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 website. The purpose of the cookie is to allow the website to remember your visit when you browse that page again. Although many people are not aware of it, cookies have been in use for 20 years, since the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.

What is a cookie NOT?

It is not a virus, nor a Trojan, nor a worm, nor spam, nor 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 number or personal information, etc. The data they save is of a technical 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 you try browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realise 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, knowing when a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous or a registered user is browsing, basic tasks for the functioning 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?

The first-party cookies are those generated by the page you are visiting and the third-party ones 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 scope that disabling cookies can have, 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 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 made by phone or by visiting the physical store if there is one.
  • It will not be possible to personalise 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 site to be competitive.
  • You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, or rate content. The website will also not be able to tell whether you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
  • Targeted advertising cannot be displayed, 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 delete them, but also block them, generally or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete the cookies from a website you must go to your browser settings, where you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.

Below we show you 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 via the File menu or by clicking the customisation icon that appears in the top right.
  2. You will see different sections, click the option Show advanced settings.
  3. Go to Privacy, Content settings.
  4. Select All cookies and site data.
  5. A list will appear with all the cookies sorted by domain. To make it easier to find the cookies for a specific domain, enter the address partially or fully in the Search cookies field.
  6. 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 proceed with its deletion.

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

  1. Go to Tools, Internet Options
  2. Click on Privacy.
  3. Move the slider to adjust the level of privacy you want.

To access the cookie settings in the Firefox browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):

  1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
  2. Click on Privacy.
  3. Under History choose Use custom settings for history.
  4. Now you will see the option Accept cookies; you can enable or disable it 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):

  1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
  2. Here you will see the option Block cookies so you can set the type of blocking you want to apply.

To access the cookie settings in the Safari for iOS browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):

  1. Go to Settings, then Safari.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security, you will see the option Block cookies so you can set the type of blocking you want to apply.

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

  1. Launch the browser and press the Menu key, then Settings.
  2. Go to Security & Privacy, you will see the option Accept cookies so you can check or uncheck 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):

  1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings
  2. Now you can check or uncheck the Allow cookies box.