cookies

 

This website uses cookies to provide visitors a better browsing experience and services adapted to everyone’s needs and interests.

"Cookies" are designed to facilitate the access and delivery of the services used by the Internet user, as well as to customize some settings (language, country, prices displayed in national currency).

Based on the information they gather about users, ”cookies” help the sites owners to streamline their product so as to be more easily accessed by users; cookies also increase the efficiency of the online advertising and, not the least, they may permit multimedia applications or other types on other sites to be included in a particular site to make browsing more useful.

 

Cookie ("browser cookie" or "HTTP cookie") is a small file consisting of letters and numbers that is stored on any terminal with Internet access (computer, mobile phone, tablet etc.) and is installed by the request issued by a web server to a browser (e.g.: Internet Explorer, Chrome).

Note: "Cookies" do not contain software programs, viruses or spyware and cannot access information on the user's hard drive. Cookies do not request personal information and do not identify in a personal style the internet users.

A cookie consists of name and content, the length of its existence being determined, it may be accessed again from the web server when a user returns to the website associated to the respective web server.

• Session cookies- these are stored temporarily in the browser history which stores them until the user exits the website in question or closes the browser window.
• Persistent cookies- these are stored, depending on the preset time, on the hard drive of a computer or device. Persistent cookies also include those placed by another website than the one the user visits at the time - known as "third party cookies" - that may be used anonymously to save the interests of the user, so that users be supplied most relevant advertising.

A cookie contains information linking users and a particular site. If a browser accesses the respective server again, it can read the information already stored and may react accordingly. Cookies provide users a pleasant browsing experience and support the efforts of many websites to offer users comfort: e.g. – online privacy preferences, website language options, shopping basket or relevant advertising.

A cookie life span may be different, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. There are cookies used only for one session - they are no longer retained after the user exits the website. Permanent cookies - are retained and reused every time the user returns to that website, but they may be removed by the user at any time.

Certain parts of content on specific sites can be placed on the accessed website, by third parties through banners, boxes or links - and all of these tools may contain cookies. They are called "third party cookies" for they are placed by the owner of the respective website, and the third-party providers are subject to the laws and privacy policies of the website owner.

Visiting this site may place cookies for purposes of:

• Site performance cookies
• Visitors analysis cookies
• Geotargetting cookies/li>
• Registration cookies
• Cookies for advertising
• Cookies of the providers of advertising

These cookies may come from third parties.

• Performance cookies

This type of cookie retains user preferences on this site, so there is no need of setting them at each site visit.

• Cookies for visitor analysis

Each time a user visits this site the analytics software provided by a third party generates a cookie for user analysis. This cookie tells us whether you visited this site before. The browser will tell us if you have this cookie, and if not, we shall generate one. It allows monitoring the unique users who visit us and how often they do it. As long as you are not registered on this site, this cookie may not be used to identify individuals, they are used only for statistical purposes. We may know whether you are registered and, also, details that you have provided us, such as the e-mail address and the username - which are subject to confidentiality to the provisions in the Terms and Conditions, the Privacy Policy as well as to the legislation in force on the protection of personal data.

• Cookies for geotargetting

These cookies are used by a software that establishes what country you come from. It is completely anonymous and is only used to target the content - even when you are on our website in Romanian language or in another language, you receive the same advertising.

• Cookies for registration

When you register on this site, we generate a cookie that announces us whether you are registered or not. Our servers use these cookies to show us the account you are registered with and whether you have permission to a particular service. They also allow us to associate any comment you post on our site with your username. If you have not selected "keep me registered", this cookie is deleted automatically when you close the browser or the computer.

• Cookies for advertising

These cookies allow us to find out whether you have viewed or not an online advertising, which is its type and the length of time that has passed since you have seen the advertisement message. These cookies are also used to target the online advertising. We may also use cookies belonging to a third party for a better targeting of the advertising, to show advertisements about holidays for example, whether a user has recently visited an article about holidays on the site. These cookies are anonymous, they store information about the viewed content, not about the users. We also set anonymous cookies on other sites on which we have advertising. By receiving them, we can use them to recognize you as a visitor to that site and, if you subsequently visit our site, we shall be able to deliver the advertising based on this information.

• Cookies of the providers of advertising

Much of the advertising that you find on this site belong to third parties. Some of these parties use their anonymous cookies to analyze how many people were exposed to an advertising message, or to see how many people were repeatedly exposed to the same advertising. Companies that generate these cookies have their own privacy policies, and this site does not have access to read or write these cookies. Those third-party cookies may be used to show the advertising also targeted on other websites, based on your browsing on this site.

• Other third-party cookies

On some pages, third parties can set their own anonymous cookies, in order to track the success of an application, or to customize an application. Due to the type of use, this site cannot access these cookies, as third parties cannot access the cookies held by this website.

