Use cookies
The following information is intended to inform the user of more details about the placement, use and management of the "cookies" used by our site.
Please read the following information carefully:
This website uses cookies to provide visitors with a much better browsing experience and services tailored to everyone's needs and interests.
These cookies can also come from third parties.
"Cookies" have the role of facilitating the access and delivery of services used by Internet users, such as the customization of certain settings (language, country, prices displayed in the national currency).
"Cookies", based on the information they gather about users, help website owners to make their product more efficient so that it is as easily accessed by users as they also increase the effectiveness of online advertising and last but not least, they can allow multimedia or other applications from other sites to be included in a certain sote to make browsing more useful.
What is a "cookie"?
Cookie ("browser cookie" or "HTTP cookie") is a small file, consisting of letters and numbers, which is stored on any terminal with Internet access (computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) and is installed by request issued by a web server to a browser (eg: 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 personally identify internet users.
A cookie consists of a name and content, the duration of its existence being determined, being able to be accessed again by the web server when a user returns to the website associated with the respective web server.
Cookies are classified into:
- Session cookies - these are temporarily stored in the browser's history, which stores them until the user exits the respective website or closes the browser window.
- Persistent Cookies - These are stored, depending on the predetermined duration, on the hard drive of a computer or equipment. Persistent cookies also include those placed by a website other than the one the user is visiting at the time - known as "third party cookies" - which can be used anonymously to remember a user's interests, thus so that advertising is delivered as relevant as possible for users.
What are the advantages of cookies?
A cookie contains information that connects users to a specific website. If a browser accesses that web-server again, it can read the information already stored and react accordingly. Cookies provide users with a pleasant browsing experience and support the efforts of many websites to offer comfortable services to users: eg - online privacy preferences, website language options, shopping carts or relevant advertising.
What is the lifetime of a cookie?
The lifetime of a cookie can be different, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. There are cookies used exclusively for a single session - they are no longer retained after the user leaves the website. Permanent cookies - they are retained and reused every time the user returns to that website, but they can be deleted by the user at any time.
What are cookies placed by third parties?
Certain parts of content from certain sites can be placed on the accessed website by third parties through banners, boxes or links - and all these tools can contain cookies. They are called "third party cookies" because they are not placed by the owner of the respective website, and the third party providers are subject to the laws in force and the privacy policies of the website owner.
How cookies are used by this site
A visit to this website may place cookies for the purposes of:
- Website performance cookies
- Visitor analysis cookies
- Cookies for geotargetting
- Registration cookies
- Cookies for advertising
- Advertising provider cookies
These cookies may come from third parties.
- Performance cookies – This type of cookie remembers the user's preferences on this site, so that there is no need to set them each time the site is visited. For example: the volume settings for the video player, the video streaming speed with which the browser is compatible.
- Cookies for visitor analysis – Each time a user visits this site, the analytics software provided by a third party 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. It 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 only for statistical purposes. If you are registered, we can also know the details you have provided us, such as your e-mail address and username - these being subject to confidentiality and the provisions of the Terms and Conditions, the Privacy Policy as well as the provisions of the legislation in force regarding the protection of personal data.
- Cookies for geotargetting – These cookies are used by a software that determines which country you come from. It is completely anonymous and is only used to target the content - even when you are on our page in Romanian or in another language, you receive the same advertisement.
- Cookies for registration - When you register on 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 you are registered with and if you have permission for a specific service. It also allows us to associate any comment you post on our site with your username. If you have not selected "keep me registered", this cookie will be automatically deleted when you close your browser or computer.
- Cookies for advertising – These cookies allow us to find out whether or not you have viewed an online advertisement, what is its type and how much time has passed since you saw the advertising message. These cookies are also used to target online advertising. We may also use cookies belonging to a third party, for better targeting of advertising, to show, for example, advertisements about vacations, if the user has recently visited an article on the site about vacations. These cookies are anonymous, they store information about the viewed content, not about users. We also set anonymous cookies through other sites on which we advertise. By receiving them in this way, we can use them to recognize you as a visitor of that site if you later visit our site, we will be able to deliver advertising based on this information.
- Advertising provider cookies – A large part 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 to the same advertisement several times. 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 as well, 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 way of use, 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 network button on this site, that social network will record your activity.
What type of information is stored and accessed through cookies?
Cookies store information in a small text file that allows a website to recognize a browser. The web server recognizes your browser until the cookie expires or is deleted. The cookie stores important information that improves the Internet browsing experience (eg: language settings in which a website is accessed; keeping a user logged in to the webmail account; online banking security; keeping products in the shopping cart)
Why are cookies important to the Internet?
Cookies represent the central point of the efficient functioning of the Internet, helping to generate a friendly browsing experience adapted to the preferences and interests of each user. Rejecting or disabling cookies may make some sites unusable.
Rejecting or deactivating cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive online advertising - but only that it will no longer be able to take into account your preferences and interests, highlighted by your browsing behavior.
Examples of important uses of cookies (which do not require the authentication of a user through an account):
- Content and services adapted to the user's preferences - categories of news, weather, sports, maps, public and government services, entertainment sites and travel services.
- Offers adapted to the interests of users - password retention, language preferences (Ex: displaying search results in Romanian).
- Retention of child protection filters regarding Internet content (family mode options, safe search functions)
- Limiting the frequency of advertising broadcasts – limiting the number of times an advertisement is displayed for a certain 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 at a website (eg through search engines, directly, from other websites etc). The websites carry out these analyzes of their use in order to improve the sites for the benefit of the 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 or auto-run. Consequently, they cannot be duplicated or replicated on other networks to run or replicate again. Since they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses.
Cookies can still be used for negative purposes. Because they store information about the preferences and browsing history of users, 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, validity period and automatic deletion after the user has visited a certain site.
Other security aspects related to cookies
Since identity protection is very valuable and represents the right of every internet user, it is advisable to know what possible 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 during data transmission, the information contained in the cookie can be intercepted. Although very rare, this can happen if the browser connects to the server using an unencrypted network (ex: an unsecured WiFi network).
Other cookie-based attacks involve missetting cookies 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. The attackers then use the information to gain unauthorized access to certain websites. It is very important to be careful in choosing the most suitable method of personal information protection.
Tips for safe and responsible browsing, based on cookies
Due to their flexibility and the fact that most of the most visited and largest sites use cookies, they are almost unavoidable. Deactivating cookies will not allow the user access to the most widespread and used sites, including YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo and others. Here are some tips that can ensure that you do not sleep without worries, but with the help of cookies:
Customize your browser's cookie settings to reflect a comfortable level of cookie security for you If you don't mind cookies and you're the only person using the computer, you can set month-long expiration dates for history storage navigation and personal access data. If you share access to your computer, you may consider setting your browser to delete individual browsing data each time you close your browser. This is an option to access the sites that place cookies and to delete any visit information at the end of the browsing session. Install and constantly update your antispyware applications.
Many of the spyware detection and prevention applications include detection of attacks on websites. Thus, it prevents the browser from accessing websites that could exploit the vulnerabilities of the browser or download dangerous software. Make sure your browser is always updated. Many of the attacks based on cookies are carried out by exploiting the weak points of the old versions of the browsers.
Cookies are everywhere and cannot be avoided if you want to enjoy access to the best and biggest 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 surf the Internet with confidence.
Deactivation and refusal of cookies
Disabling and refusing to receive cookies can make certain websites 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. But, 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. These settings are usually found in the "options" or "preferences" menu of your browser.