Information and consent for the use of cookies
Frequently asked Questions
- What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that the sites visited by users send to their terminals, where they are stored to be retransmitted to the same sites on the next visit. The cookies of the so-called “third parties” are, instead, set up by a website other than the one the user is visiting. This is because on each site there may be elements (images, maps, sounds, specific links to web pages of other domains, etc.) that reside on servers other than the site visited.
- What are cookies For?
Cookies are used for different purposes: execution of computer authentication, monitoring of sessions, storage of information on specific configurations regarding users accessing the server, storing preferences, etc.
- What are ‘ technical ‘ cookies?
These Are the cookies that are used to make the navigation or to provide a service requested by the user. They are Not used for further purposes and are normally installed directly by the website owner.
Without recourse to such cookies, some transactions could not be fulfilled or would be more complex and/or unsafe, such as home banking activities (displaying the bank statement, wire transfers, payment of bills, etc.), for which cookies, That allow you to make and maintain user identification within the session, are indispensable.
- Are cookie analytics cookies “technical”?
No. The Guarantor (cf. Measure of 8 may 2014) He pointed out that they can be assimilated to technical cookies only if used for the purpose of optimizing the site directly from the owner of the site, which will collect information in aggregate form on the number of users and how they visit the Site. Under these conditions, the same rules are valid for cookie analytics, in terms of information and consensus, provided for technical cookies.
- What are “profiling” cookies?
They are the cookies used to track the user’s surfing on the network and create profiles about his tastes, habits, choices, etc. With These cookies can be sent to the user’s terminal advertisements in line with the preferences already manifested by the same user in the on-line browsing.
- Do You need the user’s consent to install cookies on your terminal?
It Depends on the purpose for which cookies are used and, therefore, whether they are “technical” or “profiling” cookies.
The user’s consent is not required For the installation of technical cookies, while the information must be given (article 13 of the privacy Code). Profiling cookies, on the other hand, can only be installed on the user’s terminal if it has expressed its consent after being informed in a simplified manner.
- How should the site owner provide the simplified information and request consent to the use of profiling cookies?
As determined by the Guarantor in the measure specified in Question No. 4, the disclosure must be set to two levels.
When the user accesses a website (on the home page or on any other page), a banner containing a first “short” information, the request for consent to the use of cookies and a link to access a more informative ” Extended “. On this page, the user can find more and more detailed cookie information To choose which specific cookies to authorize.
- How should the banner be made?
The banner must have size to cover in part the content of the web-page that the user is visiting. It Must be able to be eliminated only through an active user intervention, that is through the selection of an element contained in the page below.
- What indications should the banner contain?
The banner must specify that the site uses profiling cookies, possibly also “third parties,” which allow you to send advertisements in line with the user’s preferences.
It Must contain the link to the extended information and the indication that, through that link, it is possible to deny the consent to the installation of any cookie.
It Must specify that if the user chooses to continue “skipping” the banner, he agrees to the use of cookies.
- How can the acquisition of consent made through the use of the banner be documented?
In Order to keep track of the consensus acquired, the site owner can use a special technical cookie, a system that is not particularly invasive and which does not require further consent.
In the presence of such “documentation”, it is not necessary that the brief information is proposed again to the second visit of the user on the site, notwithstanding the possibility for the latter to deny the consent and/or modify, at any time and in an easy way, its Options, such as through access to the extended information, which must be linkable from each page of the site.
- Can The on-line consent to the use of cookies be requested only through the use of the banner?
No. The owners of the sites always have the possibility to use different modalities than the one identified by the Guarantor in the measure indicated above, provided that the selected modalities have all the validity requirements of the consent required by law.
- Is the obligation to use the banner also on the owners of sites that use only technical cookies?
No. In this case, the owner of the site can give the information to the users with the modalities that it considers most suitable, for example, also through the insertion of the relevant indications in the privacy policy indicated on the site.
- What should the ‘ extended ‘ information be indicated?
It Must contain all the elements required by law, analytically describe the characteristics and purpose of cookies installed by the site and allow the user to select/clear individual cookies.
It must include the updated link to third party information and consent forms with which the holder has signed agreements for the installation of cookies through his site.
Finally, the user’s ability to express their options on cookies can also be invoked through the browser settings used.
- Who is required to provide the information and to request consent for the use of cookies?
The owner of the website that installs profiling cookies.
For third party cookies installed through the site, the disclosure and consent obligations are imposed on third parties, but the owner of the site, as a technical intermediary between these and the users, is obliged to include in the “extended” information the links updated to Information and the consent forms of the third parties themselves.
- Should the use of cookies be notified to the Guarantor?
Profiling cookies, which usually persist over time, are subject to the obligation of notification, while cookies which have different purposes and which fall within the category of technical cookies must not be notified to the Guarantor.
- When do the measures prescribed by the Guarantor come into force with the measure of 8 May 2014?
The Guarantor has foreseen a transitional period of one year from the publication of the measure in the Official Gazette in order to allow interested parties to set themselves up. This period will end on 2 June 2015.