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 the cookie is that the web is able to remember your visit when you navigate through that page. Although many people do not know the cookies have been used for 20 years, when 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 opens 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 or personal information, etc. The data they keep are of a technical nature, personal preferences, personalization of contents, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person if not to your web browser. In fact, if you regularly surf with Internet Explorer and try browsing the same web with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the web does not realize that you are the same person because you are actually associating the browser, not the person.
What kind 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 navigating, when an anonymous user and a registered user navigate, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic web.
- Analysis Cookies: Collect information about the type of navigation you are making, the sections you use most, products consulted, time zone of use, language, etc.
- Advertising Cookies: Show advertising based on your navigation, your country of origin, language, etc.
What are your own and third-party cookies?
Your own cookies are those generated by the page you are visiting and those of third parties are those generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
What happens if I turn off cookies?
To understand the scope that can have cookies off we show 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 the contents 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 shops: You will not be able to make purchases online, they will have to be telephone or visit the physical store if you have it.
- 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 about visitors and traffic on the web, which will make it difficult for the web to be competitive.
- You will not be able to write on the blog, you will not be able to upload photos, post comments, rate or rate content. The web also will not know if you are a human or an automated application that publishes spam.
- You will not be able to show sectorized advertising, which will reduce the advertising revenues of the web.
- All social networks use cookies, if you disable them you will not be able to use any social network.