Cookies policy

This website uses its own and third-party cookies to provide visitors with a much better browsing experience and services tailored to each person’s needs and interests.

Cookies play an important role in facilitating access and delivery of the various services that the user enjoys on the Internet, such as:

Personalizing certain settings like: the language in which a site is viewed, the currency in which certain prices or rates are expressed, keeping options for various products (sizes, other details, etc.) in the shopping cart (and remembering these options) – thus generating the flexibility of the “shopping cart” (accessing old preferences by clicking the “forward” and “back” button).

Cookies provide valuable feedback to website owners on how their sites are used by users, so they can make them more efficient and accessible for users.

They allow multimedia or other applications from other sites to be included on a particular site to create a more valuable, useful, and enjoyable browsing experience;

Improve the efficiency of online advertising.

What is a “cookie”

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a computer, mobile terminal, or other equipment of a user from which the Internet is accessed.

The cookie is completely “passive” (it does not contain software programs, viruses, or spyware and cannot access information on the user’s hard drive).

Cookies in themselves do not require personal information to be used and, in most cases, do not personally identify Internet users.

Main categories of cookies

There are 2 major categories of cookies:

Session cookies – these are temporarily stored in the cookie file of the web browser so that it can remember them until the user exits the website or closes the browser window (e.g., when logging in/logging out of an email account or social networks).

Persistent cookies – these are stored on the hard drive of a computer or equipment (generally, it depends on the pre-set lifetime for the cookie).

Persistent cookies include those placed by a website other than the one the user is currently visiting – known as ‘third-party cookies’ – which can be used anonymously to remember a user’s interests so that the most relevant advertising can be delivered to users.

What are the advantages of cookies

A cookie contains information that links a web browser (user) to a specific web server (website). If a user revisits that website, it can read the already stored information and react accordingly. Cookies ensure a pleasant browsing experience for users and support the efforts of many websites to provide comfortable services to users (e.g., online privacy preferences, site language options, shopping carts, or relevant advertising).

What is the lifetime of a cookie

Cookies are managed by web servers. The lifetime of a cookie can vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. Some cookies are used exclusively for a single session (session cookies) and are not retained once the user leaves the website and some cookies are retained and reused every time the user returns to that website (“persistent cookies”). However, cookies can be deleted by a user at any time via the browser settings.

What are third-party cookies

Certain sections of content on some sites may be provided through third parties/providers (e.g., a video or advertisement). These third parties may also place cookies through the site and they are called “third-party cookies” because they are not placed by the owner of that website. Third-party providers must also comply with the applicable law and the privacy policies of the site owner.

How this site uses cookies

A visit to this site may place cookies for purposes of:

• Site performance cookies;
• Visitor analysis cookies;
• Geotargeting cookies;
• Registration cookies;
• Advertising cookies;
• Advertising provider cookies.

Site performance cookies

This type of cookie remembers the user’s preferences on this site, so there is no need to set them at each visit.

Examples:

• the volume settings for the video player;
• the video streaming speed with which the browser is compatible.

Visitor analysis cookies

Each time a user visits this site, third-party analytics software generates a user analysis cookie. This cookie tells us if you have visited this site before. The browser will tell us if you have this cookie, and if not, we will generate one. This allows the monitoring of unique users who visit us and how often they do so. As long as you are not registered on this site, this cookie cannot be used to identify individuals, they are used for statistical purposes only. If you are registered, we may also know the details you have provided to us, such as your email address and username – these are subject to confidentiality and the provisions of the Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and the applicable law regarding the protection of personal data.

Geotargeting cookies

These cookies are used by software that determines which country you come from. It is completely anonymous and is only used to target content – even when you are on our page in Romanian or another language, you will receive the same advertisement.

Registration cookies

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

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to know whether or not you have viewed an online advertisement, what type it is, and how long it has been since you saw the advertising message. These cookies are also used to target online advertising. We may also use third-party cookies, for better targeting of advertising (e.g., to show holiday ads, if the user has recently visited an article on the site about holidays). These cookies are anonymous, they store information about the content viewed, not about the users. We also set anonymous cookies through other sites on which we have advertising. By receiving them, we can use them to recognize you as a visitor to that site. If you subsequently visit our site, we will be able to deliver advertising based on this information.

