and Content settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. A list will appear with all cookies sorted by domain. 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 filtering, one or more entries for the requested website will appear. Simply select it and click the X to delete it.

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

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

To access the cookies settings in Firefox, 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; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.

To access the cookies settings in Safari for OSX, 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 to set the type of blocking you want.

To access the cookies settings in Safari for iOS, 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 set the type of blocking you want.

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

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

To access the cookies settings in 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.