Please read the following information carefully:
This website can use both its own and third-party cookies to provide visitors with a much better browsing experience and services adapted to everyone's needs and interests.
In what we call "web 2.0", "cookies" play an important role in facilitating the access and delivery of the multiple services that the user enjoys on the Internet, such as:
- Customization of certain settings such as: the language in which a site is viewed;
- Cookies provide site owners with valuable feedback on how their sites are used by users, so that they can make them even more efficient and accessible for users;
- Allow multimedia or other applications from other sites to be included in a certain site to create a more valuable, useful and pleasant browsing experience;
- Improve the effectiveness of online advertising.
What is a "cookie"?
An "Internet Cookie" (term also known as "browser cookie" or "HTTP cookie" or simply "cookie") is a small file, consisting of letters and numbers, which will be stored on the computer, mobile terminal or other equipment of a user from which the Internet is accessed.
The cookie is installed by a request issued by a web server to a browser (eg: Internet Explorer, Chrome) and is completely "passive" (does not contain software programs, viruses or spyware and cannot access the information on the user's hard drive) .
A cookie consists of 2 parts: the name and the content or value of the cookie. Moreover, the duration of existence of a cookie is determined; technically, only the web server that sent the cookie can access it again when a user returns to the website associated with that web server.
Cookies themselves do not require personal information to be used and, in most cases, do not personally identify Internet users.
There are 2 large categories of cookies:
- Session cookies - these are temporarily stored in the cookie file of the web browser so that it remembers them until the user leaves the respective website or closes the browser window (eg when logging in/out of a webmail account or on social networks).
- Persistent Cookies – These are stored on the hard drive of a computer or equipment (and generally depends on the preset lifetime for the cookie). 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 the interests of a user, so that the most relevant advertising for users is delivered.
What are the advantages of cookies?
A cookie contains information that connects a web-browser (the user) and a specific web-server (the 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?
Cookies are managed by web servers. The lifetime of a cookie can vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. Some cookies are used exclusively for a single session (session cookies) and are no longer retained once the user leaves the website and some cookies are retained and reused every time the user returns to that website ('cookie- permanent ures'). However, cookies can be deleted by a user at any time through the browser settings.
What are cookies placed by third parties?
Certain sections of content on some sites may be provided through third parties/providers (eg: news box, a video or an advertisement). These third parties can also place cookies through the website and they are called "third party cookies" because they are not placed by the owner of the respective website. Third-party providers must also comply with the law in force and the privacy policies of the website owner.
| Cookie name | Cookie type | Description / Completion | PROVIDER | Expiry |
| _ultma | Functional | Analytics (Third Parties) | Google. Inc. | Two years from the inauguration of the configuration or update |
| This cookie module (which is part of Google Analytics) keeps track of the number of times a visitor accesses the site, when it was their first visit and when the last visit took place. Expires after 2 years. | ||||
| _utmb | Functional | Analytics (Third Parties) | Google. Inc. | 30 minutes from configuration or update |
| Used to create a timestamp from the moment a visitor enters a site. This cookie is part of Google Analytics together with the _utmc cookie. Expires after 30 minutes. | ||||
| _utmc | Functional | Analytics (Third Parties) | Google. Inc. | End browsing session |
| Used to create a timestamp at the exact moment a visitor leaves the site. This cookie is part of Google Analytics together with the _utmb cookie. This cookie is deleted when the browser is closed. | ||||
| _utmz | Functional | Analytics (Third Parties) | Google. Inc. | Six months from setup or update |
| _utmz keeps track of the traffic from the location where the visitor accessed the site, which search engine they used, which links they visited, which keywords they used, as well as the location where the user accessed the site. This cookie is part of Google Analytics. Expires after 180 days. | ||||
| PHPSESSID | Necessary | Temporarily registers a variable related to the user's identity. | scs.ro | End browsing session |
| _icl_current_language | Functional | It registers a variable that stores the language variant chosen by the user. | scs.ro | 24 hours after completing the session |
