1. What are “cookies”?

Cookies are small pieces of data, text files, that are stored on your computer or other devices when websites are loaded in a browser. They are widely used to “remember” visitors and their preferences, either for a single visit (through a “session cookie”) or for multiple repeated visits (using a “persistent cookie”). Cookies ensure a pleasant, consistent, and efficient experience for visitors and perform essential functions — for example, they allow users to register and stay logged in. They can be set by the site you are visiting (known as “first-party cookies”) or by third parties, such as those that serve content or provide advertising or analytics services on the website (“third-party cookies”).

2. Why do we use “cookies”?

We use cookies to provide users of this website with a better browsing experience and services tailored to their needs and interests, as well as for statistical analysis regarding how the website is used, in order to improve the site. Some cookies are necessary for technical reasons; some enable a personalized experience for both visitors and registered users; others allow advertisements from various selected third-party networks to be displayed. Some of these cookies may be set when a page is loaded or when a visitor performs a specific action.

3. What “cookies” do we use?

Below are various categories of cookies set by the site, with specific, detailed examples in the tables that follow. These include their names and purposes. Certain cookies are set only for authenticated visitors, while others are set for all visitors, and they are marked accordingly below. If cookies apply only to certain subdomains, they are included under the corresponding heading.

Strictly necessary: These are cookies that are essential for the site to perform its basic functions. They include the cookies needed to allow registered users to authenticate and perform account-related functions.

Functionality: These cookies are used to store preferences set by users, such as account name, language, and location.

Performance: Performance cookies collect information about how users interact with our websites hosted on the site, including which pages are visited most often, along with other analytics data. These details are used solely to improve the operation of the website.

Tracking: These are set by trusted third-party networks (for example, Google Analytics) to track details such as the number of unique visitors and page views, which help improve the user experience.

Third-party/embedded content: Our site uses various third-party applications and services to enhance the visitor experience on the website. These include social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter (through the use of share buttons), or embedded content from YouTube and Vimeo. Therefore, cookies may be set and used by these third parties to track your online activity. We do not have direct control over the information collected through these cookies.

4. How can you control or disable “cookies”?

You should be aware that, once cookies are deleted, all preferences and settings related to the webpage will be erased. Also, some webpages may no longer function properly, or certain features may disappear if cookies are removed.

For these reasons, we do not recommend opting to reject cookies when visiting our webpage.

However, if you wish, you can restrict the use of cookies or prevent them from being set. Most browsers offer ways to control cookie behavior, such as the length of time they are stored — either through a built-in feature or through the use of third-party add-ons.

To learn more about how to manage and delete cookies, visit aboutcookies.org. For more details about advertising cookies and how to manage them, visit youronlinechoices.eu (for the EU) or aboutads.info (for the US).

A specific opt-out program is available here:

Google Analytics — https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

5. Security and privacy concerns

In general, browsers have built-in privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, validity period, and automatic deletion after the user has visited a particular site.

Other security aspects related to cookies:

Customize your browser’s cookie settings to reflect a level of cookie security that you are comfortable with.

If you are the only person using the computer, you can set long expiration periods for storing your browsing history and personal access data, if you wish.

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 one way to access sites that place cookies and to delete any visit information when closing the browsing session.