Cookies retain information in a small text file which allows a website to recognize a browser. The web-server will recognize the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted. The cookie stores important information that improves the Internet browsing experience (e.g.: settings of the language in which you wish to access a site; keeping a user logged in the webmail account; online banking security; preservation of products in the shopping basket)

Cookies are the focus of the efficient functioning of the Internet, helping to generate a friendly browsing experience adapted to each user's preferences and interests. Refusing or disabling cookies may make some sites impossible to use.

Refusing or disabling cookies does not mean you will not receive online advertising - but only the fact it will not be able to recognize your preferences and interests, evidenced by your browsing behavior.

Examples of important uses of cookies (that do not require user authentication through an account):

• Content and services tailored to the user’s preferences.
• Offers tailored to the interests of users - withholding passwords, language preferences (e.g.: displaying search results in Romanian).
• Retention of child protection filters on the Internet content (family mode options, safe search functions).
• Providing advertising more relevant to users.
• Measurement, optimization and analytics features - such as confirming a certain level of traffic on a website, what type of content is viewed and how a user arrives on a website (e.g.: via search engines, directly, from other websites etc.). Websites run these reviews of their use to improve the sites for the benefit of the users.

Cookies are NOT viruses! They use plain text-type formats. There are composed of pieces of code so they cannot be enforced either can auto-run. Consequently, they cannot be duplicated or replicated in other networks to be run or replicated again. For they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses.

Cookies can still be used for negative purposes. Since they store information about the users’ preferences and browsing history, both on a particular site and on many other sites, cookies can be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this fact and constantly mark the cookies to be deleted in anti-virus/anti-spyware removal/scanning proceedings.

In general, browsers have integrated privacy settings that provide different levels of cookies acceptance, the validity period and automatic erasion after the user has visited a particular site.

For the identity protection is very valuable and is the right of every Internet user, it should be known what eventual problems cookies may create. For through them there are constantly transmitted information in both directions between the browser and the website, if an attacker or an unauthorized person comes in during the data transmission, the information contained in the cookie may be intercepted. Although rare, this can happen if the browser connects to a server by using an unencrypted network (e.g.: an unsecured WiFi network). 
Other cookie-based attacks involve wrong setting of the cookies on servers. If a website does not require the browser to use only encrypted channels, the attackers can make use of this vulnerability to trick browsers into sending information via unsecured channels. Attackers then use the information for purposes of unauthorized access to certain sites. It is important to be careful in choosing the most suitable method of protection of personal information.

Due to their flexibility and to the fact that most of the most visited and largest sites use cookies, these are almost inevitable. Disabling cookies will not allow the user access to the most widely used sites including YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo and others. Here are some tips to ensure worry-free browsing by using cookies:

Customize your browser settings in regard of cookies to reflect your comfortable level of security when using cookies.

If you do not mind the cookies and you are the only person who uses your computer, you can set long-term expiration periods for the storage of the browsing history and personal access data. If you share the access to your computer, you can consider your browser setting to delete individual browsing data every time you close the browser. This is a variant of accessing sites that place cookies and to remove any visit information at the end of the browsing session.

Install and update your anti-spyware applications steadily.

Many of the applications of detection and prevention of spyware include detecting attacks on the sites. This prevents the browser from accessing websites that could exploit browser vulnerabilities or to download dangerous software. Make sure that you keep your browser updated. Many of the cookies-based attacks are done by exploiting the weaknesses of the old versions of browsers.

Cookies are everywhere and cannot be avoided if you want to enjoy the best and largest sites on the Internet - local or international. With a clear understanding of the way they operate and of the benefits they bring, you can take the necessary security measures so that you may browse the Internet with confidence.

Disabling and refusal to accept cookies can make certain websites impassable or difficult to visit and use. Also, by refusing to accept cookies does not mean you will not receive/view online advertising.

It is possible to set the browser so that these be no longer accepted or you may set your browser to accept cookies from a particular site. But, for example, if you are not registered with using cookies, you will not be able to insert comments.

All modern browsers offer the possibility to change the cookies settings. These settings are usually found in the "options" or "preferences" menu of your web browser.

For settings of cookies generated by third-parties, and for more information about the privacy related to the online advertising, IAB Romania provides the following site:

To understand these settings, the following links may be useful, otherwise you may use the "help" option of the browser for more details.

• Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
• Cookie settings in Firefox
• Cookie settings in Chrome
• Cookie settings in Safari

For setting cookies generated by third-parties, you may also consult the website: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ro/

If you want to find out more about cookies and what they are used for, we recommend the following links:

• Microsoft Cookies guide
• All About Cookies

IAB Romania provides the following site to provide more information on the privacy related to the online advertising: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ro/.