What is a cookie?

A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The usefulness of the cookie is that the website is able to remember your visit whenever you browse it again. 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, a Trojan, a worm, spam or spyware and it does not create pop-up windows.

What information does a cookie store?

Cookies do not usually store sensitive information for you, such as credit cards or bank account data, photographs, ID number, personal information, etc. The stored data are of technical character or are personal preferences, content customisation, etc.

The web server does not associate you as a person; it associates your browser. In fact, if you usually browse the net with Internet Explorer and you try to browse 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.

Which types of cookies are there?

• Technical cookies : These are the most basic ones and allow, among other things, knowing when a human or an automatic application is browsing and when an anonymous user and a registered user is browsing and they also perform the simplest tasks for the functioning of any dynamic website.
• Analysis cookies: They gather information about the type of navigation, the most used sections, the consulted products, the time zone, the language, etc.
• Advertising cookies: They show advertisements based on your navigation, your country of origin, your language, etc.

What are the own and third-party cookies?

The own cookies are those that are generated by the website being visited. Third-party cookies are the ones generated by external suppliers as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

In order to understand the effects that disabling cookies may have, we would like to show you some examples:

• You will not be able to share contents from that web to Facebook, Twitter or any other social network.
• The website will not be able to adapt the contents to your personal preferences, as it usually happens with on-line stores.
• You will not be able to access your personal area in the website, for example My account, My profile or My orders.
• On-line stores: You will not be able to buy on-line. You would have to contact via telephone or by visiting the physical shop (if it exists).
• It will not be possible to customise your geographical preferences, such as time zone, currency or language.
• The website will not be able to carry out web analytics about visitors and traffic;hence, it will be difficult for the website to be competitive.
• You will not be able to write in the blog, upload photos, post comments or rate contents. The website will not know if you are human or an automatic application that posts spam.
• No sectorised advertising will be shown; therefore, advertising income from the website will be reduced.
• Every social network uses cookies; if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social network.

Can cookies be eliminated?

Yes. Not only eliminated, but also blocked in general or for a specific domain.

In order to eliminate cookies from a website, you must go to your browser’s settings and there, you will be able to look for those associated to a particular domain and proceed with the deleting.

 Cookies settings for the most popular browsers

Below you can find how to access a particular cookie in Google Chrome. Note: these steps may vary depending on the browser’s version:

1. Go to Settings or Preferences in the File menu or by clicking the settings icon that appears at the top right hand corner.
2. You will see different sections. Click Show advanced settings.
3. Go to Privacy, Content settings.
4. Select All cookies and site data.
5. You will then see a list with all the cookies organised by domain. In order for you to find cookies from a particular domain easier, partially or completely write the address in the field Search cookies.
6. After this filtering, you will see one or several lines on screen with thecookies of the requested site. Now you only have to select it and click the Xto proceed with the deleting.

In order to access the cookies settings in Internet Explorer, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser’s version):

1. Go to Tools, Internet options
2. Click on Privacy.
3. Move the bar in order to adjust the privacy level of your choice.

In order to access the cookies settings in Firefox, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser’s version):

1. Go to Options or Preferences depending on your operating system.
2. Click on Privacy.
3. In the History section, choose Use custom settings for history.
4. Now you will see the option Accept cookies; you can enable or disable it depending on your preferences.

In order to access the cookies settings in Safari for OSX, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser’s version):

1. Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
2. Here you will see the option Block cookies so you can adjust the type of blocking you prefer.

In order to access the cookies settings in Safari for iOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser’s version):

1. Go to Options, then Safari.
2. Go to Privacy and Security and you will see the option Block cookies so you can adjust the type of blocking you prefer.

In order to access the cookies settings in Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser’s version):

1. Run the browser and click on Menu, then Settings.
2. Go to Security and Privacyand you will see the option Accept cookies to enable or disable the box.

In order to access the cookies settings in Windows devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser’s version):

1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings.
2. Now you can enable or disable the box named Allow cookies.