AGB

The Italian legislation on cookies (art. 122 of Legislative Decree 196/03 “Privacy Code”, hereinafter “Code”) has introduced into our legal system a European directive that obliges website managers who use cookies or other tracking technologies to inform the user about the type of cookies that may be used by the site.

​

Regulation no. 229 of the Guarantor for the protection of personal data of May 8, 2014, published in the Official Gazette no. 126 of June 3, 2014, divides cookies into two macro-categories: “technical” cookies and “profiling” cookies.

 

Technical cookies:

 

Technical cookies allow “the transmission of a message over an electronic communications network, or to the extent strictly necessary, to the provider of an information society service that has been explicitly requested by the subscriber or user to provide said service” (see Article 122, paragraph 1, of the Code).

​

They are not used for other purposes and are usually installed directly by the website owner or manager. A distinction is also made between navigation cookies, which allow normal navigation and use of the website (for example, to make a purchase or authenticate to access restricted areas), and analytics cookies, which are functionally similar to technical cookies in that they are used directly by the website manager to collect information and compile statistics on the number of users and the visits they make to the website functionality cookies, which allow the user to browse according to a series of selected criteria (for example, the language, the products selected for purchase, etc.) functionality cookies, which allow the user to browse the website in a personalized way based on a series of selected criteria (for example, the language, the products selected for purchase) and therefore to improve the browsing service offered to the user.

​

The user's prior consent is not required for the installation of these cookies.

 

Profiling cookies:

​

Profiling cookies are aimed exclusively at understanding the preferences of individual users in order to present content that is relevant to them while they are browsing.

​

They are aimed at creating user profiles and are used to send advertising messages in line with the preferences expressed by users while browsing the Internet.

​

Considering the particular impact that these cookies may have on the privacy of users, European and Italian legislation requires that individual users be provided with information (guidelines) that should adequately inform them so that they can consciously express their consent to their use.

These are mentioned in article 122 of the Code, which states: “The storage of information in the terminal equipment of a professional or user or access to information already stored is only authorized on condition that the professional or user has given his consent after being informed by the simplified procedures referred to in Article 13, paragraph 3” (article 122, paragraph 1, of the Code).

​

In its decree (no. 229 of May 8, 2014), the Guarantor for the protection of personal data has also classified cookies depending on whether or not the subject is the data controller of the personal data collected by the cookie, distinguishing between first-party cookies and third-party cookies.

​

First-party cookies:

​

This category includes all cookies that are managed directly by the website owner.

​

The website owner is required to inform users of the existence and functioning of these cookies and to inform them of the possibility of blocking their use through their preferred browser.

​

Third-party cookies:

This category includes cookies that are managed by a third party, i.e. not by the website owner.

​

These types of cookies are generally used when web pages contain content (such as banner ads) from external websites. This includes the ability to track the user's browsing history and is often used by advertisers to present relevant and personalized advertisements to each user.

The advertiser can then use these cookies to create a browsing history of users on all websites where their advertisements appear. Most modern web browsers contain privacy settings that can be used to block third-party cookies.

​

For these cookies, the obligation to inform and indicate how to block them, if necessary, lies with the third party, while the website owner is required to include a virtual link that allows the user to find out where these elements are available.

For both types of cookie (first-party or third-party), the consent required in the case of profiling cookies is acquired through a special banner on the home page of the site.

​

Please note that blocking technical cookies can compromise the optimal functionality of the site.