• Cookie Policy

    1. INTRODUCTION

    This document has been prepared by the Dicastery for Culture and Education (hereinafter “DCE”), owner of the website www.dce.va (hereinafter the “Portal”), which also manages its contents. The Portal uses the technology known as cookies primarily to make its services simple and efficient for users visiting the Portal.

    This Cookie Policy (hereinafter the “Cookie Policy”), which should be read in conjunction with the information provided in the Privacy Policy, which we invite you to consult, aims to describe the types of cookies in general and those used on the Portal, the reasons and conditions for the use of cookies, and finally how they may be disabled.

    2. DEFINITION AND FUNCTION OF COOKIES

    Cookies are small files sent by a web server to the user’s internet browser. The user’s internet browser automatically stores them on the computer and automatically sends them back to the server upon each subsequent access to the website.

    There are various types of cookies, some intended to make the use of the Portal more effective, and others to enable certain functionalities. Cookies allow a page, among other things, to store and retrieve information about a user’s browsing habits or device and, depending on the information they contain and the way the device is used, they may be used to recognize the user.

    3. COOKIE CONFIGURATION

    Cookies may be classified according to different parameters. They may be first-party cookies or third-party cookies depending on the entity managing the domain from which the cookies are sent; and session cookies or persistent cookies depending on the period during which they remain stored on the user’s device.

    Depending on the purpose for which the data obtained are processed, the following types of cookies may be identified:

    • Technical cookies;
    • Analytical or analytics cookies;
    • Behavioural advertising or profiling cookies;
    • Social Network widget cookies;
    • Social Buttons cookies.

    • Technical Cookies

    These cookies allow the user to browse through the website or application and use the different options or services available therein (videos facilitating purchases, social networks, etc.). These cookies, always sent by the web server, are necessary to correctly display the website and any products/services offered, unless the user modifies the settings in their browser, thereby affecting the display of the website pages.

    • Analytical or Analytics Cookies

    These cookies allow the anonymous analysis of the behaviour of website users and make it possible to measure user activity and develop browsing profiles, also for the purpose of improving websites.

    Cookies in this category are generally used to collect information regarding website usage. Such information is generally used for anonymous statistical analysis in order to improve website usability and make contents more relevant and interesting to users. This type of cookie collects anonymous data concerning user activity. Analytical cookies may be sent by the website itself or, as often occurs, by third-party domains. Where these cookies are sent by third-party domains external to the website, they are used to collect anonymous information regarding users’ use of the website, such as pages visited, duration of visits, origin of traffic, and geographical origin.

    • Behavioural Advertising or Profiling Cookies

    These cookies allow the management of advertising spaces on the website according to the user’s behaviour and browsing habits, from which a profile is created, thereby making it possible to personalize the advertising displayed in the user’s browser. These are cookies necessary to create user profiles in order to send advertising messages in line with the preferences expressed by the user while browsing the website pages.

    • Social Network Widget Cookies

    These cookies facilitate the user’s interaction and/or sharing of content through social networks. The presence of plugins involves the transmission of cookies to and from all websites managed by third parties. The management of information collected by such “third parties” is governed by their respective policies, to which users are invited to refer.

    • Social Buttons Cookies

    Social Buttons are specific “buttons” displayed on the website representing social network icons (for example, Twitter), allowing users browsing the website to interact directly with social networks by clicking on them.

    Social Buttons are links redirecting users to the social network accounts represented. Through the use of such buttons, no third-party cookies are installed. Furthermore, the website does not share any browsing information or user data acquired through social networks accessible via the Social Buttons.

    4. COOKIES USED ON THE WEBSITE

    More specifically, the cookies present on our Portal essentially make it possible to analyse the use of the services and contents provided by the Portal in order to optimize the browsing experience and perform statistical analyses.

    The cookies used on the Portal are technical and analytical cookies, both first-party and third-party.

    Our first-party cookies are exclusively technical and are used solely to enable proper browsing on the Portal.

    Third-party cookies are both technical, related to the display of videos on the Portal through YouTube and Facebook, and analytical, related to browsing activities and belonging to Google Analytics.

    Cookies are activated whenever a new user (hereinafter the “User”) accesses the Portal or in the event that cookies have been deleted.

    For Google Analytics cookies, consent may be expressed by the User through one or more of the following methods:

    • by specific configurations of the browser used or the related software programs used to browse the pages composing the Portal;
    • by changing the settings in the use of third-party services. To disable personalized advertisements for Google Analytics, users must access the following page: https://www.google.it/settings/ads and proceed with deactivation.

    5. COOKIE CONFIGURATION ACCORDING TO THE BROWSER

    Below we provide the User with links where information can be found regarding how cookies may be configured and managed in the main browsers:

    6. CONSENT TO COOKIES AND OPERATION OF THE PORTAL

    The User may withdraw consent to the use of cookies at any time.

    To do so, the User must disable cookies on the Portal by following the instructions provided in the previous section according to the browser used.

    Withdrawal of consent and, therefore, the disabling of certain cookies, may prevent the use of some functionalities and the display of certain parts of the Portal.

    7. UPDATES AND AMENDMENTS

    This Cookie Policy shall automatically incorporate any regulatory changes that may occur in this field. The DCE reserves the right to amend this Cookie Policy in order to update its contents, which shall be made known and submitted again for acceptance by the User.