Cookie Policy

The https://www.pipe-coatings.com website uses cookies.

In this section we will give you more information about what cookies are, how we use them and how you can manage them both on our site and on other sites for the best possible online experience.

Cookies: what they are and how they work

In the following lines we will inform you about the placement, use and management of cookies used by https://www.pipe-coatings.com/

Please read carefully:

This website uses its own cookies and cookies added by third parties to provide visitors with a very good browsing experience and services tailored to their needs and interests.

The “modern web” or “web 2.0″ uses cookies which play an important role in facilitating access to and delivery of the many services the user enjoys on the Internet, such as:

Personalizing certain settings such as: the language in which the site is viewed, the date and time, keeping options/settings (including saving them) and older preferences by accessing different buttons/functions.

Cookies provide site owners with valuable feedback on how their sites are used by users, so they can make them more efficient and accessible to users.

They allow multimedia or other applications from other sites to be embedded on certain pages to create a more valuable, useful and enjoyable browsing experience.

What is a cookie?

An “Internet cookie” (also known as a “browser cookie” or “HTTP cookie” or simply “cookie”) is a small file containing letters and numbers that will be stored on a user’s computer, mobile device or other equipment from which they accessed a website.

The cookie is sent via a request issued by the web-server on which the website is hosted to the user’s browser (e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.) and is completely “passive”, i.e. 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: the name and the content or value of the cookie and is uniquely associated with the domain on which the website that sent it to the user’s browser is hosted (e.g. https://www.pipe-coatings.com). Furthermore, the lifetime of a cookie is determined and only the web server that sent the cookie can access it again, only when the user returns to the website associated with that web server.

Cookies will not require personal information in order to be used, nor can they personally identify Internet users.

There are two main categories of cookies:

Session cookies – these are stored temporarily in the web browser’s cookie file until the user leaves the web browser.

Persistent cookies – these are stored on your computer or hardware for a longer period of time and remain stored even after you leave the site or close your web browser (and generally depends on the default lifetime of the cookie).

Persistent cookies also include those placed by a website other than the one the user is currently visiting – known as “third party cookies” – which can be used anonymously to remember a user’s interests so that the most relevant advertising can be delivered to that user.

Advantages of cookies

A cookie contains information that links a browser (the user) to a specific web-server (the website). If a browser accesses that web-server again, it can read the information already stored and will react accordingly.

Cookies provide users with a pleasant browsing experience and support the efforts of many websites to provide convenient services to users. Examples – online privacy preferences, site language choices or relevant advertising etc.

The lifetime of a cookie

Cookies are managed by web-servers. The lifetime of a cookie can vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. Some cookies are used exclusively for a single session (“session cookies”) and are not retained after the user leaves the site, while other cookies are retained and reused each time the user returns to that site (“persistent cookies”).

However, cookies can be deleted by the user at any time via browser settings.

Cookies placed by third parties

Certain sections of content on some sites may be provided through third parties/suppliers (e.g. a news box, a video or an advertisement). These third parties may also place cookies through the site – they are called “third party cookies” because they are not placed by the site. Third party providers must comply with applicable law and the privacy policies of the site owner.

Use of cookies by the https://www.pipe-coatings.com website

Visiting this site may place cookies for the following purposes:

Site performance cookies

Visitor analytics cookies

Registration or authentication cookies

Third party cookies

Performance cookies

This type of cookie will remember the user’s preferences on this site, so that they do not need to be set each time they visit the site.

Visitor analytics cookies

Each time a user visits this site, analytics software provided by a third party generates an user analytics cookie. This cookie will tell us if you have visited the https://www.pipe-coatings.com website before. The browser checks whether this cookie exists and if not, generates one. This allows us to track unique users who visit the site and how often they do so. This cookie cannot be used to identify individuals, they are used only for statistical purposes.

Cookies for registration or authentication

When you register or log in to this site, a cookie will be generated to let us know whether you are registered or not. Our server uses these cookies to identify which account you are registered with and whether you have the necessary permissions for a particular service or access to certain sections of the site. It will also allow us to associate comments you post on the site with your account username. If you have not selected “keep me logged in”, this cookie will be deleted automatically when you close your browser or computer.

Third party cookies

On some pages, third parties may set their own anonymous cookies in order to track the success of an advertisement/application or to customize an application. Due to usage patterns, this site cannot access these cookies, just as third parties cannot access cookies held by this site.

Third party online advertising

Some third parties use their own anonymous cookies to analyze how many people have viewed an advertisement, or to see how many people have repeatedly viewed a particular advertisement.

The companies that generate these cookies have their own privacy policies and this site does not have access to these cookies. Third party cookies are used to show you targeted advertising on other sites based on your browsing on this site and therefore your preferences.

Type of information stored and accessed through cookies

Cookies store information in a small text file that allows a site to recognize a browser. The web-server will recognize the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted.

The cookie stores important information that enhances your web browsing experience. E.g.: settings for the language in which you want to access a site, keeping a user logged in to a membership or email account, online security, keeping and remembering settings, etc.

