www.h-metal.ro uses its own and third-party cookies to provide visitors with a much better browsing experience and services adapted to their needs and interests. Cookies play an important role in facilitating access to and delivery of the multiple services that the user enjoys on the Internet. The information presented below aims to bring to the user’s knowledge more details about the placement, usage and management of the “cookies” used by www.h-metal.ro.

What is a “cookie”?

An “Internet Cookie” (also known as a “browser cookie” or “HTTP cookie” or simply “cookie”) is a small file, made of letters and numbers, which will be stored on a user’s computer, mobile terminal, or other equipment from which the Internet is accessed.

The cookie is installed by a request issued by a web server to a browser (e.g.: Internet Explorer, Chrome) and it is completely “passive” (it does not contain software, viruses or spyware and cannot access the information on the user’s hard drive).

A cookie consists of 2 parts: name and content or value of the cookie. Moreover, the existence period of a cookie is defined; technically, only the web server that has sent the cookie may access it again when a user returns to the website associated with that web server.

Cookies do not require personal information to be used and, in most cases, they do not identify internet users.

There are 2 main categories of cookies:

Session cookies - these are temporarily stored in the cookies folder of the web browser, so that it may store them until the user logs out of the browser or closes the browser window (e.g., when logging in/out on the site or social networks).

Persistent cookies - These are stored on the hard drive of a computer or device (and generally depend on the default lifetime of the cookie). Persistent cookies also include those placed by a website other than the one the user is visiting - known as ‘third party cookies’ (cookies placed by third parties) - which may be used anonymously to memorize a user’s interests, so that to deliver the most relevant advertising for users.

What are the benefits of the cookies?

A cookie contains information that links a web browser (user) to a specific web server (website).
 If a browser accesses that web server again, it may read the information already stored and react accordingly. Cookies provide users with a pleasant browsing experience and support the efforts of many websites to provide comfortable services to users: e.g. - online privacy preferences, website language options, shopping carts or relevant advertising.

What is the lifetime of a cookie?

Cookies are administered by web servers. The lifetime of a cookie may vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. Some cookies are used exclusively for a single session (session cookies) and are no longer held once the user has left the website and some cookies are held and reused each time the user returns to that website (’permanent cookies‘). However, a user may delete cookies may at any time through the browser settings.

What are third-party cookies?

Certain sections of content on some websites may be provided through third parties/providers (e.g., social networks or advertising). These third parties may also place cookies through the website, and these are called “third-party cookies” because they are not placed by the owner of that website. Third party providers must also comply with the applicable law and the privacy policies of the website owner.

By browsing the website www.h-metal.ro, these cookies may come from the following third parties: Google, Facebook.

How this website uses cookies

A visit to this website may place cookies for the following purposes:

Website performance cookies

Visitor analysis cookies

Geotargetting cookies

Registration cookies

Advertising cookies

Cookies for visitor analysis

Every time a user visits this website, the analytics software provided by a third party generates a user analysis cookie. This cookie tells us if you have visited this website before. The browser will tell us if you have this cookie, and if not, it will generate one. It allows monitoring the unique users who visit us and how often they do it. If you are not registered on this website, this cookie may not be used to identify individuals, these are only used for statistics purposes. If you are registered, we may also know the details you have provided, such as your e-mail address and username - these being subject to confidentiality and the provisions of the Terms and Conditions, the Confidentiality Policy and the provisions of the legislation in force on the protection of personal data.

Geotargetting cookies

These cookies are used by a software that determines which country or area you come from. It is completely anonymous and is only used to target content - even when you visit our page in Romanian or in another language you receive the same ad.

Cookies for registration

When you register on this website, we generate a cookie that notifies us whether you are registered or not. Our servers use these cookies to show your registration account and if you have permission for a specific service. Also, it allows us to associate any comments or reviews you post on our website with your username. If you do not select “keep me registered”, this cookie will be automatically deleted when you close your browser or computer.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to find out whether you have seen an online advertisement, its type and how long it has been since you have saw the advertising message. We also use these cookies to target online advertising. We may also use third-party cookies for better targeting of advertising, for example to show holiday advertisements, if the user has recently seen an article on the holidays. These cookies are anonymous, they store information about the content viewed, not about users. We also set anonymous cookies through other websites we advertise on. By receiving them, we may use these to recognize you as a visitor to that website. If you later visit our website, we may to deliver advertising based on this information.

