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 utility of the cookie is that the website can remember your visit when you navigate through that page again. Although many people do not know, cookies have been used for 20 years, since the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.
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 do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit cards or banking details, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they save is of a technical nature, personal preferences, content personalization, etc. The web server does not associate you as a person but to your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and try to browse the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you will see that the website does not realize you are the same person because it is actually associating with the browser, not the person.
What types of cookies exist?
- 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 user and a registered user are browsing, basic tasks for the operation of any dynamic web.
- Analysis cookies: They collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use the most, consulted products, usage time slot, language, etc.
- Advertising cookies: They show advertising based on your browsing, country of origin, language, etc.
What are own cookies and third-party cookies?
Own cookies are those generated by the page 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 extent that disabling cookies can have, we show you 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 content to your personal preferences, as is usually the case with 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: It will be impossible for you to make online purchases, they will have to be by phone or by visiting the physical store if one is available.
- It will not be possible to personalize your geographic preferences such as time zone, currency, or language.
- The website will not be able to perform web analytics on visitors and web traffic, which will make it difficult for the website to be competitive.
- You will not be able to write on the blog, upload photos, post comments, rate or score content. The website will also not be able to know if you are a human or an automated application that posts spam.
- Sectorized advertising will not 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 networks.
Can cookies be deleted?
Yes. Not only delete, but also block, generally or specifically for a particular domain. To delete cookies from a website you must go to your browser settings and there you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.
Configuration of cookies for the most popular browsers
Below we indicate how to access a specific cookie in the browser Chrome. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version:
- Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon at the top right.
- You will see different sections, click the option Show advanced options.
- Go to Privacy, Content settings.
- Select All cookies and site data.
- A list with all the cookies sorted by domain will appear. To make it easier for you to find cookies from a specific domain, enter partly or fully the address in the Search cookies field.
- After applying this filter, one or several lines with the requested web’s cookies will appear on the screen. Now you just have to select it and press the X to proceed with its deletion.
To access the cookies settings of 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 adjust the privacy level you desire.
To access the cookies settings of the Firefox browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
- Haga click en Privacidad.
- In History choose 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 cookies settings of 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 to adjust the type of block you want to set.
To access the cookies settings of the Safari for iOS browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Go to Settings, then Safari.
- Go to Privacy and Security, you will see the Block cookies option to adjust the type of block you want to set.
To access the cookies settings of the Android browser, 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, you will see the Accept cookies option to enable or disable the checkbox.
To access the cookies settings of the Windows Phone browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
- Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings
- Now you can enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.
Asesor deCookies is a plugin for WordPress