What are cookies?
A cookie is a file or device that is downloaded to a user's terminal equipment in order to store data that can be updated and recovered by the entity responsible for its installation. That is, it is a file that is downloaded to your computer when accessing certain web pages. Cookies allow a web page, among other things, to store and retrieve information about the browsing habits of a user or their equipment and, depending on the information they contain and the way they use their equipment, they can be used to recognize to user.
Its main functions are:
- Keep track of users: when a user enters their username and password, a cookie is stored so that they do not have to be entering them for each page of the server. However, a cookie does not identify only one person, but a combination of computer-browser-user.
- Get information about the user's browsing habits, and spyware attempts (spyware), by advertising agencies and others. This can cause privacy problems and is one of the reasons why cookies have their detractors.
There are different types of cookies depending, above all, on the purpose for which they are used, thus distinguishing, among others, the following:
Analysis cookies: these cookies are used to carry out an analysis of the behaviors and actions of the users of the website as well as for the elaboration of navigation profiles in order to make technical improvements of operation and service.
Advertising cookies: they allow efficient management of advertising spaces based on a series of criteria, for example, to verify if the user has already had access to a news item or not to proceed to update it with a new one.
Behavioral advertising cookies: these cookies are responsible for storing information about users' own behavior focusing on their browsing habits. This allows to establish user profiles based on their behavior and use them to customize the advertising presented.
If the user wishes to obtain more information about cookies, he can consult the following website http://www.aboutcookies.org/.