The following information, pursuant to Art. 13 of European Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council, is provided in accordance with the provisions of Legislative Decree 196/2003 and subsequent amendments of the Italian Republic, the Data Protection Authority’s Provision no. 231 of 10 June 2021, and Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are text strings that websites (so-called Publishers, or “first parties”) visited by the user, or different sites or web servers (so-called “third parties”), place and store – directly, in the case of publishers, and indirectly, i.e. through the latter, in the case of “third parties” – within a terminal device available to the user. The terminals referred to are, for example, a computer, a tablet, a smartphone, or any other device capable of storing information.
Internet browsing software and the operation of these devices, such as browsers, can store cookies and then retransmit them to the sites that generated them upon a subsequent visit by the same user, thus retaining memory of their previous interaction with one or more websites.
The information encoded in cookies may include personal data, such as an IP address, a username, a unique identifier or an email address, but may also contain non-personal data, such as language settings or information about the type of device a person is using to browse the site.
Cookies therefore perform important and varied functions, including session monitoring, storing information on specific configurations relating to users accessing the server, facilitating the enjoyment of online content, etc. They can be used to keep track of items in an online shopping cart or information used to fill in an online form.
Through cookies it is possible to allow, among other things, web pages to load more quickly, as well as to route information across a network, in line with obligations strictly connected to the operational functioning of websites themselves. Through cookies it is also possible to deliver behavioural advertising (so-called “behavioural advertising”) and then measure the effectiveness of the advertising message, or to tailor the type and manner of services rendered to the user’s previously observed behaviour.
Types of Cookies
Italian legislation (Art. 122 of Legislative Decree 196/03 “Personal Data Protection Code”, hereinafter briefly referred to as the “Privacy Code”) has introduced into our legal system Directive 2009/136/EC, which requires website operators that use cookies or other tracking technologies to inform users about the types of cookies used by the site.
With Provision no. 231 of 10 June 2021, published in the Official Gazette no. 163 of 9 July 2021, the Italian Data Protection Authority divided the types of cookies into two macro-categories: “technical” cookies and “non-technical” cookies.
Technical Cookies
They are installed by the owner or manager of the website for the purpose of «carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network, or to the extent strictly necessary for the provider of an information society service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user to provide that service» (Art. 122, paragraph 1, of the Privacy Code). The installation of Technical Cookies does not require prior consent from users.
First-party and so-called third-party analytics cookies
They are comparable to cookies and other technical identifiers only if:
- they are used solely to produce aggregate statistics in relation to a single website or a single mobile application;
- for third-party cookies, at least the fourth component of the IP address is masked;
- third parties refrain from combining the analytics cookies, thus minimised, with other processing operations (customer files or statistics on visits to other sites, for example) or from transmitting them to further third parties. However, third parties are permitted to produce statistics using data relating to multiple domains, websites or mobile applications that are attributable to the same publisher or business group.
The data controller who personally carries out mere statistical processing of data relating to multiple domains, websites or mobile applications attributable to them may also use unmasked data, in compliance with the purpose limitation principle.
Non-Technical Cookies
They are used to attribute to specific, identified or identifiable individuals, specific actions or recurring behavioural patterns in the use of the features offered (patterns), with the aim of grouping different profiles within homogeneous clusters of varying sizes, so as to also enable the provision of the service to be tailored in an increasingly personalised manner, as well as to send targeted advertising messages, i.e. in line with the preferences expressed by the user while browsing the web.
These are referred to in Art. 122 of the Privacy Code, which provides that «the storing of information in the terminal equipment of a subscriber or user or access to information already stored therein shall be permitted only on condition that the subscriber or user has given their consent after being informed in the simplified manner referred to in Article 13 of the Privacy Code, paragraph 3» (Art. 122, paragraph 1, of the Code).
The Authority has further categorised cookies according to the party acting as data controller of the personal data collected by the cookie, distinguishing between “first-party” and “third-party” cookies.
First-party Cookies
They are managed by the website owner. For these cookies, the obligation to provide the privacy notice falls on the website owner. It is also the website owner’s responsibility to indicate the methods for blocking the cookie if desired.
Third-party Cookies
They are managed by a third party other than the website owner. For these cookies, the obligation to provide the privacy notice and to indicate the methods for blocking the cookie falls on the third party. The website owner is required to publish the URL where such information is available.
For both types of cookies (first-party or third-party), the collection of consent — required when the cookie is a profiling cookie — takes place via a dedicated banner on the homepage of the site.
Types of cookies used on our website
This website uses technical cookies, which may be used without requesting the consent of the Data Subject, as they are strictly necessary for the provision of the service. In addition, third-party profiling cookies may be used, whose use is subject to consent given directly to such third parties by accessing their respective cookie usage notices. Profiling cookies may be used by the Data Controller or by the cookie owner itself to store the choices made by the Data Subject, to provide personalised or optimised features, or to store their habits and preferences expressed while browsing. For example, profiling cookies may be used to offer the Data Subject online services, to send them advertising that takes into account their interests, or to avoid offering them services they have previously declined.
The following section of this Cookie Policy provides a detailed list of all cookies used by this website.
The first group lists the so-called technical cookies whose use does not require the user’s consent.
The second group lists the profiling cookies.
For both groups, the following information is provided for each type of cookie:
- name of the cookie
- function performed by the cookie
- expiry of the cookie
- indication of whether the cookie is first-party or third-party
- if the cookie is third-party, the link through which it is possible to reach the third-party site where the third party’s privacy notice regarding the processing carried out on personal data collected via the cookie is published, along with the methods for blocking the cookie
Technical Cookies
| Cookie name | Function | Expiry / session | First or third party | Link to third-party cookie policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | Manages the browsing session (allows the site to recognise the user from one page to another). | End of session | First party | N/A |
| cookie_consent | Stores the user’s preference regarding cookie acceptance so as not to display the banner on every visit. | 12 months | First party | N/A |
| language | Stores the language chosen by the user (Italian/English). | 12 months | First party | N/A |
Profiling Cookies
| Cookie name | Function | Expiry / session | First or third party | Link to third-party cookie policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NID | Used by Google for advertising purposes and to store user preferences (e.g. maps). | 6 months | Third party (Google) | Google Privacy |
| AEC | Ensures that requests within a browsing session are genuinely made by the user and not by other sites (security/anti-fraud). | 6 months | Third party (Google) | Google Privacy |
| SID / HSID | Contain digitally signed and encrypted records of a user’s Google Account ID and the time of their last sign-in. | 2 years | Third party (Google) | Google Privacy |
| __Secure-3PSID | Used for profiling purposes and to deliver interest-based advertising to the user. | 2 years | Third party (Google) | Google Privacy |
This website does not exchange cookies with external sites or external data providers.
The authorisation for the collection and storage of data through cookies may be revoked at any time: the Data Subject may disable the use of cookies through the specific settings options of the various browsers.
Updates to this Cookie Policy
This Cookie Policy was last updated on 22/04/2026. Future updates will be published on this page. For further information on the privacy policy, please click here.