“We use our own and third-party cookies to improve our services”. Surely you have read this text hundreds of times when you visit a web page. That’s because ePrivacya Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive for the EU issued in 2009.
It is nothing more than warning you that the web page you are visiting uses certain programs that will be installed in your browser in order to detect your activity and preferences. At first this sounds like a good thing, but many times it is not so much..
Pay attention to the following post that we have prepared. These paragraphs will help you to know what this is about “Cookie Law”. Not before knowing what the famous computer cookies are. Let us begin!
What is a Cookie and what is this type of file used for?
A Cookie is software developed by companies or individuals that are used to collect user information while browsing on a certain website. There are different kinds of these computer cookies.
There are those that are used for the page to work technically well. Namely, They are used to save the preferences that the browser has so that when you come back to that website, you don’t have to re-enter all your details. It is very useful to improve the user experience, since information about email, language and other information necessary to log in in the future is saved.
The other type of Cookies that exists It is the one that does not serve to improve the operation of the web. These are used to obtain information from the user and then use this data to advance in advertisements that are often generated even in invasive. But this is not the only problem that the “biscuits”since Cookies can also be installed in the browser that are used to track and obtain private information and then these data will be used to steal the user’s data and use them for criminal purposes.
How do Cookies work? Main features
Cookies are installed in the browser, which allows a quick way to save different data related to the choices that the user makes when visiting a particular site. In this way, they can be used for technical purposes or for economic or criminal purposes.
These small files have as their main characteristic their expiration. That is, the Cookies disappear from the browser when the user uses them. delete manually or it does it automatically with some special tool. Or, at the moment when end user session or when it exceeds a deadline established in the programming codes. Those that can be minutes, months or years.
Its use is intended especially to identify the user. When the person visits a page hosted on a certain server, it controls the identity of the navigator through the records previously established by Cookies.
Another of the characteristics that a “tech cookie” is that can be easily altered by intruders. In other words, people with more computer experience can access these small files stored in the user’s browser and modify the contents. In this way, adverse results are generatedboth for the website and for the person who is browsing.
They do not take up too much space on storage disks nor do they modify, in principle, the operation of the browser. But as time goes by, a significant number of files are generated that slow down the operations of the computer or mobile.
One of the most important limitations that Cookies have is that do not identify the person, but work according to user accounts. That is, if the same person has 2 or 3 browsers on the same computer that he uses frequently and accesses the same sites, in each of them you will have a multiplicity of cookies. This happens because they cannot identify that it is the same person. This also increases a significant risk to the user’s private data.
What are the risks of allowing websites to use Cookies in our browser?
Among the risks that Cookies have the theft is found. This happens due to its operation since they work between the server and the computer sending and receiving these software for identification.
The problem arises when navigating in protocols that are not secure, as is the case of . In these situations, the user’s personal data can be seen by other participants who can listen to the server-computer conversation through a packet sniffer.
This serves so that, altering or stealing the user’s preferences, can create a benefit of a third party without the authorization of the person who owns the private information. You must keep in mind that if you use information encryption, this protocol will not be efficient since there will be servers that can receive the data without authorization.
Other of the dangers that exist when the information is sent to the server and it is modified on the way Cookies is that they stay in the hosting where the site is hosted and from there make harmful changes.
How to enable and disable Cookies in any browser?
In order to enable or disable Cookies and have your data protected, it is necessary to perform some steps, depending on the browser you use.
Let’s learn about these processes for the most important browsers:
Mozilla Firefox
Once you have Mozilla Firefox open you will need to do this:
- In the upper right corner of your screen you will find an icon with three horizontal lines, which represents the menu. You must click on this option.
- Click on “Options”.
- then choose “Privacy”.
- Find the section “Record” and click on the arrow to display a menu.
- Choose “Use custom settings for history.”
- When you click on this section, you should look for the option “Accept Cookies”.
- At this time you must choose the options you want, since you can uncheck this box and disable the installation of these software. On the other hand, if you have checked the option, you must choose “When to accept Third Party Cookies” Y “Keep until what time”.
Google Chrome
With the Google browser you should follow this guide:
- Choose “Menu”located in the upper right part represented with 3 points.
- Select the option “Setting”.
- Then you must search “Advanced configuration” and click on it.
- Click on “Privacy”.
- Search “Content settings”.
- In the section of “Cookies” you will have to choose “Allow local data to be stored (recommended)”. At this time you must choose whether or not you want to enable Cookies. And if you want to block data from sites or allow this data to be saved.
- When you’re done, you can close the tab and the changes will be saved.
Opera
Open Opera and do the following:
- Go to the option “Opera” at the top left of the browser.
- When the menu is displayed select “Setting”.
- Then you must click on “Preferences”.
- Look in the tab “Advanced Options”in the section “Cookies”.
- Click on “Accept Cookies”.
- In this part of the process you will have to choose your preferences, if you want to enable or disable Cookies.
Safari
On the Mac you will have to open the operator and do this process:
- Select the option from the menu “Setting”.
- Click on “Privacy & Security”.
- Click on “Cookies”.
- Choose “Allow from visited sites”, if you want to enable Cookies. Otherwise, you must choose “Always lock” or look for another option that you have available according to your preferences.
microsoft edge
Go to your Edge browser and perform this step by step:
- Choose “Tools”.
- Click on “Internet Options”.
- Look for the option “Privacy”.
- Choose “Setting” and click on it.
- Click on “Advanced Options”.
- Activate or not if you want to block or allow Cookies.
What is the relationship between the GDPR Law and the Cookies of web pages?
The Cookies Law, colloquially named after the a Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliamentput into effect from the end of 2009 establishes that Internet sites that use Cookies must guarantee the protection of the private data of users.
With this it is advanced that For the installation of Cookies, the express authorization of the users is required., except those that are necessary to improve the user experience such as the tools used to record information about language, login, password, etc. But as we know, these software not only contain technical Cookies, but there are also those programs that are not necessary, such as Cookies for tracking, segmentation, analysis and social networks.
Since this Directive did not make clear some specific situations and left it to the member states of the European Union to implement them according to their laws, was established in May 2018 European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)also called ePrivacy Regulation.
With this new regulation, which is mandatory for all EU member countries, it is established that the user needs to give express consent for the acceptance of Cookies They are not technically necessary. In addition, the consent is not expressed only by having a box checked, but there must be an express authorization so that the navigator knows who their private data will go to and for how long the Cookie will last on their computer. This arose from established jurisprudence from a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
In October 2019, the CJEU ruled on the installation of Cookies leaving definitively and firmly its regulation of the previous year. Therefore, Internet sites currently need to have accurate information about those text files that are not necessary and that are part of these computer cookies and do not serve for proper functioning, neither of the website nor does it improve the user experience.
This is how the Opt-in technique is created. With which Cookies are not installed immediately when an Internet site is opened, but the user is the one who decides on the storage of the files. Therefore, it is left out “Opt-out” which refers to the installation from the beginning of the Cookies, the user being able to claim after this process happens.
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