Advertising provider cookies

Much of the advertising you find on this site belongs to third parties. Some of these parties use their own anonymous cookies to analyze how many people have been exposed to an advertising message, or to see how many people have been exposed multiple times to the same advertisement. The companies that generate these cookies have their own privacy policies, and this site does not have access to read or write these cookies. Third-party cookies can be used to show you targeted advertising on other sites, based on your browsing on this site.

Other third-party cookies

On some pages, third parties may set their own anonymous cookies, to track the success of an application or to customize an application. Due to the way it is used, this site cannot access these cookies, just as third parties cannot access the cookies owned by this site. For example, when you share an article using the social media button on this site, that social network will record your activity.

Why cookies are important for the Internet

Cookies represent the central point of the efficient functioning of the Internet, helping to generate a friendly browsing experience and adapted to the preferences and interests of each user. Refusing or disabling cookies can make some sites unusable. Refusing or disabling cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive online advertising – but that it will no longer be able to take into account your preferences and interests highlighted by your browsing behavior, in which case most likely the advertising you will receive will be less relevant to you.

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

• Content and services tailored to user preferences – categories of news, weather, sports, maps, public and government services, entertainment sites, and travel services.
• Offers adapted to user interests – retaining passwords, language preferences (e.g., displaying search results in Romanian).
• Retaining child protection filters regarding content on the Internet (family mode options, safe search functions).
• Limiting the frequency of ad serving – limiting the number of times an ad is displayed for a particular user on a site.
• Providing more relevant advertising to the user.
• 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., through search engines, directly, from other websites, etc.). Websites carry out these analyses of their use to improve sites for the benefit of users.

Security and privacy issues

Cookies are NOT viruses! They use plain text formats. They are not made up of pieces of code so they cannot be executed nor can they auto-run. Consequently, they cannot duplicate or replicate on other networks to run again. Since they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses. Cookies can still be used for negative purposes. Since they store information about users’ preferences and browsing history, both on a specific site and on several other sites, cookies can be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this fact and constantly mark cookies to be deleted during anti-virus/anti-spyware deletion/scanning procedures.

In general, browsers have integrated privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, lifetime, and automatic deletion after the user has visited a particular site. Since identity protection is highly valuable and is the right of every Internet user, it is advisable to know what potential problems cookies can create. Because through them, information is constantly transmitted in both directions between the browser and the website, if an attacker or unauthorized person intervenes in the data transmission path, the information contained in the cookie can be intercepted. Although very rarely, this can happen if the browser connects to the server using an unencrypted network (e.g., an unsecured Wi-Fi network).

Other cookie-based attacks involve incorrect cookie settings on servers. If a website does not require the browser to use only encrypted channels, attackers can use this vulnerability to trick browsers into sending information through unsecured channels. Attackers then use the information to gain unauthorized access to certain sites. It is very important to be careful in choosing the most appropriate method of protecting personal information.

Tips for Safe and Responsible Browsing with Cookies

Due to their flexibility and the fact that most of the most visited and largest sites use cookies, they are almost inevitable. Disabling cookies will not allow the user access to the most widespread and used sites, including YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo, and others.

Here are some tips to ensure you browse worry-free with the help of cookies:

– Customize your browser settings regarding cookies to reflect a comfortable level of cookie security for you.
– If you don’t mind cookies and you are the only person using the computer, you can set long expiration terms for storing your browsing history and personal access data.
– If you share computer access, you might consider setting the browser to delete individual browsing data each time you close the browser. This is a way to access sites that place cookies and delete any visit information at the end of the browsing session.
– Install and constantly update antispyware applications.

Many spyware detection and prevention applications include detecting attacks on sites.

Thus, they prevent the browser from accessing websites that could exploit browser vulnerabilities or download dangerous software. Make sure your browser is always updated. Many cookie-based attacks are carried out by exploiting weaknesses in old browser versions.

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

How to Stop Cookies

Disabling and refusing to receive cookies can make certain sites impractical or difficult to visit and use. Also, refusing to accept cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive/see online advertising.

It is possible to set the browser so that these cookies are no longer accepted or you can set the browser to accept cookies from a specific site. For example, if you are not registered using cookies, you will not be able to leave comments.

All modern browsers offer the possibility to change cookie settings. Usually, these settings are found in the “options” or “preferences” menu of your browser.

To understand these settings, the following links may be useful, otherwise, you can 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