Please read carefully the following information:
This website may use both own and third-party cookies to provide visitors with a much better browsing experience and services tailored to the needs and interests of everyone. In what we call “web 2.0,” “cookies” play an important role in facilitating the access and delivery of multiple services that the user enjoys on the Internet, such as:
- The cookies provide site owners with valuable feedback on how their sites are used by users so they can make them even more effective and accessible to users.
- They allow multimedia or other applications from other sites to be included in a particular site to create a more valuable, useful, and enjoyable browsing experience;
- They improve the efficiency of online advertising.
What is a cookie?
An “Internet Cookie” (also known as “cookie browser” or “HTTP cookie” or simply “cookie”) is a small file of letters and numbers that will be stored on your computer, other equipment of a user on which the Internet is accessed.
The cookie is installed through a web browser’s browser request (e.g. Internet Explorer, Chrome) and is completely “passive” (does not contain software, viruses or spyware and cannot access the information on the user’s hard drive).
A cookie consists of two parts: the name and the content or the value of the cookie. Furthermore, the duration of a cookie is determined; technically, only the webserver that sent the cookie can access it again when a user returns to the website associated with that webserver. Cookies themselves do not require personal information to be used and, in most cases, do not personally identify internet users.
There are 2 large categories of cookies:
- Session cookies – they are temporarily stored in the web browser’s cookie folder to save them until the user exits the site or closes the browser window (for example, when logging / deleting to a webmail account or on social networks).
- Persistent cookies – These are stored on the hard drive of a computer or device (and generally depends on the default cookie lifetime). Persistent cookies include those placed on a website other than the one the user is currently visiting – known as ‘third party cookies’ – which can be used anonymously to memorize the interests of a user, so that advertising is delivered as relevant as possible to users.
What are the benefits of cookies?
A cookie contains information linking a web browser (user) and a specific web-server (website). If a browser accesses that web-server again, it can read the already stored information and react accordingly. Cookies provide users with a pleasant browsing experience and support the efforts of many websites to provide comfortable user services: ex – 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 life of a cookie may vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. Some cookies are used exclusively for one session (session cookies) and are no longer retained once the user has left the website and some cookies are retained and reused whenever the user returns to that site (‘permanent cookie’).However, cookies can be deleted by a user at any time through browser settings.
What are cookies placed by third parties?
Certain sections of content on some sites may be provided through third parties / providers (e.g. news box, 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 vendors must also comply with the applicable law and the privacy policy of the site owner.
| Cookie Name | Type | Description | Supplier | Expiry Time |
| _utma | Analytics | Google. Inc. | Two years after inaugural configuration or upgrade | |
| Functional | This cookie (which is part of Google Analytics) keeps track of the number of visits of a visitor to your site when it was your first visit and the last visit. Expires after 2 years. | |||
| _utmb | Analytics | Google. Inc. | 30 minutes from configuration or update | |
| Functional | Used to create a time stamp from the moment a visitor enters a site. This cookie is part of Google Analytics along with _utmc cookie. Expires after 30 minutes. | |||
| _utmc | Analytics | Google. Inc. | Finish browsing session | |
| Functional | Used to create a time stamp just when a visitor leaves the site. This cookie is part of Google Analytics along with _utmb cookie. This cookie is deleted when the browser is closed. | |||
| _utmz | Analytics | Google. Inc. | Six months after configuring or updating | |
| Functional | _utmz keeps track of traffic from the location where the visitor visited the site, which search engine he used, what links he visited, what keywords he used, and where the user visited the site. This cookie is part of Google Analytics. Expires after 180 days. | |||
| PHPSESSID | Necessary | It temporarily records a user identity variable. | Ancom96 | Finish browsing session |
| _icl_current_language | Functional | Records a variable by which it stores the language chosen by the user. | Ancom96 | 24 hours from the end of the session |
| _gat, _gat_awxoapTracker | Functional | It is used by Google Universal Analytics to limit data collection on large traffic sites. | Ancom96 | 10 minutes from the end of the session |
| _ga | Functional | It is used by Google Universal Analytics to identify users by associating them with a unique auto-generated number. | Ancom96 | 760 days from the end of the session |
| cookie_notice_accepted | Functional | Register if the user has accepted cookies or not when first accessing the site. | Ancom96 | 30 days from the end of the session |
| wfvt_3782209690 | Functional | Used to firewall traffic | Ancom96 | Finish browsing session |
| wordfence_verifiedHuman | Functional | Used to firewall traffic | Ancom96 | 24 hours from the end of the session |
| GAPS, GoogleAccountsLocale_session, GALX, LSID | Traffic Info / Advertising | Used by Google+ to let users click on the +1 button. | Google. Inc. | 1 year from the end of the session |
| SID, SAPISID, APISID, SSID, HSID, NID, PREF | Traffic Info / Advertising | Used by Google Maps to identify user activity and store user preferences. | Google. Inc. | 730 days (SID), 1621 days (SAPISID, APISID, SSID, HSID, PREF), 1074 days (NID) |
| datr, x-src, fr, lu, locale, campaign_click_url | Traffic Info / Advertising | Used by Facebook to track user activity. | 1621 (datr, lu), 891 days (x-src), 921 days, 898 days (local), 9 days (campaign_click_url) | |
| NID | Functional | This cookie contains Google ID and is used to get information about user preferences about Google services. | Google. Inc. | 1 year from the end of the session |
| HSID | Functional | Google Security Cookie | Google. Inc. | 3 months from the end of the session |
| SID | Functional | Google Security Cookie | Google. Inc. | 3 months from the end of the session |
How cookies are used by this site
Visiting this site can place cookies for:
Site performance cookies
- Visitor analysis cookies
- Geotargeting cookies
- Recording cookies
- Session cookies
- Advertising cookies
- Advertiser cookies
- Certain cookies may come from third parties.
