INFORMATION ABOUT COOKIES (COOKIE POLICY)
Regulations
On May 8, 2014, the Italian Privacy Guarantor announced a regulation to establish simplified procedures for the notice and acquisition of consent on the use of cookies; this document was converted into State Law, namely Cookie Law, on June 3, 2014 (see also: Privacy Guarantor, no to cookies for profiling without consent).
With this Law, owners/managers of websites are obliged to acquire the prearranged and informed consent of users for the installation of cookies for purposes other than purely technical ones.
What are cookies?
Cookies are text files containing minimal information sent to the browser and stored on the user’s computer, mobile phone or other devices every time a website is visited. At each connection, cookies feed information back into the reference site.
Cookies can be permanent (persistent cookies) if they remain on the computer until the user deletes them or temporary (session cookies) if they are disabled when the browser is closed. Cookies can also be first-party cookies if set by the visited site or third-party cookies if obtained from a site other than the one visited.
In the Law, the Privacy Guarantor identifies two types of cookies: “technical cookies” and “profiling cookies”.
Technical cookies
Technical cookies are those used for the sole purpose of “carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network, or as strictly necessary for the service provider of an information society explicitly requested by the subscriber or user to provide a service” (see Article 122, paragraph 1 of the Privacy Code).
Such cookies are not used for other purposes and are normally installed directly by the website owner or manager. They can be divided into: session cookies, which guarantee the normal browsing and use of the website (allowing, for example, to make a purchase or authenticate to access-restricted areas); any analytics cookies, similar to technical cookies when used directly by the site operator to collect information in aggregate form on the number of users and how they visit the website; functionality cookies, which allow the user to browse according to a series of selected criteria (for example, language, products selected for purchase) in order to improve the service provided. The prior consent of users is not required for installation of these cookies.
Profiling cookies
Profiling cookies are designed to create user profiles and are used to send advertising messages in line with the preferences expressed by the users while surfing the internet. Due to the invasiveness that such devices may have into the private sphere of users, European and Italian legislation establish that users must be adequately informed on their use and thus express their valid consent. They are referred to in Article 122 of the Privacy Code, which stipulates that “the storage of information in the terminal equipment of a contractor or a user or the access to information already stored are permitted only upon the contractor’s or user’s consent after having been informed on the simplified procedures referred to in Article 13 of the Privacy Code, Paragraph 3”.
Why we use cookies
We use cookies to improve the functionality of our site, allow the user to easily browse pages, remember their preferences and ensure that the user always has an optimal browsing experience.
Cookies used and their purpose
The cookies used on our site can be categorized as follows:
Essential cookies
These cookies are essential to allow the user to browse the website and use the required services, such as access to protected areas.
Essential cookies are first-party cookies and can be permanent or temporary. Without these cookies, the user would not be able to access the requested services and our site would not function properly.
Performance cookies
Performance cookies collect information on the use of a website by users, such as which pages are visited most frequently. These cookies do not store identification data of individual visitors, but only aggregate and anonymous data.
We use these cookies for statistical purposes, to understand how our website is used.
These cookies can be permanent or temporary, first- or third-party. Basically, these cookies collect anonymous information on the pages visited.
Functionality cookies
These cookies allow the website to remember our visitors’ choices (for example user name, language or country of access) and provide more personalized features. Functional cookies can also be used to provide services requested by the user, such as accessing a video or adding a comment to a blog. The information used by these cookies is anonymous and thus it is not possible to track browsing data on other websites.
We use these cookies to:
- remember if a particular service has already been provided to the user;
- improve the general experience on the website by remembering user preferences.
These cookies can be permanent or temporary, first- or third-party. Basically, these cookies remember individual choices made by users to improve their browsing experience.
Google Analytics
Our site includes some components transmitted by Google Analytics, a web traffic analysis service provided by Google. These are third-party cookies collected and managed anonymously to monitor and improve the performance of the host site (performance cookies).
Google Analytics uses cookies to collect and analyze anonymous information on usage behavior on our website. This information is collected by Google Analytics, which processes it in order to draw up reports for our operators regarding activities on the website itself. This website does not use (and does not allow third parties to use) the Google analysis tool to monitor or collect personal identification information.
The Guarantor specifies that Google Analytics cookies can be assimilated to technical cookies only if used by the owner of the site to optimize the site directly, collecting information in aggregate form on the number of users and how they visit the site. Under these conditions, the same rules for technical cookies apply to analytics cookies in terms of information and consent.
Therefore, we specify that on our website Google Analytics management components have been appropriately modified so that IP addresses of users are anonymized.
For more information, please refer to the link below: How Google uses data
The user can selectively disable Google Analytics by installing the opt-out add-on provided by Google. To disable Google Analytics, please refer to the link below: Browser add-on for deactivating Google Analytics
Other third-party cookies
Visiting a website cookies may be received from both the visited site (“owners”) and from sites managed by other organizations (“third parties”). An example is the presence of “social plug-ins” for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc. These are portions of the visited page generated directly by the aforementioned sites and integrated into the host page. The most common function of social plug-ins is sharing content on social networks.
The presence of these plug-ins involves the transmission of cookies to and from all sites managed by third parties. The management of information collected by third parties is governed by the relevant notices to which reference should be made. To ensure greater transparency and convenience, web addresses including notices and methods for managing cookies are listed below.
How to manage and disable cookies
The user can decide whether or not to accept cookies using the settings on their browser.
Attention: total or partial disabling of technical cookies may compromise the use of the website features reserved for registered users. Conversely, the usability of public content is unaffected upon complete disabling of cookies.
Disabling third-party cookies does not affect browsing in any way.
Settings can be selected specifically for different websites and web applications.
Each browser has different procedures for managing settings. Specific instructions can be obtained through the links below:
Disabling third-party cookies is also possible through methods made available directly by the third-party company owner, as indicated in the links in the paragraph “Cookies used and their purpose > Other third-party cookies”.
For services provided by third parties, the user can also exercise their right to object to tracking by investigating the third party privacy policy, using the opt-out link if explicitly provided, or by contacting the third party directly.
For information on the cookies stored on your terminal and how to disable them individually, please refer to the link: YourOnlineChoices.com
To delete cookies from the browser of your smartphone/tablet, it may be necessary to refer to the user manual of your device.
By using the site without rejecting cookies through the procedures indicated, users approve our use of this technology for the collection and processing of information.