| _gat, _gat_awxoapTracker | Functional | It is used by Google Universal Analytics to limit the collection of data on sites with high traffic. | scs.ro | 10 minutes after the end of the session |
| _ga | Functional | It is used by Google Universal Analytics to identify users, associating them with an automatically generated unique number. | scs.ro | 760 days from session completion |
| cookie_notice_accepted | Functional | It records whether or not the user accepted cookies when accessing the site for the first time. | scs.ro | 30 days from the completion of the session |
| traffic_h, traffic_v | Functional | Used for traffic statistics obtained with the trafic.ro service | scs.ro | 8555 days (traffic_h), session (traffic_v) |
| wfvt_3782209690 | Functional | Used for checking traffic by the Firewall module | scs.ro | End browsing session |
| wordfence_verifiedHuman | Functional | Used for checking traffic by the Firewall module | scs.ro | 24 hours after completing the session |
| GAPS, GoogleAccountsLocale_session, GALX, LSID | Traffic information / Advertising | Used by the Google+ service to allow users to click on the Google +1 button. | Google. Inc. | 1 year from the completion of the session |
| YSC, B, ACTIVITY, GEUP, PREF, VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, demographics, LOGIN_INFO | Flash | Used by YouTube. They are set when the user clicks on the Play button of a video. | Youtube | session(YSC, ACTIVITY), 8091 days (B), 2 years (GEUP), 1663 days (PREF), 240 days (VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE), 1431 days (demographics), 1621 days (LOGIN_INFO) |
| SID, SAPISID, APISID, SSID, HSID, NID, PREF | Traffic information / Advertising | Used by the Google Maps service to identify user activity and store user preferences. | Google. Inc. | 730 days (SID), 1621 days (SAPISID, APISID, SSID, HSID, PREF), 1074 days (NID) |
| datr, x-src, fr, lu, locale, campaign_click_url | Traffic information / Advertising | Used by Facebook to track user activity. | 1621(datr, lu), 891 days(x-src), 921 days (fr), 898 days (local), 9 days (campaign_click_url) | |
| traffic_ranking | Functional | Used by trafic.ro to store the unique user id | Trafic.ro | 7907 days |
| ASP.NET_SessionId, aco, ADCConditionsV1, AID, acm, DeviceV2 | Functional | Used by accuweather.com to detect the user's device and preferences | accuweather.com | session (ASP.NET_SessionId, aco, ADCConditionsV1), 365 days (AID, DeviceV2), 3653 days (acm) |
| NID | Functional | This cookie contains the Google ID and is used to obtain information about the user's preferences in relation to Google services. | Google. Inc. | 1 year from the completion of the session |
| HSID | Functional | Security cookie from google | Google. Inc. | 3 months after completing the session |
| AND D | Functional | Security cookie from google | Google. Inc. | 3 months after completing the session |
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
- Session cookies
Certain cookies may come from third parties.
Performance cookies
This type of cookie remembers the user's preferences on this site, so there is no longer a need to set them each time the site is visited (Ex: list of recently viewed products, user's currency preferences, type of terminal used - desktop or mobile, the number of products added to the shopping cart, etc.).
Session cookies
The session cookie is generated automatically when accessing the site and is used for the management of web applications (HTTP protocol, completing certain forms, interacting with certain elements on the site, etc.). This cookie is automatically deleted when the browser is closed.
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. These cookies may come from third parties such as Web Analytics services (Ex: Google Analytics), advertising (Ex: AdSense), social media platforms (Ex: Facebook), chat client advice applications, etc.
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 settings regarding cookies to reflect a comfortable level of cookie security for you.
- If you don't mind cookies and you are the only person using the computer, you can set monthly expiration dates for storing browsing history and personal access data.
- If you share access to the computer, you may consider setting your browser to delete individual browsing data each time you close the 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.
How can I stop 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. To understand these settings, the following links may be useful, otherwise you can use the "help" option of the browser for more details.
- Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
- Cookie settings in Microsoft Edge
- Cookie settings in Firefox
- Cookie settings in Chrome
- Cookie settings in Safari
For the settings of cookies generated by third parties, you can also consult the website:
Useful Links
If you want to find out more information about cookies and what they are used for, we recommend the following links:
Questions, Suggestions and Complaints?
Do you have questions about data protection, the cookie policy or our website? No problem, we're happy to help. You can contact us using the details on the contact page .