Cookies Policy
COOKIE USE POLICY
The information presented below is intended to provide the user with more details about the placement, use and administration of “cookies” used by the digitalstack.ro website.
Please read the following information carefully:
This website uses cookies to provide visitors with a much better browsing experience and services tailored to their needs and interests.
These cookies may come from the following third parties: Adwords, Facebook, Google Analytics, Google.com, Hotjar.
The role of “cookies” is to facilitate access to and delivery of services used by the Internet user, such as personalization of certain settings (language, country, prices in the national currency).
Cookies, based on the information they collect about users, help site owners analyze their product so that it is easily accessed by users. They also increase the efficiency of online advertising and last but not least can enable multimedia applications or other applications from other sites to make navigation more useful.
What is a “Cookie”?
A cookie (“browser cookie” or “HTTP cookie”) is a small string of letters and numbers that is stored on any terminal with access to internet (computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) and is installed by the request issued by a web server to a browser (eg Internet Explorer, Chrome).
Please note: Cookies do not contain software, viruses or spyware and cannot access the information on the user’s hard drive. No cookies request personal information and cannot personally identify internet users.
A cookie consists of a name and content, with a determined duration. They can be accessed again by the webserver when a user returns to the website associated with that webserver.
Cookies are classified as:
– Session cookies – these are temporarily stored in the browser history that stores them until the user logs out of the website respectively or close the browser window.
– Persistent cookies – these are stored, depending on the default time, 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 currently visiting – known as “third party cookies” – that can be used anonymously to memorize a user’s interests so that the most relevant advertising for users is delivered.
What are the advantages of using cookies?
A cookie contains information that links users to a particular website. If a browser accesses that web server again, it can read information already stored and react accordingly. Cookies provide users with a pleasant browsing experience and support the efforts of many websites to provide convenient services to users: ex – online privacy preferences, site language options, shopping costs or relevant advertising.
What is the lifespan of a cookie?
The lifespan of a cookie can differ, 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 – are retained and reused each time the user returns to that website, but I can be deleted at any time by the user.
What are third-party cookies?
Certain parts of the content on certain sites can be placed on the website accessed by third parties through banners, boxes or links – and all these tools may contain cookies. They are called “third party cookies” because they are not placed by the owner of the website. Third party providers are subject to the laws in force and the privacy policies of the site owner.
How are the cookies used by this site used?
A visit to this site may place cookies for the purposes of:
Site performance cookies
Visitor analysis cookies
Geotargeting cookies
Registration cookies
Advertising cookies
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 there is no need to set them each time you visit the site. E.g: volume settings for the video player, the video streaming speed that the browser is compatible with.
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 lets us know 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 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 cannot be used for identifying individual people, they are used only for statistical purposes. If you are registered we may also know the details you have provided to us, such as e-mail address and username – these are subject to confidentiality and the provisions of the Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and the provisions of the legislation in force regarding the protection of personal data.
Geotargeting cookies
These cookies are used by a software that determines which country you come from. It is completely anonymous and is only used to target content – when you are on our page in Romanian or in another language you receive the same advertisement.
Registration cookies
When you register on this site, we generate a cookie that notifies us if you are registered or not. Our servers use these cookies to show us the account you are registered with and whether you have permission for a particular 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 will close your browser or computer.
Advertising cookies
These cookies allow us to know whether or not you have viewed an online advertisement, its type, 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 cookies belonging to a third party, for better targeting of advertising, to show for example holiday advertisements if the user recently visited an article on the site about holidays. These cookies are anonymous, they store information about the content viewed, not about users. We also set anonymous cookies through other sites we advertise. By receiving them, we can use them to recognize you as a visitor to that site if later you will visit our website, 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 were exposed to an ad, or to see how many people were exposed to the same ad multiple 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 may set their own anonymous cookies in order to track the success of an application, or to customize an application. Due to the way they are being used, this site cannot access these cookies, just as third parties cannot access the cookies held 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.
What kind 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 will recognize your browser until the cookie expires or is deleted. The cookie stores important information that improves the Internet browsing experience (eg: the settings of the language in which you want to access a site; keeping a user logged in to the webmail account; online banking security; keeping products in shopping basket).
Why are cookies important for the internet?
Cookies are the central point of the efficient functioning of the Internet, helping to generate a friendly and adapted browsing experience, based on preferences and interests of each user. Declining or disabling cookies may make some sites impossible to use.
Rejecting or disabling 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 your interests, highlighted by the 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 – 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: showing search results in Adword in the Romanian language).
Retention of child protection filters on Internet content (family mode options, safe search functions)
Limit the frequency of ad serving – limit the number of times an ad is placed for a particular user on a site.
Providing more relevant advertising for the user.
Measurement, optimization and analytics features – like confirming a certain level of traffic on a website, what type of content is viewed and how a user gets to a website (eg: through search engines, directly, from other websites, etc.). Websites conduct these usage analyzes to improve the sites for the benefit of users.
Security and privacy issues
Cookies are NOT viruses! They use plain text formats. They’re not made up of pieces of code so they cannot run, and cannot self-authorize.
Consequently, they cannot be duplicated or replicated on other networks to be run or replicate. Because they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses.
Cookies can however be used for negative purposes. Because it stores information about users’ preferences and browsing history, both on a certain site as well as on several other sites, cookies can be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this and constantly mark cookies to be deleted during anti-virus / anti-spyware deletion / scanning procedures.
Browsers generally have built-in privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, validity, and automatic deletion after the user has visited a specific site.
Other security issues related to cookies
Because the protection of identity 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 intervnes during the transmission of data, the information contained in the cookie can be intercepted. Although very rare, this is possible if the browser connects to the server using an unencrypted network (eg: 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. The attackers use the information for the purpose of unauthorized access to certain sites. It is very important to be careful in choosing the most suitable method of protection of personal information.
Tips for safe and responsible browsing based on cookies
Due to their “visibility” 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 to access the most common and used sites including Youtube, Gmail, Yahoo and others. There are tips that can ensure that you can navigate the internet without worries but with the help of cookies:
Customize your browser settings for cookies to reflect a comfortable level of cookie security for you.
If you do not mind cookies and you are the only person using the computer, you can set long expiration dates for storing your browsing and personal data access. If you share access to your computer, you can consider setting your browser to delete individual browsing data each time you close the browser. This is a way to access 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 site attack detection. This prevents the browser from accessing websites which could exploit browser vulnerabilities or download malicious software. Make sure your browser is always up to date. Many of cookie-based attacks exploited the weaknesses of older versions of browsers.
Cookies are everywhere and they 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.
Disabling and rejecting cookies
Disabling and refusing to receive cookies may make certain sites impractical or difficult to visit and use. Also, the refusal to accept cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive / see online advertising.
It is possible to set in 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 ability to change cookie settings. These settings are usually found in the “options” or in the Adword “Preferences” menu of your browser.
For the settings of cookies generated by third parties, and for more information on the confidentiality related to online advertising, IAB Romania makes information available at the following site: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ro/
To understand these settings, the link can be useful, otherwise you can use the “help” option of the browser for more detail