A cookie is an harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The purpose of the cookie is for the website to be able to remember your visit when you return to that page. Although many people are unaware, cookies have been in use for 20 years, since the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.
It is not a virus, a Trojan, a worm, spam, spyware, or pop-up windows.
Cookies typically do not store sensitive information about you, such as credit card details, bank information, photographs, your ID, or personal data, etc. The data they store is of a technical nature, including personal preferences, content customization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as an individual but rather with your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and then try browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website doesn't recognize you as the same person because it is actually associating with the browser, not the individual.
Technical cookies: These are the most basic and allow, among other things, to determine whether a human or an automated application is browsing, when an anonymous user and a registered user are browsing, and perform 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 the most, products viewed, time of use, language, etc.
Advertising cookies: They display ads based on your browsing activity, country of origin, language, etc.
First-party cookies are those generated by the website you are visiting, while third-party cookies are generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
To help you understand the potential impact of disabling cookies, here are a few 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 tailor content 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, My Profile, or My Orders.
Online stores: You will not be able to make online purchases; they will have to be done via phone or by visiting the physical store, if available.
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 traffic, which will make it harder for the website to remain competitive.
You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, or rate or score content. The website will also not be able to determine whether you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
Targeted advertising will not be displayed, which will reduce the website's advertising revenue.
All social media platforms use cookies; if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social media.
To delete cookies from a website, you need to go to your browser settings, where you can search for the cookies associated with the specific domain and proceed to delete them.
Here’s 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 through the File menu or by clicking the customization icon that appears at the top right.
You will see different sections; click on the Show advanced options option.
Go to Privacy, then select Content settings.
Select All cookies and site data.
A list of all cookies ordered by domain will appear. To make it easier to find the cookies of a specific domain, enter the address partially or fully in the Search cookies field.
After applying this filter, one or more lines with the cookies from the requested website will appear on the screen. Now, you just need to select the cookie and click 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, then select Internet Options.
Click on Privacy.
Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you desire.
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.
In History, select Use custom settings for history.
You will now see the option Accept cookies; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari browser for OSX, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
Go to Preferences, then select Privacy.
In this section, you will see the option Block cookies, allowing you to adjust the type of blocking you wish to apply.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari browser for iOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
Go to Settings, then select Safari.
Go to Privacy & Security, and you will see the Block Cookies option, allowing you to adjust the type of blocking you wish to apply.
To access the cookie settings in the browser for Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version)
Open the browser and press the Menu key, then select Settings.
Go to Security and Privacy, and you will see the Accept cookies option, where 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):
Open Internet Explorer, then tap More, and select Settings.
Now, you can enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.