Performance cookies
This type of cookie retains the user’s preferences on this site, so they do not need to be set at every site visit (Ex: list of recently viewed products, user preferences, desktop type or mobile type, the number of products added to your shopping cart, etc.).
Geotargeting cookies
These cookies are used to determine which country you are coming from, are completely anonymous, and are used only to target the content (e.g., storing the country code as a result of automated IP detection).
Registration cookies
These cookies store the specific data of a particular user (user ID, email address, preferences for retaining login data in your account). When you sign up for this site, we generate a cookie that tells us if you are registered or not. Our servers use these cookies to show us the account with which you are registered and to display the information associated with your account.
Session cookies
The session cookie is generated automatically when accessing the site and is used for web application management (HTTP protocol, filling out certain forms, interacting with certain elements of the site, etc.). This cookie automatically clears when the browser is closed.
Other cookies from third parties
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. These cookies may come from third parties such as Web Analytics services (e.g., Google Analytics), advertising (e.g., AdSense), social media platforms (e.g., Facebook), chat clients, etc. Because of its use, this site cannot access these cookies, just as third parties cannot access cookies owned by this site. For example, when you share an article using the social network button on this site, that social network will record your activity.
What type of information is stored and accessed through cookies?
Cookies keep information in a small text file that allows a website to recognize a browser. The Webserver will recognize the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted. The cookie stores important information that enhances Internet browsing experience (e.g. setting the language of a site, keeping a user logged in to the webmail account, online banking security, keeping your products in the shopping cart).
Why are Internet cookies important?
Cookies are the focal point of the efficient Internet, helping to generate a friendly browsing experience and tailored to the preferences and interests of each user. Denying or disabling cookies can make some sites unusable. Denying or disabling cookies does not mean you will not receive online advertising – just that it will no longer be able to keep track of your preferences and interests highlighted by your browsing behavior. Examples of important uses of cookies (which do not require authentication of a user through an account):
- Content and services tailored to user preferences – news, weather, sports, maps, government and public services, entertainment sites and travel services.
- Offers tailored to users’ interests – remembering passwords, language preferences (Ex: displaying search results in English).
- Retrieve child protection filters for content on the Internet (family mode options, safe search functions).
- Limit ad serving frequency – limit the number of impressions of an ad 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 reaches a website (e.g. through search engines, directly from other websites, etc.). Websites run these analyzes of their use to improve sites for the benefit of users.
Cookies are NOT Viruses!
They use plain text formats. They are not made up of pieces of code so they cannot be executed or can auto-run. Consequently, they cannot duplicate or replicate on other networks to run or replicate again. Because they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses. Cookies can still be used for negative purposes. Because it stores information about user preferences and browsing history, both on a particular site and on several other sites, cookies can be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this and consistently mark cookies to be deleted in anti-virus / anti-spyware removal / scanning procedures. In general, browsers have built-in privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, shelf life, and automatic deletion after the user has visited a particular site.
Other security issues related to cookies
Because identity protection is very valuable and is the right of every internet user, it is advisable to know what problems can create cookies. In order to transmit constant information in both ways between the browser and the website, if an attacker or unauthorized person intervenes during the data transmission, 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 bad cookie settings on servers. If a website does not require the browser to use only encrypted channels, attackers can use this vulnerability to prevent browsers from sending information through unsecured channels. Attackers then use the information for 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 cookie-based navigation
Due to their flexibility and the fact that most of the most visited sites and the largest ones use cookies, they are almost inevitable. Disabling cookies will not allow the user to access the most popular and used sites including YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo and others. Here are some tips to make sure you do not worry about cookies:
- Customize your browser settings for cookies to reflect a comfortable level for your cookie security.
- If you do not mind cookies and you are the only person using your computer, you can set expiration dates to store your browsing history and personal access data.
- If you share your computer access, you can consider the browser setting to delete individual browsing data each time you close your browser. This is a way to access sites that place cookies and to delete any visitor information when closing the browsing session.
- Install and constantly update your antispyware applications.
Many of the applications for detection and prevention of spyware include the detection of attacks on sites. This prevents the browser from accessing websites that could exploit browser vulnerabilities or download dangerous software.
Make sure your browser is always up-to-date. Many of the cookie’s attacks are exploited by exploiting the weaknesses of the old versions of browsers. Cookies are everywhere and cannot be avoided if you want to enjoy access to the best and greatest websites on the Internet – local or international. With a clear understanding of how they work and the benefits they bring, you can take the necessary security measures so you can browse with confidence on the internet.
How can I stop cookies?
Disabling and refusing to receive cookies can make some sites unfeasible or difficult to visit and use. Also, refusing to accept cookies does not mean you will not receive / see online advertising anymore. A browser setting is possible for cookies to be disallowed, or you can set your browser to accept cookies from a specific site. But, for example, if you are not registered using cookies, you will not be able to leave comments. All modern browsers offer the ability to change cookie settings. These settings are usually found in your browser’s “options” or “preferences” menu. To understand these settings, the following links may be useful, otherwise you can use the browser’s “help” option for more details.
- Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
- Cookie settings in Microsoft Edge
- Cookie settings in Firefox
- Cookie settings in Chrome
- Cookie settings in Safari
For third-party cookie settings, you can also visit the site:
Useful Links
If you want to know more about cookies and what they are used for, we recommend the following links:
Questions, Suggestions and Complaints?
Do you have questions about data protection, cookie policy or our website? No problem, we are happy to help you. You can contact us using the contact page data.