More Information About Cookies

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a harmless text file stored in your browser when you visit almost any webpage. The purpose of the cookie is to allow the website to remember your visit when you return to browse that page. Although many people are unaware, cookies have been in use for over 20 years, dating back to the early days of web browsers for the World Wide Web.

What is NOT a cookie?

A cookie is not a virus, trojan, worm, spam, spyware, nor does it open pop-up windows.

What information does a cookie store?

Cookies do NOT typically store sensitive information such as credit card details, banking data, photos, ID documents, or personal information. The data they hold are more technical, such as personal preferences, content customization, and other similar elements.

The web server does not associate you as an individual but instead links to your web browser. In fact, if you regularly browse using Internet Explorer and switch to Firefox or Chrome to visit the same website, you’ll find that the site won’t recognize you as the same person because it associates with the browser, not the person.

What types of cookies exist?

Technical cookies: These are the most basic cookies and allow for actions such as distinguishing whether the user is a human or an automated application, identifying whether a user is logged in or browsing anonymously, and performing essential tasks necessary for dynamic web functionality.
Analytics cookies: These collect information about how you browse, such as the sections you visit most frequently, products you’ve viewed, time of usage, language, etc.
Advertising cookies: These show advertisements based on your browsing behavior, country of origin, language, and more.

What are first-party and third-party cookies?

First-party cookies are generated by the webpage you’re visiting, while third-party cookies are generated by external services or providers like Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I disable cookies?

To help you understand the potential impact of disabling cookies, here are a few examples:

You won’t be able to share content from the website on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network.
The website will not be able to tailor content to your personal preferences, as is common on online stores.
You won’t be able to access the website’s personal areas, such as “My Account,” “My Profile,” or “My Orders.”
Online shopping will be impossible; you would need to place orders via phone or visit a physical store if one is available.
You won’t be able to customize your geographic preferences, such as time zone, currency, or language.
The website will not be able to perform web analytics about visitors and traffic, making it more difficult to remain competitive.
You won’t be able to post on the blog, upload photos, leave comments, rate, or review content. The website won’t be able to determine whether you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
All social networks use cookies; if you disable them, you won’t be able to use any social media platform.

Can cookies be deleted?

Yes. Not only can you delete them, but you can also block them, either in a general way or specifically for a particular domain.

To delete cookies from a particular website, you need to go to your browser’s settings, where you can search for cookies associated with a specific domain and delete them.

Cookie settings for the most popular browsers

Chrome:

Here’s how to access cookies for a specific domain in Chrome (note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version):

Go to Settings or Preferences from the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the upper-right corner.
Scroll down to Show advanced settings.
Under Privacy, select Content settings.
Click All cookies and site data.
A list of cookies sorted by domain will appear. To easily find cookies from a specific domain, enter part or all of the website address in the search field.
After filtering, you’ll see one or more lines of cookies for the requested website. Now simply select it and click the X to delete it.

Internet Explorer:

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

Go to Tools, then Internet Options.
Click on the Privacy tab.
Adjust the slider to set the desired level of privacy.

Firefox:

To access cookie settings in Firefox (note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version):

Go to Options or Preferences, depending on your operating system.
Click on the Privacy tab.
Under History, select Use custom settings for history.
You’ll now see the option to Accept cookies—you can enable or disable this according to your preferences.

Safari (macOS):

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

Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
Here, you’ll see the option to Block cookies, allowing you to adjust the type of blocking you wish to perform.

Safari (iOS):

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

Go to Settings, then Safari.
Go to Privacy & Security, and you’ll see the option to Block cookies, where you can adjust the type of blocking.

Android:

To access cookie settings in your Android browser (note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version):

Open the browser and press the Menu button, then go to Settings.
Go to Security & Privacy, and you’ll see the option to Accept cookies, which you can enable or disable.

Windows Phone:

To access cookie settings in your Windows Phone browser (note: these steps may vary depending on the browser version):

Open Internet Explorer, then go to More, followed by Settings.
Now you can enable or disable the option to Allow cookies.