Why are cookies important for the Internet?

Cookies are the central point of efficient operation of the Internet, helping to generate a friendly browsing experience, adapted to the preferences and interests of each user. Declining or disabling cookies may make some websites impossible to use. Rejecting or disabling cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive online advertising - only that it may no longer consider your preferences and interests, as evidenced by your browsing behavior.

Examples of important uses of cookies (which do not require a user to authenticate through an account):

Offers adapted to users’ interests - passwords, language preferences (e.g.: displaying search results in Romanian).

Child protection filters on Internet content (family mode options, safe search functions).

Limit the frequency of advertising release - limit the number of displays of an ad for a particular user on a website.

Providing more user-relevant advertising.

Measurement, optimization, and analytics features - such as confirming a certain level of traffic to a website, what type of content is viewed and how a user gets to a website (e.g., through search engines, directly from other websites, etc). Websites carry out these analyzes for their use to improve the websites for the benefit of the users.

Security and confidentiality issues

Cookies are NOT viruses! They use plain text formats. They are not made of code pieces so they cannot be executed or run on their own. Thus, they cannot be duplicated or replicated on other networks to run or replicate. Because they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses. However, cookies may be used for negative purposes. Because they store information about users’ preferences and browsing history, both on a particular website and on several other websites, cookies may be used as a form of Spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this and constantly mark cookies to be deleted during anti-virus/anti-spyware removal/scanning procedures.

Generally, browsers have integrated privacy settings that provide various levels of cookies acceptance, validity period and automatic deletion after the user has visited a particular website. Other security issues related to cookies. As identity protection is very valuable and represents the right of every Internet user, it is advisable to know the possible issues tat cookies may cause. Because information is constantly sent through these cookies in both directions between the browser and the website, if an attacker or unauthorized person intervenes during the transmission of data, the information contained in the cookie may be intercepted. Although very rarely, this may happen if the browser connects to the server using an unencrypted network (e.g., an unsecured WiFi network).

Other cookie-based attacks involve incorrect cookie settings on servers. If a website does not require the browser to use only encrypted channels, attackers may use this vulnerability to trick the browsers into sending information through unsecured channels. Then, attackers use the information to gain unauthorized access to certain websites. It is very important to be careful when you choose the most appropriate method of personal information protection.

Tips for safe and responsible browsing based on cookies. Due to their flexibility and to the fact that the majority of the most visited and largest sites use cookies, they are almost inevitable. Disabling cookies will not allow the user to access the most widespread and used websites including Youtube, Gmail, Yahoo and others.

Here are some tips to help you browse without worries but by means of cookies:

Customize your browser settings for cookies to reflect a comfortable level of security for the use of cookies.

If you do not mind cookies and you are the only person using the computer, you may set long expiry terms to store your browsing history and access to personal access.

If you share the access to your computer, you may consider setting your browser to delete individual browsing data each time you close your browser. This is a way to access the websites with cookies and to delete any visit information at the end of the browsing session.

Install and update constantly your antispyware applications. Many of the spyware detection and prevention applications include website attack detection. Thus, they prevent the browser from accessing websites that could make use browser vulnerabilities or download malware. Make sure your browser is always updated. Many cookie-based attacks are made by using the weaknesses of older browsers versions.

Cookies are everywhere and cannot be avoided if you want to enjoy access to the best and largest websites on the Internet - local or international. With a clear understanding of how they operate and of the benefits they bring, you may take the necessary security measures so that you may browse the Internet in confidence.

How do I stop cookies?

Disabling and refusing to receive cookies may make certain websites impractical or difficult to visit and use. Also, refusing to accept cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive/view online advertising.

It is possible to set the browser so that these cookies are no longer accepted, or you may set the browser to accept cookies from a specific website. But, for example, if you are not registered using cookies, you will not be able to leave comments.

All modern browsers offer the ability to change cookie settings. These settings are usually found in the ”options” or ”preferences” menu of your browser.