What is a “cookie”?

A “cookie” is an innocuous text file stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The purpose of the “cookie” is for the website to remember your visit when you return to browse that page. Although many people are unaware, “cookies” have been in use for 20 years, since the first browsers appeared for the World Wide Web.

What is NOT a “cookie”?

It is not a virus, nor a trojan, nor a worm, nor spam, nor spyware, nor does it open pop-up windows.

What information does a “cookie” store?

Cookies usually do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit card numbers or bank details, photographs, your ID, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, such as personal preferences, content customization, 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 notice that the website doesn’t recognize you as the same person because it is actually associating with the browser, not the individual.

What types 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 functioning of any dynamic website.
• Analytical cookies: These collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use the most, products viewed, time of use, language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: These display ads based on your browsing, country of origin, language, etc.

What are “first-party” cookies and “third-party” cookies?

“First-party” cookies are those generated by the website you are visiting, and “third-party” cookies are those generated by external services or providers like Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable “cookies”?

To help you understand the impact of disabling cookies, here are some examples:

• You won’t 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 content to your personal preferences, as is common in online stores.
• You won’t be able to access the personal area of the website, such as My account, My profile, or My orders.
• You will not be able to make online purchases in the Virtual Store. Purchases will have to be done by phone or by visiting the physical store, if available.
• It will not be possible to customize your geographic preferences like time zone, currency, or language.
• The website won’t be able to perform web analytics on visitors and website traffic, which will make it harder for the website to be competitive.
• You won’t be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or score content. The website also won’t know if you’re a human or an automated application posting spam.
• Targeted advertising will not be shown, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
• All social networks use “cookies”, and if you disable them, you won’t be able to use any social network.

Can “cookies” be deleted?

Yes. Not only can they be deleted, but also blocked, either generally or specifically for a certain domain. To delete cookies from a website, go to your browser’s settings and there you can find 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 version of the browser:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the top right.
2. You will see different sections, click on the Show advanced options option.
3. Go to Privacy, then Content Settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. A list will appear with all the “cookies” ordered by domain. To make it easier to find the cookies for a particular domain, enter the address partially or fully in the Search cookies field.
6. After applying this filter, one or more lines with the “cookies” from the requested website will appear on the screen. Now just select it and click the X to delete them.

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

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 for the Firefox browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser):

1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. In History, select 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 for the Safari for OSX browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser):

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

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

1. Go to Settings, then Safari.
2. Go to Privacy and Security, where you will see the option Block cookies to adjust the type of block you wish to apply.

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

1. Run the browser and press the Menu button, then Settings.
2. Go to Security and Privacy, where you will see the option Accept cookies to enable or disable the box.

To access the “cookie” settings for the Windows Phone browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the version of the browser):

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