This website uses cookies
The information below is intended to give the user further information regarding our website cookies use and management. There are also provided some helpful links related to this topic. In case you need further information, not listed below, you can contact us using the contact page data.
Please read carefully the information below:
This website uses its own and third party cookies to improve its services, compile statistical information on the browsing thereof and give you the best experience in relation to your preferences, generated based on your browsing patterns.
In what we call “web 2.0”, “cookies” plays an important role in facilitating access and delivery of multiple services over the internet user to enjoy, such as:
- Customizing of certain settings such as: the language that a site is viewed in, the currency in which they express certain prices or rates, keeping the options of various products (measures, other details etc.) in the shopping cart (and storing these options) – in so generating the “shopping cart” flexibility (accessing old preferences by clicking the “forward” and “back” buttons)
- Cookies offer valuable feedback to websites owners on how their sites are used by visitors, so that they can be made more effective and accessible to users
- Allow multimedia or other applications on other sites to be included in a particular site to create a more valuable, more useful and more enjoyable browsing experience
- Improve the effectiveness of online advertising
What is a “cookie”?
An “Internet Cookie” (a term known also as “browser cookie” or “HTTP cookie” or simply “cookie”) is a small file consisting of numbers and letters, which will be stored on your computer, handheld or other equipment on which a user accesses the Internet.
The cookie is installed by a web server’s request to a browser (eg: Internet Explorer, Chrome) and it is completely “passive” (it does not contain: software, viruses or spyware and can’t access information stored on the user’s hard drive).
A cookie consists of 2 parts: the name and cookie value or content. Furthermore, the length of existence of a cookie is determined; technically, only the web server which sent the cookie can access it again when a user returns to the website associated to the respective webserver.
Cookies themselves do not require personal information to be used and, in most cases, does not personally identify internet users.
Cookies can be divided and classified into 2 broad categories:
- Session cookies – these are temporarily stored in the web browser’s cookie file for it to store them until the user exits the respective website or closes the browser’s window (egg: when logging on/off a webmail account or social networks).
- Persistent cookies – these are stored on the hard drive of a computer or device (and generally depend on the default cookie lifetime). Persistent cookies also include those placed by another website than the one visited by the user at the time – known as ‘third party cookies’ (cookies placed by others) – that can be used anonymously to store a user’s interests, so it delivers to the users the most relevant advertising.
Which are the advantages of cookies?
A cookie contains information that connects a web browser (user) with a specific web-server (website). If a web browser accesses the server again, it can read information already stored and react accordingly. Cookies provide users a pleasant browsing experience browsing and support various websites’ efforts to provide comfortable user services: example – online privacy preferences, language options, shopping carts or relevant advertising.
What is the lifetime of a cookie?
Cookies are managed by webservers. The lifetime of a cookie can vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. Some cookies are used only for one session (session cookies) and are not retained once the user has left the website and some cookies are retained and reused every time the user returns to that website (“permanent cookies”). However, cookies can be deleted by a user at any time via the browser’s settings.
What are third party cookies?
Certain content sections on some sites may be provided by third parties/suppliers (eg: a news box, a video or an advertisement). These third parties may also place cookies through the site and they are called “third party cookies” because they are not placed by the owner of the website in question. Third suppliers must also follow the applicable law and the privacy policies of the website owner.
How does this site use its cookies?
Visiting this site may place cookies for:
- Site performance cookies
- Visitor analysis cookies
- Geotargetting cookies
- Registration cookies
- Session cookies
- Advertising cookies
- Advertising provider cookies
Other third party cookies
- Site performance cookies
This type of cookie retains user preferences on this site, so there is no need for setting them at each site visit (Examples: the list of recently viewed products, the user’s currency preferences, the type of device used – desktop or mobile, the number of products added to the shopping cart, etc.).
- Geotargetting cookies
These cookies are used by software that determines which country you are from. It is completely anonymous and it is used only to target content (Examples: storing the country code, following automated detection IP based).
