What is a cookie?
A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The cookie's usefulness is that the website is able to remember your visit when you go back to navigate that page. While many people are not aware of this, cookies have been used for 20 years, when the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.
What a cookie is not.
A cookie is not a virus, it's not a Trojan, it's not a worm, it's not spam, it's not spyware and it doesn't open pop-up windows.
What information does a cookie store?
Cookies do not typically store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or bank data, photographs, your ID card or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, personal preferences, content customisation, etc. The web server is not associated with you as a person, but with your web browser. In fact, if you usually surf the web with Internet Explorer and try browsing the same site with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the site does not realise that you are the same person because it is actually associated with the browser, not the person.
What types of cookies are there?
Technical cookies: They are the most elementary and allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is surfing, when an anonymous and a registered user is surfing and basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website. Analysis cookies: They collect information on the type of browsing you are carrying out, the sections you use most, products consulted, in what time zone, language, etc. Advertising cookies: They display advertising based on their navigation, country of origin, language, etc.
What are proprietary and third-party cookies?
Proprietary 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 if I disable cookies?
To understand the extent to which cookies can be disabled, here are a few examples:
- It will not be possible to customise your geographic preferences such as time zone, currency or language.
- The website will not be able to perform web analytics on visitors and web traffic, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
Can cookies be deleted?
Yes. Not only deleted, but also blocked, generally or specifically for a certain domain. To delete cookies from a website, you must go to your browser's settings and there you can search for the cookies associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.