In many websites the main settings, such as the display mode or language, are stored by your browser (even if you do not use it for a while) so that your navigation is optimized. This is because browsers use small files called cookies, which have the task of storing user preferences for a particular website.
Each cookie stores data to a specific address on your computer, meaning that you can have as many cookies as the websites you visit.
So, what are cookies?
We can define cookies as usually small text files, given ID tags that are stored on each computer by using an internet browser:
- Internet Explorer
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
These small tags (only) store information related to your browsing preferences.
In most cases, cookies, keep simple information such as IP addresses, or language preference.
Some websites can store names and email passwords. These are the type of cookies used by most websites that require authentication, widely used by webmail services such as Gmail, Hotmail, Sapo Email etc.
How does a cookie work?
Whenever we revisit a particular website, our computer sends the corresponding cookie to that website, so that it recognizes and identifies our browsing habits.
Although cookies are not considered harmful, you must watch out, especially regarding the computers you use to access the Internet.
For example it is not advisable to access your bank account from a computer shared by different people (unless it’s at home), as these can be accessed by third parties.
You may have noticed that now when navigating a new website, something like this appears:
These warnings are due to website requirements, which keep cookies to inform their users that when navigating on the same website, some of their data will be stored. It is also normal that this data does not appear on all websites, those you regularly visit will probably have your cookies already stored.
eGO Real Estate websites meet the European standards that define which users must be informed about the use of cookies on each website.
Can cookies be harmful to my computer, or my web browsing?
The answer is no! Cookies, as mentioned earlier, only store information regarding search habits and preferences, or in some cases user names and passwords. This should be the target of some care in the browsing itself! You should not visit websites that are “not trusted”, avoid using computers shared by many unknown people, must have an updated antivirus system, minimizing the risks. Regarding cookies no need for concern.
But if you want to eliminate these small files from your computer it is also possible.
Cookies are not harmful to your computer, but it is up to each user to make a responsible use of the internet.
What can I do not to have cookies on my computer?
The most commonly used Internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox has an option to clean cookies that have been stored during your navigation on the Internet.
In all these browsers you can delete cookies already stored on your computer, as well as passwords, browsing history and others.
Delete cookies – Internet Explorer
Delete cookies – Mozilla Firefox
Delete cookies – Google Chrome