- Registration cookies
These cookies store the specific data of a particular user (user ID, email address, preferences regarding login data remembering). When you sign up for this site, we generate a cookie that tells us if you are registered or not. Our servers use these cookies to show us the account with which you are registered and to display the information associated with your account.
- Session cookies
Session cookie is generated automatically when accessing the site and is used for web application management (HTTP protocol, filling out certain forms, interacting with certain items in the site, etc.). This cookie automatically clears when you close your browser.
| Cookie name | Cookie type | Description | Provider | Default expiration time |
| PHPSESSID | Necessary | It temporarily records a user identity variable. | Black Sea Crown | End of browser session |
| _icl_current_language | Functional | It records a variable by storing the language version chosen by the user | Black Sea Crown | 24 hours after the end of browser session |
| _gat, _gat_awxoapTracker | Functional | It is used by Google Universal Analytics to limit data collection on large traffic sites. | Black Sea Crown | 10 minutes after the end of browser session |
| _ga | Functional | It is used by Google Universal Analytics to identify users by associating them with a unique auto-generated number. | Black Sea Crown | 760 days after the end of browser session |
| cookie_notice_accepted | Functional | It registers whether the user has accepted cookies or not when first accessing the site. | Black Sea Crown | 30 days after the end of browser session |
| YSC, B, ACTIVITY, GEUP, PREF, VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, demographics, LOGIN_INFO | Flash | Used by YouTube. They are being set when the user clicks the Play button of a video file. | Youtube | session(YSC, ACTIVITY), 8091 zile (B), 2 ani (GEUP), 1663 zile (PREF), 240 zile (VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE), 1431 zile (demographics), 1621 zile (LOGIN_INFO) |
| SID, SAPISID, APISID, SSID, HSID, NID, PREF | Traffic info/ Advertising | Used by Google Maps to identify users activity and store up 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 info/ Advertising | Used by Facebook to track users activity. | 1621(datr, lu), 891 zile(x-src), 921 days (fr), 898 days (local), 9 days (campaign_click_url) |
How are cookies used by this site
Visiting this site may place cookies for:
- Site performance cookies
- Visitor analysis cookies
- Geotargetting cookies
- Registration cookies
- Session cookies
- Advertising cookies
- Advertising providers cookies
Certain cookies may come from third parties.
- Site performance cookies
This type of cookie retains user preferences on this site, so there is no need for setting them at each site visit (Examples: the list of recently viewed products, the user’s currency preferences, the type of device used – desktop or mobile, the number of products added to the shopping cart, etc.).
- Geotargetting cookies
These cookies are used by software that determines which country you are from. It is completely anonymous and it is used only to target content (Examples: storing the country code, following automated detection IP based).
- Registration cookies
These cookies store the specific data of a particular user (user ID, email address, preferences regarding login data remembering). When you sign up for this site, we generate a cookie that tells us if you are registered or not. Our servers use these cookies to show us the account with which you are registered and to display the information associated with your account.
- Session cookies
Session cookie is generated automatically when accessing the site and is used for web application management (HTTP protocol, filling out certain forms, interacting with certain items in the site, etc.). This cookie automatically clears when you close your browser.
Other third party cookies
On some pages, others third parties may set their own anonymous cookies in order to assess the success of an application, or to customize an application.
These cookies may come from third parties such as Web Analytics services (e.g., Google Analytics), advertising (e.g., AdSense), social media platforms (e.g., Facebook), customer chat apps., etc.
Due to its use, this site can’t access these cookies, as third parties can’t access cookies owned by this site.
For example, when you distribute an article using the social network button on this site, that social network will record your activity.
What type of information is accessed and stored via cookies?
Cookies store information in a small text file that allows a website to recognize a browser. The webserver will recognize the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted. The cookie stores important information that improve the experience of surfing the Internet (for example: online banking security, keeping a user logged in his webmail account,; storage of products in the shopping cart) .
Why are cookies important for the Internet?
Cookies are the central point of efficient Internet operating, helping to generate a friendly browsing experience and adapted to each user’s preferences and interests. Refusing or disabling cookies may make some sites impossible to use.