Importance of cookies for the Internet

Cookies are at the heart of the efficient functioning of the Internet, helping to generate an user-friendly browsing experience tailored to each user’s preferences and interests. Refusing or disabling cookies may make some sites unusable.

Denying or disabling cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive online advertising, only that it will no longer be able to take into account your preferences and interests as observed through previous browsing behavior.

Examples of important uses of cookies (which do not require a user to log in to a specific account):

Content and services tailored to user preferences – news categories, weather, sports, maps, public and government services, entertainment sites and travel services.

Offers tailored to user interests – password retention, language preferences (e.g. displaying search results in English).

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

Limiting the frequency of ads – limiting the number of times an ad is displayed for a given user on a site.

Providing relevant advertising to the user.

Measurement, optimization and analytics features – such as confirming a certain level of traffic to a site, what type of content is viewed more and how a user gets to the site (e.g. via search engines, directly, from other sites etc.). Sites run these usage analytics to improve their own sites for the benefit of the user.

Remarketing policy

Cookies (a number that uniquely identifies a web browser on a specific computer, not a person) are collected on the pages of the https://www.pipe-coatings.com website via a remarketing tag and conversion code received from Google AdWords. The remarketing tag Google collects cookies in order to display ads on Google Display Network websites and in Google Search.

When users visit a website page that contains a remarketing tag, the cookie of the browser they are using is added to a remarketing list. A remarketing list is a set of user cookies generated by one or more remarketing tags.

Google AdWords uses cookies to display sponsored ads on the Google Display Network websites and in Google Search to users who have visited the https://www.pipe-coatings.com website pages. If you do not agree with Google’s use of cookies, you can disable them through the Ads Preferences Manager.

Security and privacy issues

Cookies should NOT be confused with viruses! They use a plain text format. They are not made up of pieces of code, so they cannot be executed or auto-run. Consequently, they cannot be duplicated or replicated on other networks to run or replicate again. As they cannot perform these functions, they cannot be considered viruses.

Cookies can however be used for negative purposes. Because they store information about users’ preferences and browsing history, both on a particular site and across multiple sites, cookies can be used as a form of spyware. Many anti-spyware products are aware of this fact and consistently flag cookies for deletion as part of anti-virus/anti-spyware deletion/scanning procedures.

Browsers generally have built-in privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, validity period and automatic deletion after the user has visited a particular site.

Other security issues related to cookies

As identity protection is very important and is the right of every internet user, it is advisable to be aware of possible problems that may arise in relation to the cookies. As cookies constantly transmit information back and forth between the browser and the site, if an attacker or unauthorized person interferes in the data transmission path, the information contained in cookies can be intercepted. Although very rare, this can happen if the browser connects to the server using an unencrypted network (e.g. a non-secure Wi-Fi network).

Other cookie-based attacks involve wrong cookie settings on servers

If a website does not require the browser to use only encrypted channels, attackers can use this vulnerability to trick browsers into sending information through unsecured channels. Attackers then use the information to gain unauthorized access to certain sites. It is very important to be careful in choosing the most appropriate method of protecting personal information.

Tips for safe and responsible browsing based on cookies

Because of their flexibility and the fact that most of the most visited and largest sites use cookies, they are almost unavoidable. Disabling cookies will not grant the user access to the most popular and used sites including YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo, Google and many others.

Some tips that can ensure worry-free browsing with cookies:

Customize your browser’s cookie settings to set a comfortable level of security.

If you don’t mind cookies and you’re the only person using your computer, you can set long expiration times for storing browsing history and personal login data.

If you share access to your computer, you may consider setting your browser to delete individual browsing data each time you close the browser. This is the option of accessing sites that place cookies and deleting any visit data when you close your browsing session.

Install and constantly update anti-spyware applications.

Many spyware detection and prevention applications include detection of attacks on websites. This prevents the browser from accessing sites that could exploit browser vulnerabilities or download dangerous software.

Make sure your browser is always up to date.

Many cookie-based attacks are carried out by exploiting weaknesses in older versions of browsers.

Cookies are everywhere and cannot be avoided if you want to enjoy access to the best and biggest sites on the Internet, local or international. With a clear understanding of how they work and the benefits they bring, you can take the necessary security measures so you can surf the internet with confidence.

Disabling cookies

Disabling and refusing to receive cookies may make certain sites unusable or difficult to visit and use. Also, refusing to accept cookies does not mean that you will no longer receive or see online advertising.

You can change settings in your browser to stop accepting cookies, or you can set your browser to accept cookies only from a specific site. But for example, if you are not registered using cookies, you will not be able to leave comments.

All modern browsers offer the possibility to change cookie settings. These settings are usually found in the “Options” or “Preferences” menu of your browser, or you can use your browser’s “Help” option for more details.

To understand these settings, the following links may be useful, otherwise you can use your browser’s “help” option for more information.

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer

Cookie settings in Firefox

Cookie settings in Chrome

Cookie settings in Safari

Useful links

If you want to find out more about cookies and their use, you can visit the official EU website on cookies at: http://ec.europa.eu/cookies/index_en.htm