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 usefulness of cookie is that the web is able to remember your visit when you return to navigate this page. Although many people do not know the cookies have been in use for 20 years, when the first browsers for the World Wide Web appears.
What IS NOT a cookie?
It is not a virus or a Trojan, not a worm, or spam or spyware, or open pop-up windows.
What information stores a cookie?
The cookies not often store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank account information, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. Data stored are technical, personal preferences, content personalization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person but your web browser. In fact, if you regularly browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse the same web with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the web does not realize that you are the same person because it is actually associating the browser, not the person.
What kind of cookies are there?
- Techniques Cookies: They are the most basic and allow, among other things, to know when you are browsing a human or an automated application, when an anonymous user navigates and one registered, basic tasks for running any dynamic web.
- Analysis Cookies analysis: Collect information on the type of navigation being done, the sections most used, consulted products, time period of use, language, etc.
- Advertising Cookies: display advertising based on your navigation, your country of origin, language, etc.
What are own cookies own and those third-party?
The own cookies are those generated by the page you’re visiting and third-party are generated by services or external providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
What happens if I disable the cookies?
To understand the scope that can have disable cookies we show some examples:
- You can not share content of those site on Facebook, Twitter or any other social network.
- The web site will not adapt content to your personal preferences, as often happens in online stores.
- You will not be able to access the personal area of that web, such as My Account, or My Profile or My orders.
- Online shops: it will be impossible to make purchases online, you will have to telephone or visiting the physical store if they have it..
- Not possible to customize your geographic preferences as time zone, currency or language.
- The website can not perform web analytics about visitors and web traffic, making it difficult to be competitive anywhere.
- You can not write on the blog, you can not upload photos, post comments, evaluate or rate content. The web may not know whether you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
- No advertising may show sectioned, reducing advertising revenue from the web.
- All social networks use cookies, if disabled you can not use any social network.
Can I delete cookies?
Yes. Not only eliminate, also block, general or particular to a specific domain.
To remove cookies from a website should go to your browser settings and there you can find the associated domain in question and proceed to its elimination.
Configuring cookies for most popular browsers
Here’s how to access a particular cookie in browser Chrome. Note: These steps may vary depending on the browser version:
- Go to Settings or Preferences via the File Menu or by clicking the icon customization that appears above right.
- You’ll see different sections, click the option Show Advanced Options.
- Go to Privacy, Content setting .
- Select All cookies and site data.
- A list of all cookies appears ordered by domain. To make you easier to find the cookies of a specific domain partial or fully enter the address in the field Search cookies.
- After making this filter will appear on the screen one or more lines with cookies of the requested web. Now just select it and press the X to proceed with removal.
To access the configuration cookies of the browser Internet Explorer follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Tools, Internet Options.
- Click on Privacy.
- Move the slider to adjust the level of privacy you want.
To access the configuration cookies of the browser Firefox follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
- Click on Privacy.
- In History choose Use custom settings for history.
- You will now see the option to accept cookies, you can turn on or off according to your preferences.
To access the configuration cookies of the browser Safari for OSX follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- Here you will see the option Block cookies to fit the type of lock to perform.
To access the configuration cookies of the browser Safari for iOS follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy and Security, see the option Block cookies to fit the type of lock to perform.
To access the configuration cookies of browsers for Android devices follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):
- Run the browser and press Menu, then Settings.
- Go to Security and Privacy, see the option Accept cookies to check or uncheck the box.
To access the configuration cookies of browser for Windows Phone devices follow these steps (may vary depending on the browser version):
- Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
- Now you can enable or disable the box Allow cookies.
