1. WHAT ARE COOKIES AND WHY ARE THEY USED ON THIS WEBSITE?
A cookie is a file downloaded to a user’s device when they view specific web pages to store and retrieve information about their browsing activity from that device. Cookies enable our website to store and retrieve information on the user’s decisions and habits, among other things. Our website uses them to personalise the experience, recognise and remember registered users, and facilitate browsing. It should be noted that the use of cookies does not provide personal data about the user, who remains anonymous to our company. The user can set their browser not to accept the use of cookies, in which case the customisation of the experience will not be applied, although they will still be able to access the contents of our websites as normal. More information about cookies and how they work can be found on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie).
2. WHAT TYPE OF COOKIE ARE WE USING ON THE WEBSITE?
Cookies are classified as either session or persistent based on their duration. When the user exits the browser, the former expires. The latter expire when their function is completed (for example, to keep the user identified on our company’s websites and services) or when they are manually erased. Furthermore, cookies can be classified as follows based on their purpose:
- Performance cookies: this type of cookie remembers your preferences for the tools available in the services so that you do not have to reconfigure the service each time you visit. This typology, for example, includes:
- Volume settings of video or audio players.
- Video bitrates that are compatible with your browser.
- Geolocation cookies: these cookies are used to determine which country you are in when you request a website or service. This cookie is completely anonymous and is only used to help target content based on your location.
- Registration cookies: these cookies are generated after the User registers or logs in, and they are used to identify the User on websites and services for the following purposes:
- Keep the user identified so that if they exit the service or website, the browser, or the computer and enter that service or website later or on another day, they will still remain identifiable, thus facilitating their browsing without having to identify them again. The user can delete this feature if they click on the “Exit” functionality, which deletes this Cookie and requires the user to log in the next time they visit the website to be identified.
- Check whether the user is authorised to use particular services, e.g., to participate in a competition.
- Furthermore, certain services may use third-party connections such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google. When a user registers for a service using credentials from a social network or a third-party identification system, they authorise the service to store a persistent cookie that remembers their identity and ensures access to the website until it expires. By updating their preferences in the specific social network, users can remove this cookie and revoke access to the website through social networks or third-party identification systems.
- Analytics cookies: When a User visits a website or service, a third-party tool (such as Google Analytics, ComScore, and similars) generates an analytical Cookie on the User’s device. This Cookie, which is only generated during the visit, will be used to anonymously identify the visitor throughout future visits to our company’s services. The main objectives are:
- Allow anonymous identification of browsing users through the “Cookie” (identifies browsers and devices, not people) and therefore the approximate counting of visitors and their trend over time.
- Identify the most viewed and hence most appealing content for visitors anonymously.
- Determine if the visitor that is viewing the website is a new or active user.
- Advertising cookies: this type of Cookie enables us to expand the information in the advertisements displayed to each anonymous user on our company’s websites. The duration or frequency of viewing advertising positions, the interaction with them, or the user’s browsing patterns and/or behaviours, among other things, are stored as they help to form an advertising interest profile. As a result, firms can provide advertising that is customized to the user’s interests.
3. HOW TO DISABLE COOKIES IN THE BROWSER?
Most browsers now allow the user to configure whether and which Cookies to accept. These settings are often found in your browser’s "Options" or "Preferences" menu. The following are the instructions for setting cookies in the main browsers:
- Chrome: Settings -> Show advaced settings -> Privacy and security -> Site settings -> Cookies. For more information, you can consult Google support or browser Help.
- Firefox: Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> History -> Custom Settings. For more information, you can consult Mozilla support or the browser’s Help.
- Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy -> Settings. For more information, you can consult Microsoft support or the browser's Help.
- Safari: Preferences -> Security. For more information, you can consult Apple support or the browser's Help.
