In compliance with the relevant legal provisions, all visitors of the web-site are required to offer consent before receiving cookies in their computers.
This website uses its’ own cookies and cookies from third parties in order to offer visitors an improved navigation experience and services adapted to the needs of each visitor.
Cookies play an important role in facilitating access and delivery of multiple services, to the benefit of the internet user, such as:
- Personalisation of certain settings, such as: the language of the website, access to older preferences when clicking the ”forward” or ”back” button.
- Cookies offer valuable feedback to the site owners with regards to how the site is being used, in order to improve the navigation experience for users;
- Allow for multimedia applications of other types of apps on other sites to be included in a certain site in order to offer an improved, useful and pleasant navigation experience.
What is a ”cookie”?
An ”Intenet Cookie” (also known as „browser cookie” or „HTTP cookie” or simply known as „cookie”) is a small file, composed from letters and numbers, which will be saved on the computer, mobile terminal or other equipment used by the visitor to access the Internet.
Cookies are installed at the request of the web-server of the browser (ex: Internet Explorer, Chrome) an is completely passive (does not contain software, viruses or spyware and cannot access information from the hard drive).
A cookie is made of 2 parts: the name and content or value of the cookie. Furthermore, the existence period of the cookie is determined; technically, only the webserver that has sent the cookie may access it again at the moment when a user returns to the website which is associated with the corresponding webserver.
The cookie does not require personal data in order to work and, in most cases, does not personally identify users.
There are 2 types of cookies:
- Session cookies – temporarily saved in the cookie folder of the browser so that the browser can keep them until the user leaves the website or closes the browser window (ex.: upon log out/log in on a webmail account or on social networks).
- Persisting cookies – these are stocked on the hard-drive of the computer or the equipment and, in general, depend on the predetermined life span of the cookie. The persisting cookies include those stored by other websites – also known as „third party cookies” – which may be used in order to memorize the interests of a user, so that the user may be subjected to the most relevant adds.
What are the advantages of cookies?
A cookie contains information which connect the web-browser (user) and a certain web-server (website). If a browser accesses the web-server again, the web-server cand read information which has already been stored and react as of consequence. The cookies ensure a pleasurable experience for the user and support the efforts of many websites to offer accurate services to users: ex. – preferences in terms of online confidentiality, options regarding the language of the site, shopping carts or relevant adds.
What is the lifespan of a cookie?
The cookies are managed by webservers. The lifespan of a cookie may vary, depending on the purpose for which it was placed. Some cookies are used exclusively for a single session (session cookies) and are not stored once the user has left the website, and some cookies are stored and reused each time the user returns to the website (permanent cookies). However, cookies may be deleted by a user in any moment through browser settings.
What are third party cookies?
Some content sections on some sites may be facilitated by third parties/suppliers (ex.: news box, videos or adds). These third parties may place cookies through the site and are called „third party cookies” as they are not placed by the site owner. The third party suppliers have to abide by the applicable laws and confidentiality policies of the site owner.
How are cookies used by a website.
A visit on the website may place cookies in order to:
- Raise performance of the website;
- Visitor analysis;
- Geotargeting;
- Registration of users.
Performance cookies
This type of cookies store the preferences of the user so that there is no further need to customize with each visit of the site.
Example: volume settings for video player, video streaming speed which is compatible with the browser.
Cookies for visitor analysis
Each time a user visits a site, the analytics soft supplied by a third party generates a cookie which analysis the visitor. This cookie can tell if you have visited the site before. The browser will signal if you have this cookie and will generate a new one if you don’t. This allows for the monitoring of individual users who visit the site and how often they do so.
As long as the visitor is not registered on the site, this cookie may not be used in order to identify natural persons as it is used only for statistics. If the user is registered, other details may be known, such as e-mail and username – protected by confidentiality as per the legal provisions regarding personal data protection.
Cookies for geotargeting
These cookies are used by a soft which establishes the country where you are located. It is completely anonymous an is used solely for content targeting – even when the visitor is on a Romanian language page or on a different language page, the same adds will be shown.
Registration cookies
When you register on a site, a cookie which announces if you are registered or not is generated. The servers use these cookies in order to show the account with which you are registered and if you have access to a certain service. At the same time, it is allowed to associate any online comment posted with your username. If you have selected „keep me registered”, this cookie will be automatically deleted when you will close the browser or the computer.
Other cookies of third parties
On some web pages, third parties may insert their own anonymous cookies in order to observe if and application is successful or in order to individualize an application.
For example, when you share an article using the button on a social network, that network will register your activity.
What type of information are stocked and accessed through cookies?
Cookies keep information in a small dimension text file which allows a website to identify a browser. The webserver will identify the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted.
Cookies save important information which improve the navigation experience on the Internet (ex.: language settings; keeping a user logged in on the webmail account; online banking security, keeping products in the shopping cart).
Why are cookies important for the Internet?
Cookies represent the central focus point of efficient Internet functioning, helping to generate a friendly and adapted user experience which is tailored to the interest of each user. The refusal or deactivation of cookies may render some sites as impossible to use.
Examples of important uses of cookies which do not require registration of a user with an account:
- Content and adapted preferences of the user – news categories, weather, sports, maps, public and government services, sites and entertainment and travel services.
- Offers adapted to user interests – password memory, language preferences (ex.: search result in Romanian).
- Saving protective filters for children, regarding Internet content (family mode options, safe search functions).
- Measure, optimize analytics and characteristics – such as the confirmation of a certain level of website traffic, what type of content is visualized and the way a user reaches the website (ex. Through search engines, directly, from other websites). Websites use this analysis for improvements benefiting the users.
Security and confidentiality issues
Cookies are NOT viruses! Cookies use plain text formatting and do not represent lines of code and cannot be activated and cannot self-activate. As of consequence they cannot duplicate or replicate on other networks in order to run or further replicate. Because they do not have these functions, they cannot be considered viruses.
Cookies may be used for negative purposes. Because they stock information about the preferences and navigation history of the users, both on a certain site and on other sites, cookies may be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti spy-ware products have this information and constantly mark cookies for deletion/anti-virus scan/anti-spyware.
Browsers generally have confidentiality settings in place, which offer different levels of acceptance of cookies, certain periods for admissibility and automatic deletion, after the user has visited a certain site.
Advice for a secure and responsible cookie-based web use
- Individualize your browser settings for cookies in order to allow for the most comfortable use and security.
- If you share access to a computer, you may consider setting the browser to erase personal data regarding navigation each time you close the browser. This is a way to access sites which place cookies and erase any information regarding visitation at the end of the navigation settings.
- Constantly use and update anti-spyware applications.
- Many of the detection apps which prevent spyware include detection of site attacks. In doing so the browser is stopped from accessing websites which may abuse the vulnerability of the browser or download dangerous software.
How can I stop cookies?
Deactivation and refusal to receive cookies may cause certain sites to become impractical or difficult to visit and use.
It is possible to set the browser so that cookies are not allowed or only allow cookies from a certain site. However, for example, in such cases, a user may not leave comments.All modern browsers offer the possibility to change settings for cookies. These settings are normally found in the options/setting menu or in the preferences/favourites sections of the browser.