This policy contains the guidelines that VGD Slovakia and VGD Legal apply when processing personal data, in accordance with the objectives and obligations arising from the General Data Protection Regulation, namely Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC ('GDPR').
The civil company in the form of a cooperative society with limited liability 'VGD Slovakia', with registered office at Moskovská 13, 811 08 Bratislava, registered with the register of legal entities in OS OR Bratislava 1.
The civil company in the form of a cooperative society with limited liability 'VGD Legal', with registered office at Moskovská 13, 811 08 Bratislava, registered with the register of legal entities in OS OR Bratislava 1.
After this, 'VGD Slovakia' and 'VGD Legal' both referred to as VGD.
With this policy VGD aims to inform visitors to its website about its policy on cookies.
VGD advises visitors to read the policy carefully, since this document contains essential information regarding the use of cookies.
Purpose for use of cookies
VGD uses cookies to adapt its website as closely as possible to the needs and preferences of visitors.
Acceptance and refusal of cookies
When visiting the website visitors will be informed (by means of a pop-up) which cookies are used. Visitors may refuse cookies at any time.
However, VGD wishes to inform visitors that if they refuse to accept cookies, certain parts of the website will not function properly. It is possible that the visitor will no longer have access to the services that VGD offers on the website.
If the visitor does not change his or her cookie settings and chooses to 'continue’ when first visiting the website, VGD assumes that the visitor accepts the various types of cookies and their use.
[The visitor has the option to accept or refuse cookies in each category.]
Technical information about cookies
What is a cookie?
A cookie is an information file which is placed on the web browser of a computer or mobile device – such as a smartphone, iPhone or iPad – by the server of the website that the visitor is consulting. The cookie contains a code that can be read by the server that placed it on the visitor’s web browser. The website being visited does not have access to other information files located on the visitor’s computer or mobile device.
How is a cookie file structured?
A cookie file consists of the following components:
- The name of the server that placed the cookie file on the computer;
- An expiry date;
- A unique numerical code.
What are cookies for?
Cookies ensure that visitors to the website have the best possible experience. Among other things, this means enabling the visitor to navigate more quickly and easily between the different parts of the website and adjusting the content of the website to the visitor’s personal preferences, for example their preferred language.
Where can I find these cookies?
The cookies are placed in a separate folder for the web browser on the hard disk of the visitor’s computer or mobile device.
Are there different types of cookies?
The relevant legislation makes a distinction between functional or technically necessary cookies on the one hand (these are first-party cookies, where the stored information is passed back to the website that placed the cookie), and all other cookies on the other hand (third-party cookies, where the stored information is forwarded to another website to which it belongs). Functional cookies ensure the optimal functioning of the website, and aim to provide the visitor with as pleasant and smooth an experience as possible. Permission for this kind of cookies is not strictly necessary, as they are only stored for the current browser session.
A further distinction can be made according to the specific purpose of the cookie.
What are 'session' cookies and 'permanent' cookies and what is the difference between the two? The task of the session cookie is to recognize the web browser during the visit to the website, while the task of the permanent cookie is to recognize the web browser with a view to repeat visits to the website.
What are 'performance’ cookies? 'Performance' cookies monitor how the visitor uses the website. This enables the website administrator to adjust and optimize the content and ease of use of the website. For example, performance cookies enable daily tracking of how many different people have visited the different pages and which language version of the website is the most popular.
What are 'third-party' cookies? Third-party cookies are cookies that come from advertisements placed on the website by third parties. They are intended to adapt the advertisements and/or their contents to the visitor’s personal preferences. The visitor will only see the advertisements if he or she has not disabled third-party cookies, meaning that permission has been granted for them. The use of third-party cookies does not give either the website administrator or the advertisers (third parties) access to the visitor’s personal data.
What is 'embedded content'?
A website administrator can refer visitors to websites run by other administrators by providing a hyperlink. It is possible that the website to which the visitor is referred also uses cookies.
How can the visitor manage the cookies?
Visitors control the management of the cookies themselves. They can adjust the settings of their web browser according to their personal preferences. They can delete cookies which have already been installed at any time, and refuse new cookies by adjusting their browser settings.
Use of cookies by VGD
VGD uses functional cookies in order to 'remember' visitors’ personal preferences and with a view to avoiding repetitive communication during repeat visits, such as requests to take part in an evaluation of the user experience. VGD uses cookies for example: to remember the choice of language in connection with filling in contact forms or participating in a discussion forum.
VGD also uses functional cookies when the visitor has created a personal account and wishes to log in. With the help of the cookies, VGD can safely check the visitor’s identity before granting access to the personal information stored on the account.
Functional cookies
_UNAM
This cookie is usually associated with the ShareThis social sharing widget that is placed on a site to enable content sharing across different social networks. It counts clicks and shares of a page.
Expires: 29 October 2018 23:00:00 GMT
COOKIE_CONSENT
This cookie is usually linked to the cookie notice and determines the user's choice whether or not to consent to the use of cookies. Expires: 31 Dec 9999 23:59:59 GMT
Non-functional cookies
_GA
This cookie name is linked to Google Universal Analytics - an important update of Google's more widely used analysis service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as customer identification. It is embedded in every page request in a site and is used to calculate visitor, session, and campaign data for site analysis reports.
Expires:04 Jul 2020 16:36:11 GMT
_GAT
This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics, and according to documentation, it is used to reduce the rate of request - thus limiting the collection of data on high-traffic sites. It expires after 10 minutes.
Expires:
04 Jul 2020 16:36:11 GMT
_GID
This cookie name is linked to Google Universal Analytics. This looks like a new cookie and from the spring of 2017 there will be no more information available from Google. It seems to be a unique value to store and update every page visited.
Expires:
04 Jul 2020 16:36:11 GMT
PREF (YOUTUBE)
This cookie, which can be set by Google or Doubleclick, can be used by advertising partners to build a profile of interests to display relevant ads on other sites. It works by uniquely identifying your browser and device.
Expires: 04 Jul 2020 16:36:11 GMT
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE (YOUTUBE)
This cookie is set by Youtube to track user preferences for YouTube videos embedded in sites; it can also determine whether the website visitor is using the new or old version of the Youtube interface.
Expires: 04 Jul 2020 16:36:11 GMT
BCOOKIE (LINKEDIN)
Used by the social networking service to monitor the use of embedded services.
Expires: Apr 28, 2019 19:23:40 GMT
LANG (LINKEDIN) Remembers the user-selected language version of a website.
Expires: 31 Dec 2020 23:59:59 GMT
BIZOID (LINKEDIN)
Unclassified
Expires:
12 Sep 2019 00:29:05 GMT
If the necessary cookies are disabled the visitor will have the impression that certain parts of the websites are not working properly.
Visitors can change their cookie settings for the VGD website via privacy.be@vgd.eu in order to withdraw permission which was previously given.
If a visitor to the website also visits the website of a third party via a hyperlink on the VGD website, VGD advises the visitor to check the conditions of use of the relevant website administrator and find out about the third party's privacy and cookie policies.
If visitors still have questions regarding the use of cookies, or comments regarding VGD’s policy, they are welcome to contact the Privacy Team via info.slovakia@vgd.eu.