Cookie Policy

To comply with the EU directive of 26 May 2012 and with Romanian law no. 506 of 17 November 2004 on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector, every visitor to this website is asked for consent before cookies are placed on their device.

This website uses its own cookies and third-party cookies, to give visitors a better browsing experience and services suited to what each person needs.

Which cookies we use on this site

On your first visit we ask for your agreement through a banner. You can accept everything, refuse everything, or choose by category. Until you agree, statistics and marketing cookies are not switched on. You can change your choice at any time by clearing the cookies in your browser — the site will ask you again.

We use three categories:

• Necessary – these make the site work. They are always on and cannot be switched off.
• Analytics – Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity, so we can understand anonymously how the site is used. They only run with your agreement.
• Marketing – Google Ads, for measuring advertising campaigns and remarketing. They only run with your agreement.

The data collected through these cookies is processed by Google (Google Ireland Ltd.) and Microsoft (Microsoft Ireland Ltd.). You will find more detail in the Google privacy policy and in the Microsoft privacy statement.

Cookies play an important part in making the many services people use on the internet work, such as:

• Remembering certain settings, such as the language a site is viewed in, or earlier preferences when using the "forward" and "back" buttons;
• Giving site owners useful feedback on how their sites are used, so they can make them work better and be easier to use;
• Allowing multimedia or other applications from other sites to be embedded in a site, to make browsing more useful and more enjoyable;

What is a "cookie"?

An "internet cookie" (also known as a "browser cookie", an "HTTP cookie" or simply a "cookie") is a small file of letters and numbers stored on the computer, mobile device or other equipment a person uses to access the internet.

The cookie is installed at the request of a web server sent to a browser (for example Chrome or Safari) and is entirely "passive" — it contains no software, viruses or spyware, and cannot access information on the user's hard drive.

A cookie is made up of two parts: the name and the content, or value, of the cookie. A cookie's lifetime is also set in advance; technically, only the web server that sent the cookie can read it again when a user returns to the website associated with that server.

Cookies in themselves do not require personal information in order to work, and in most cases they do not personally identify internet users.

There are two broad categories of cookie:

• Session cookies – these are stored temporarily in the browser's cookie folder, so the browser remembers them until the user leaves the site or closes the browser window (for example when logging in and out of a webmail account or a social network);
• Persistent cookies – these are stored on the hard drive of a computer or device, generally for the lifetime set for the cookie. Persistent cookies also 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 advertising shown is as relevant as possible;

What are the advantages of cookies?

A cookie holds information that connects a web browser (the user) with a particular web server (the website). If a browser reaches that web server again, it can read the information already stored and respond accordingly. Cookies give users a smoother browsing experience and support the work many websites do to make their services comfortable to use: online privacy preferences, site language options, shopping carts or relevant advertising.

How long does a cookie last?

Cookies are managed by web servers. A cookie's lifetime can vary a great deal, depending on the purpose it was placed for. Some cookies are used only for a single session (session cookies) and are no longer kept once the user has left the website, while others are kept and reused each time the user returns to that website (permanent cookies). Either way, cookies can be deleted by the user at any time through the browser settings.

What are third-party cookies?

Some sections of content on a site may be delivered through third parties or suppliers (for example a news box, a video or an advert). These third parties may also place cookies through the site, and these 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 with the site owner's privacy policies.

How a site uses cookies

A visit to a website may place cookies for:

• improving the performance of the website;
• analysing visitors;
• geotargeting;
• registering users;

Performance cookies

This type of cookie remembers the user's preferences on this site, so they do not have to be set again on every visit.

Examples: volume settings for a video player, the video streaming quality the browser supports.

Visitor analytics cookies

Every time a user visits a site, the analytics software provided by a third party generates a user analytics cookie. This cookie says whether you have visited this site before. The browser signals whether you have this cookie and, if not, one is generated. This allows unique visitors to the site to be counted, along with how often they come.

As long as the visitor is not registered on the site, this cookie cannot be used to identify individuals; it is used only for statistical purposes. If the visitor is registered, the details they provided — such as email address and username — may also be known, and these are treated confidentially in line with the applicable personal data protection law.

Geotargeting cookies

These cookies are used by software that works out which country you are visiting from. It is entirely anonymous and is used only to target content — so that whether the visitor is on the English page or on a page in another language, the same advert is shown.

Registration cookies

When you register on a site, a cookie is generated that says whether you are registered or not. Servers use these cookies to show which account you are signed in with, and whether you have permission for a particular service. It also allows any comment posted on the site to be linked to your username. If you did not select "keep me signed in", this cookie is deleted automatically when you close the browser or the computer.

Other third-party cookies

On some pages, third parties may set their own anonymous cookies, in order to track how well an application performs or to customise it.

For example, when you share an article using a social network button on a site, that social network records your activity.

What information is stored and accessed through cookies?

Cookies keep information in a small text file that allows a website to recognise a browser. The web server will recognise the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted.

The cookie stores information that improves the browsing experience (for example: the language setting for a site; keeping a user signed in to a webmail account; online banking security; keeping products in a shopping cart).

Why are cookies important to the internet?

Cookies are central to the internet working efficiently, helping produce a browsing experience that is friendly and adapted to each user's preferences and interests. Refusing or disabling cookies can make some sites impossible to use.

Examples of important uses of cookies (which do not require a user to sign in to an account):

• Content and services suited to a user's preferences — news categories, weather, sport, maps, public and government services, entertainment and travel sites;
• Offers matched to users' interests — remembering passwords, language preferences (for example showing search results in English);
• Remembering child protection filters for internet content (family mode options, safe search functions);
• Measurement, optimisation and analytics — such as confirming a certain level of traffic on a website, what kind of content is viewed and how a user reaches a website (for example through search engines, directly, or from other websites). Websites run this analysis of how they are used in order to improve the site for their visitors;

Security and privacy

Cookies are NOT viruses. They use plain text formats. They are not made of pieces of code, so they cannot be executed and cannot run themselves. As a result, they cannot duplicate or replicate onto other networks in order to run or replicate again. Because they cannot do any of this, they cannot be considered viruses.

Cookies can nonetheless be used for negative purposes. Because they store information about users' preferences and browsing history, both on one site and across several sites, cookies can be used as a form of spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this and routinely flag cookies for deletion as part of anti-virus and anti-spyware scanning.

Browsers generally have built-in privacy settings that offer different levels of cookie acceptance, validity periods and automatic deletion after the user has visited a particular site.

Tips for safe and sensible browsing with cookies

• Adjust your browser's cookie settings to a level of security you are comfortable with;
• If you share access to a computer, you might consider setting the browser to clear individual browsing data every time you close it. That is one way to visit sites that place cookies while removing any record of the visit when the browsing session ends;
• Install anti-spyware applications and keep them up to date;
• Many spyware detection and prevention applications also detect attacks on websites. That stops the browser from reaching websites that might exploit browser vulnerabilities or download harmful software;

How can I stop cookies?

Disabling and refusing cookies can make certain sites impractical or difficult to visit and use.

You can set your browser to stop accepting these cookies, or to accept cookies only from a particular site. But if, for example, a visitor is not registered through cookies, they will not be able to leave comments.

Every modern browser lets you change the cookie settings. These settings are usually found in the browser's Options / Settings menu, or in the Preferences / Favorites menu.

To make sense of these settings, the following links may help:

Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari
Cookie settings in Microsoft Edge