More information about cookies

What is a cookie?

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

What is NOT a cookie?

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

What information does a cookie store?

Cookies do not usually store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank details, photographs, your ID number, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, such as personal preferences, content personalisation, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person, but rather 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 website does not realise that you are the same person because it is actually associating the browser, not the person.

What types of cookies are there?

  • Technical cookies: These are the most basic cookies 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.
  • Cookies de análisis: Recogen información sobre el tipo de navegación que está realizando, las secciones que más utiliza, productos consultados, franja horaria de uso, idioma, etc.
  • Analysis cookies: These collect information about the type of browsing you are doing, the sections you use most, products consulted, time zone of use, language, etc.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

First-party cookies are generated by the website you are visiting, while third-party cookies are generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

To help you understand the scope of disabling cookies, here are 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 content to your personal preferences, as is usually the case in 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: You will not be able to make online purchases; you will have to do so by telephone or by visiting the physical shop, if there is one.
  • You will not be able 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.
  • 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 tell if you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
  • Targeted advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the website's advertising revenue.
  • All social networks use cookies, so if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social networks.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not only can they be deleted, they can also be blocked, either generally or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete cookies from a website, go to your browser settings, where you can search for those associated with the domain in question and proceed to delete them.

Here's how to access a specific 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 in the top right-hand corner.
  2. You will see different sections; click on the Show advanced options option.
  3. Go to Privacy, Content settings.
  4. Select All cookies and site data.
  5. A list of all cookies sorted by domain will appear. To make it easier to find cookies from a specific domain, enter part or all of the address in the Search cookies field.
  6. After applying this filter, one or more lines with cookies from the requested website will appear on the screen. Now just select it and click the X to proceed with its deletion.

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

  1. Go to Tools, Internet Options.
  2. Click on Privacy.
  3. Move the slider to adjust the privacy level you want.

To access the cookie settings in Firefox, follow these steps (they may vary depending on your browser version):

  1. Go to Options or Preferences, depending on your operating system.
  2. Click on Privacy.
  3. Under History, select Use custom settings for history.
  4. You will now see the Accept cookies option. 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):

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

To access the cookie settings in your browser for Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):

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

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

  1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
  2. You can now enable or disable the Allow cookies checkbox.