Cookies are very small text files. When a user visits a website, the site will transmit these small files to the user’s terminal (generally to a browser), where they are stored in order to be re-sent to those same sites upon subsequent access by the same user. While browsing a website, the user’s terminal may also receive cookies sent from different sites or web servers (so-called “third party” cookies), which may include certain elements (such as, for example, images, maps, sounds, or specific links to pages of other domains) present on the site that the user is visiting.

Types of cookies

Cookies are classified into two different categories:

• Technical cookies are those used for the sole purpose of “carrying out the transmission of a message over an electronic communications network, or to the extent strictly necessary to the provider of a company service, the information explicitly requested by the subscriber or user for the provision of that service” (see art. 122, paragraph 1, of the Privacy Code.) These are not used for additional purposes and are normally installed directly by the owner or manager of the website. They can further be subdivided into browsing cookies and session cookies, which ensure normal functionality of a site during browsing and the provision of its services (allowing a user, for example, to make online purchases or log into a reserved area of a site); analytics cookies, considered technical cookies when they are installed directly by a site operator to collect information in aggregated form on the number of users and their methods of accessing that site; functional cookies, which allow the user to customize their browsing experience according to certain preferences (for example language, or items selected for purchase) in order to improve the service offered to that user. The installation of these cookies does not require the user’s prior consent, although it is mandatory to provide this informational policy pursuant to art. 13 of the Code.
• Profiling cookies are used to create profiles of users, in order to send them promotional and advertising messages relevant to their preferences demonstrated during internet browsing. Due to the particular invasiveness these devices may have in users’ private lives, European and Italian law requires that the user must be properly informed about the use of these cookies and must give consent to their use.