What is a cookie?

Acookie is a 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 do not know it, cookies have been used for 20 years, when the first browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.

What is NOT a cookie?

It is not a virus, Trojan, worm, spam, spyware or pop-up.

What information does a cookie store?

The cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank details, photographs, your ID or personal information, etc. The data they do store is of a technical nature, personal preferences, personalisation of content, etc. The web server does not associate you as a person but your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and try browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome you will see that the web does not realise that you are the same person because it is 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, 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 operation of any dynamic website.
• Analysis cookies: These collect information on the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products consulted, time of use, language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: These show advertising based on your browsing habits, your 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 such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

In order for you to understand the scope that disabling cookies can have, here are some examples:

• You may not 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 often the case with online shops.
• You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as My Account, My Profile or My Orders.
• Online shops: It will be impossible for you to shop online, you will have to do so by telephone or by visiting the physical shop if you have one.
• It will not be possible to customise your geographical 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.
• No podrá escribir en el blog, no podrá subir fotos, publicar comentarios, valorar o puntuar contenidos. La web tampoco podrá saber si usted es un humano o una aplicación automatizada que publica spam.
• It will not be possible to display targeted advertising, 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 removed?

Yes, not only delete, but also block, either generally or for a specific 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 delete them.

Setting cookies for the most popular browsers

Here’s how to access a particular cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: These steps may vary depending on your browser version:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking on the customisation icon at the top right.
2. You will see different sections, click on the option Show advanced options..
3. Go to Privacy, Content Settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. A list will appear with all cookies sorted by domain. To make it easier for you to find the cookies for a particular domain, enter part or all of the address in the Find cookies field.
6. After making this filter, one or more lines with the cookies of the requested website will appear on the screen. Now all you have to do is select it and press X to delete it.

To access the cookies configuration of the Internet Explorer browser, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):

1. Go to Tools, Internet Options.
2. Click Privacy.
3. Move the slider to set the desired privacy level.

To access the cookie settings of 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 Privacy.
3. Under History choose Use custom settings for history..
4. You will now see the option Accept cookies, you can activate or deactivate it according to your preferences.

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

1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
2. Here you will see the Block cookies option for you to adjust the type of blocking you wish to perform.

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

1. Go to Settings, then Safari.
2. Go to Privacy and Security, you will see the Block cookies option for you to adjust the type of blocking you want to do.

To access your browser’s cookie settings for Android devices follow these steps (may vary depending on browser version):

1. Launch the navigator and press the Menu key, then Settings..
2. Go to Security and Privacy, you will see the option Accept cookies to check or uncheck the box.

To access the browser cookie settings for Windows Phone devices follow these steps (may vary depending on browser version):

1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Configuration
2. You can now activate or deactivate the allow cookies.