Refusing or disabling cookies does not mean you will not receive online advertising – but it will not be able to consider your preferences and interests, highlighted by your browsing behaviour.
Below you can find examples of important uses of cookies (that do not require user authentication through an account):
- Tailored content and services to user preferences – weather, maps, news categories, sports, entertainment sites and travel services, public and government services.
- Offers adapted to users’ interests – remembering passwords, language preferences (egg: display search results in Romanian).
- Remembering filters that protect children on the Internet content (family mode options, safe search functions).
- Limiting the frequency of commercial broadcast – limiting the number of advertisement displays for a particular user on a website.
- Providing more relevant advertising to users.
- 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 to a website (eg: through search engines, directly, from other websites etc.). Websites make these user analyses to improve their websites for the benefit of their users.
Security and confidentiality issues
Cookies are NOT viruses!
They use plain text formats. They are not made of code pieces so they can not be executed nor can they self-run. Consequently, they can’t duplicate or replicate on other networks to re-run or replicate once again. Because they can’t perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses.
However, cookies can still be used for illicit purposes. Because they store information about user preferences and browsing history, both on a particular and on many other sites, cookies can be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti -spyware products are aware of this and constantly mark the cookies to be deleted in removal/anti-virus scan /anti-spyware procedures.
In general browsers have integrated privacy settings that provide different levels of acceptance of cookies, of the validity and the automatic erase after the user has visited a particular site.
Other cookie security issues
Because identity protection is very valuable and represents the right of every Internet user, it is important to know what problems the cookies can generate. Because through them information is being transmitted both ways between the browser and the website, if an attacker or an unauthorized person gets involved during the data transmission process, the information stored in the cookie can be intercepted . Though very rare, this can happen if the browser connects to a server using an unencrypted network (egg: an unsecured WiFi network).
Other cookie -based attacks involve wrong settings of cookies on servers. If a website does not require the browser to use only encrypted channels, attackers can use this vulnerability to trick the browsers into sending information through unsecured channels. Attackers then use the information for unauthorized access purposes of certain sites. 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 inevitable. Disabling cookies will not allow user access to most widely spread and used sites including YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo and others.
Below we offer a few tips to ensure a carefree, but with cookies, browsing:
- Customize your browser settings regarding cookies to reflect your comfortable level of security of using cookies.
- If you do not mind the cookies and you are the only person who uses the computer, you can set long-term expiration dates for the storage of browsing history and personal access data.
- If you share access to the computer, you can consider setting your browser to delete individual browsing data every time you close your browser. This is an option to access sites that place cookies and to delete any visiting information when the browsing session ends.
- Constantly install and update anti-spyware apps.
Many detection and prevention of spyware applications include detecting site attacks. This prevents the browser from accessing websites that may exploit browser vulnerabilities or to download dangerous software.
Make sure that you always keep your browser updated. Many of the cookie-based attacks are exploiting the weaknesses of older versions browsers.
Cookies are everywhere and cannot be avoided if you want to enjoy access to the best and largest 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 you can confidently surf the Internet.
How do I turn off cookies?
The disabling and refusal to accept cookies can make certain websites impassable or difficult to visit and use. Also, refusing to accept cookies does not mean that you will not receive/view online advertising.
It is possible to set the browser so that these cookies may not be accepted or you can set your browser to accept cookies from a particular site. But, for example, if you are not registered using cookies, you will not be able to leave a comment.
All modern browsers offer the possibility to change the settings of cookies. These settings are typically found in your browser’s “Options” menu or “preferences”. To understand these settings, the following links may be useful; otherwise you can use the browser “Help” option 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
To set cookies generated by third parties can also see the site:
Useful links
If you wish to know more details about cookies and what they are used for, we recommend the following links:
Questions, Suggestions and Complaints?
Do you have questions regarding data protection, cookie policy or our website? No problem, we are always here to help you. You can contact us using the contact information on our the contact page.