More Information about Cookies

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 utility of the cookie is that the website is able to remember your visit when you return to browse that page. Although many people do not know it, cookies have been used for 20 years, when the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.

What is NOT a cookie?

It is not a virus, nor a Trojan horse, nor a worm, nor spam, nor 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 bank details, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they store is of a technical nature, personal preferences, personalization of content, etc. The web server does not associate you as a person but rather your web browser. In fact, if you regularly browse with Internet Explorer and try browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realize that you are the same person because it is actually associating the browser, not the person.

What kind of cookies exist?

Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user and a registered user are browsing, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic website. Analysis cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use the most, products consulted, time slot of use, language, etc. Advertising cookies: They show advertising based on your browsing, your country of origin, language, etc.

What are own and third-party cookies?

Own 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?

In order for you to understand the scope that deactivating cookies can have, we show you 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 the contents 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, or My profile or My orders. Online stores: It will be impossible for you to make purchases online, they will have to be by phone or by visiting the physical store if you have one. It will not be possible to customize your geographical 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. You will not be able to write on the blog, you will not be able to upload photos, post comments, rate or rate content. The web will also not be able to know if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam. It will not be possible to show sectorized advertising, which will reduce the advertising revenue of the web. All social networks use cookies, if you deactivate them you will not be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not only delete, but also block, in a general or particular way for a specific domain. To delete cookies from a website, you must go to your browser settings and there you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers:

We refer to the following Avast article for the activation and deactivation of cookies in the different browsers.