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 enable the website to remember your visit when you return to that page. Although many people are unaware of it, cookies have been in use 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 or spyware, and it does not 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 card or personal information, etc. The data they store are technical in nature, personal preferences, content personalisation, 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 browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realise that you are the same person, because it is actually associating the browser, not the person.
What types of cookies are there?
- Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, the website to know when a human or an automated application is browsing, or when an anonymous user or a registered user is browsing; these are basic 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 of use, language, etc.
- Advertising cookies: These 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 possible consequences 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 adapt its content to your personal preferences, as usually happens in online shops.
- You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as My account, My profile or My orders.
- Online shops: You will be unable to make online purchases; they will have to be made by telephone or by visiting the physical shop, if there is one.
- It will not be possible to customise your geographical preferences, such as time zone, currency or language.
- The website will not be able to carry out web analytics on visitors and traffic, which will make it harder for the website to be competitive.
- You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, or rate or score content. Nor will the website be able to tell whether you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
- It will not be possible to display targeted advertising, 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. They can not only be deleted but also blocked, either generally or specifically for a particular domain.
To delete a website's cookies, go to your browser settings, where you can search for those associated with the domain in question and 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:
- Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customisation icon at the top right.
- You will see different sections; click the Show advanced settings option.
- Go to Privacy, Content settings.
- Select All cookies and site data.
- A list of all cookies sorted by domain will appear. To make it easier to find the cookies for a particular domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search cookies field.
- After applying this filter, one or more lines with the cookies of the requested website will appear on screen. Now you just have to select it and press the X to delete it.
To access the cookie settings in the Internet Explorer browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Tools, Internet Options
- Click on Privacy.
- Move the slider to set the privacy level you want.
To access the cookie settings in the Firefox browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
- Click on Privacy.
- Under History, choose Use custom settings for history.
- You will now see the Accept cookies option, which you can enable or disable according to your preferences.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari for OSX browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
- Here you will see the Block cookies option, where you can set the type of blocking you want.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari for iOS browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy & Security, where you will see the Block cookies option to set the type of blocking you want.
To access the cookie settings in the browser for Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Launch the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
- Go to Security and Privacy, where you will see the Accept cookies option to tick or untick the box.
To access the cookie settings in the browser for Windows Phone devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings
- You can now tick or untick the Allow cookies box.
Asesor de Cookies is a WordPress plugin