What are cookies?
Cookies are information entered on your browser when you visit a website or use a social network with your PC, smartphone or tablet.
Each cookie contains various data such as, for example, the name of the server from which it comes, a numerical identifier, etc.
Cookies can remain in the system for the duration of a session (i.e. until the browser used for the browsing the web) or for long periods and may contain a unique identification code.
What are cookies used for?
Some cookies are used to perform computer authentication, session monitoring and storage of specific information about users who access a web page.
These cookies, so-called technical, are often useful, because they can make browsing and use of the web faster and faster, because for example they intervene to facilitate some procedures when you shop online, when you log in to restricted access areas or when a website automatically recognizes the language you usually use.
A particular type of cookie, called analytics, are then used by website managers to collect information, in aggregate form, on the number of users and how they visit the site, and then process general statistics on the service and its use.
Other cookies can instead be used to monitor and profile users while browsing, study their movements and habits of web consultation or consumption (what they buy, what they read, etc.), also for the purpose of sending advertising of targeted services and personalized (so-called Behavioral Advertising). In this case we are talking about profiling cookies.
For example: Have you ever visited a service site, used your webmail or accessed your page on a social network and found advertising banners related to your latest searches on the web or your last purchase on the Internet ?
This happens because those web spaces are designed to recognize your PC or other terminal you use to connect to the web (smartphone, tablet), and possibly send you "profiled" promotional messages based on your searches and your use of the Internet.
It may also happen that a web page contains cookies from other sites and contained in various elements hosted on the page itself, such as advertising banners, images, videos, etc. .. We are talking, in these cases, of the so-called third-party cookies, which of they are usually used for profiling purposes.
Thus, the cookies you download on your PC, smartphone and tablet can also be read by other parties, other than those who manage the web pages you visit.
Cookies and privacy
Considering the particular invasiveness that profiling cookies (especially third-party ones) can have in the private sphere of users, European and Italian legislation require the user to be adequately informed on their use and express their validity consent to the insertion of cookies on your terminal.
In particular, with the provision "Identification of simplified procedures for information and the acquisition of consent for the use of cookies" of 8 May 2014 [web doc n. 3118884] the Guarantor for the protection of personal data has established that when you access the home page or another page of a website that uses cookies for profiling and marketing purposes, a clearly visible banner must immediately appear, indicating clearly:
1) that the site uses profiling cookies to send targeted advertising messages;
2) that the site also allows the sending of "third party" cookies, in case of use of this type of cookie, ie of cookies installed by a different site through the site you are visiting;
3) a link to a broader information, with indications on the use of cookies sent by the site, where it is possible to deny consent to their installation directly or by connecting to the various sites in the case of "third party" cookies;
4) an indication that by continuing to browse (for example, by accessing another area of ​​the site or by selecting an image or a link) you consent to the use of cookies.
In any case, in addition to the protections provided,you also have other options to browse without cookies
Block third-party cookies Third-party
cookies are generally not essential for browsing, so you can reject them by default, through specific functions of your browser.
Activate the Do Not Track
option The Do Not Track option is present in most of the latest generation browsers. Websites designed to respect this option, when activated, should automatically stop collecting some of your browsing data. As mentioned, however, not all websites are set up to respect this option (discretionary).
Activate the "anonymous browsing" mode
Using this function, you can browse without leaving a trace of the browsing data in the browser. The sites will not remember you, the pages you visit will not be stored in the history and the new cookies will be deleted.
However, the anonymous browsing function does not guarantee anonymity on the Internet, because it only serves not to keep browsing data in the browser, while your browsing data will continue to remain available to website managers and connectivity providers.
Delete cookies directly
There are special functions to do this in all browsers. However, remember that new cookies are downloaded every time you connect to the Internet, so the deletion operation should be performed periodically. If desired, some browsers offer automated systems for the periodic deletion of cookies.
* The card has been realized prior to the application of the EU Regulation 679/2016, which took place on May 25, 2018, circumstance which must be taken into account in the consultation
More information at the following link www.garanteprivacy.it