1. What are cookies?
Cookies are a small file, generally made up of letters and numbers (encoded), sent by a server to a web browser and then sent back (unchanged) by the browser, every time it accesses that server.
Cookies are created when the browser used by a user displays a certain website. The website transmits information to the browser, and the browser creates a text file. Each time the user accesses that website again, the browser accesses and transmits this file to the web server where the website is hosted. In other words, the cookie can be seen as an Internet user’s identification card, which notifies the website each time the user returns to that site.
2. The Purpose of Using Cookies
Cookies can ensure a faster and easier interaction between users and websites. For example, when a user logs in to a certain website, the login data is stored in a cookie; subsequently, the user can access that website without needing to log in again.
In other cases, cookies can be used to store information regarding the activities carried out by the user on a certain webpage, so that they can easily resume those activities during a subsequent visit to the site. Cookies tell the server what pages to show the user, so that the user does not have to remember this or navigate the entire site from the beginning. Thus, cookies can be likened to “bookmarks” that tell the user exactly where they left off on a website.
3. What types of cookies do we use?
3.1. Session-specific cookies
Webpages do not have memory. A user who navigates from one webpage to another will be considered by the website as a new user. Session-specific cookies store an identifier that allows the user to move from one webpage to another without having to re-enter identification information (username, password, etc.) each time. Session-specific cookies are stored in the user’s computer memory only during an Internet browsing session and are automatically deleted when the browser is closed. They may also become inaccessible if the session has been inactive for a certain period of time (typically, 20 minutes).
3.2. Permanent, persistent, or stored cookies
Persistent cookies are stored on the user’s computer and are not deleted when the browsing session is closed. These cookies can remember the user’s preferences for a particular website so that they can be used during other Internet browsing sessions.
In addition to login information, persistent cookies can also store details regarding the language and theme selected on a particular website, preferences for a site’s menu, favorite pages within a site, etc. When the user accesses a site for the first time, it is presented in default mode. Subsequently, the user selects a series of preferences, which are then retained by cookies and used when the user accesses the site again. For example, a website may offer content in multiple languages. On the first visit to the site, the user selects English, and the site retains this preference in a cookie. When the user visits the site again, the content will be automatically displayed in English.
3.3. Flash cookies
If the user has Adobe Flash installed on their computer, small files can be stored in the memory of that computer by websites containing Flash elements (such as video clips). These files are known as “local shared objects” or “Flash cookies” and can be used for the same purposes as regular cookies.
3.4. First-party cookies vs. third-party cookies
Each cookie has an “owner” – the website that places the cookie.
First-party cookies are placed by the website accessed by the user (whose address appears in the browser’s address bar). For example, if the user visits www.albalact.ro, and the domain of the cookie placed on their computer is www.albalact.ro, then it is a first-party cookie.
A third-party cookie is placed by a different website than the one accessed by the user; this means that the accessed website contains information from a third-party website. For example, an advertising banner that appears on the accessed site. Thus, if the user visits www.albalact.ro, but the cookie placed on their computer has the domain www.trafic.ro, then it is a third-party cookie.
4. Cookies from the Perspective of Information Security and Privacy Protection
Although cookies are stored in the Internet user’s computer memory, they cannot access/read other information on that computer. Cookies are not viruses. They are just small text files; they are not compiled as code and cannot be executed. Thus, they cannot self-replicate, spread to other networks to perform actions, and cannot be used to spread viruses.
5. Legislation Regarding Cookies
To comply with the provisions of EU Regulation No. 679/2016 on personal data protection, as well as the provisions of Law No. 506 of November 17, 2004, on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector, all visitors to the site are presented with information about the cookie files used by the website.
6. How Can I Disable Cookies?
Disabling and refusing to receive cookies can make certain sites impractical or difficult to visit and use.
All modern browsers offer the possibility to change cookie settings. These settings are usually found in the Options/Settings menu or in the Preferences/Favorites menu of the browser.
