Cookie policy – Val Benoit

What is a Cookie?

Our site uses the technology called “cookies” or other similar technologies. A cookie is a small data file that our Web server sends to your computer when you access our website and which includes a unique identification number. Some cookies are essential for the use of our site. They generally allow easier and faster interaction between your computer and our site. Cookies can also be used to make the content of a website more relevant to the visitor or to personalise the content displayed. Finally, cookies can also be used for statistical purposes to better understand how visitors use our site or blog and the tools and services that we offer there.

SPI is committed to complying with the Belgian law of 10 July 2012 containing various provisions on electronic communications and transposing into Belgian law all the European regulations called the “Telecoms Package” regulating electronic communications and services networks (Directive 2009/140/EC, Directive 2009/136/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009) as well as subsequent amendments. For this reason, we inform you about the type of cookies we use, the purpose for their use, their retention period and the procedures for changing your privacy settings in order to restrict the use of certain cookies.

To view SPI websites or its blog, you are advised to enable cookies on your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Please be aware that restricting the use of cookies may impair your internet browsing and possibly prevent you from viewing the site or benefiting from certain functionalities.

What types of Cookies are used by SPI?

We use the following cookies on our site:

a) Essential and technical cookies

These are cookies essential for any browsing. These cookies are not directly accessed or stored by our site. They also do not contain any data other than your IP address, which is necessary for your internet browsing. For example, these are cookies that help you to navigate on the website and to return to previous pages, or performance or load balancing cookies.

b) Functional cookies

Where appropriate, we may use functional cookies to store the choices you make on our site. This information is only stored on your computer and is only used by us in an anonymised form.

c) Statistics and performance cookies

Statistical or analytics cookies collect information about your browsing on our site and enable us to improve user-friendliness and content, and to better adapt the site to your preferences. Statistical analysis is strictly anonymous and allows us to identify, in particular, the most visited pages, the duration of visits and to know the site’s overall usage patterns. It is also a means of detecting navigation difficulties on our site and assessing the effectiveness of our service offerings.

We use Google Analytics to produce reports concerning traffic on our site. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect anonymous information such as your IP address, the browser and operating system you are using, the pages you visit and the time you have spent on our site. This information is stored on Google’s servers in the United States. We use the information collected by Google Analytics to make our site more interesting and useful. The lifespan of these cookies does not exceed 13 months. Google Analytics has put in place appropriate technical measures and contractual clauses to ensure the confidentiality of the data collected and compliance with the GDPR.

By using our site, you authorise the processing of information by Google in the manner and for the purposes described above. If you no longer wish to be tracked by Google Analytics on any website, we advise you to visit the following website:

http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

For more information about Google Analytics and your privacy, visit: http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ads/#toc-analytics. The pages you visit may also collect information using ‘pixel tags’ (also called ‘clear gifs’), which is shared with third parties who are directly involved in our promotional operations and the development of our sites. However, this information does not allow you to be individually identified.

Cookie storage duration

Most of the cookies we use are session cookies. These cookies facilitate the operations carried out on our site during a browsing session. Your session starts when your internet browser screen is opened and ends when it is closed. Session cookies are temporary and are deleted as soon as you close your browser. Other cookies such as statistics cookies will not be stored for more than 13 months from the initial installation.

Cookie management

You may refuse cookies when the acceptance request is made to you. You may also disable cookies and block their storage by configuring your browser in the appropriate manner. Finally, you can delete cookies already installed on your computer or mobile device at any time.

To change your browser settings to restrict cookies, below are instructions for the most common web browsers:

For Internet Explorer

In Internet Explorer, select the “Tools” menu and then “Internet options”.
Choose the “Privacy” tab.
In the “Privacy” tab, select the desired level using the cursor (settings above “medium” disable cookies).
Click “OK”.

For Mozilla Firefox

In “Firefox”, select the “Tools” menu and then “Options”.
In the “Privacy” tab, select the options that suit you.
Click “OK”.

For the Google Chrome browser

Click “Settings” at the top of your browser window.
In the “Privacy” section, tick the “Send a ‘Do Not Track’ request with your browsing traffic” box.
In the “Content settings > Cookies” tab, tick “Block cookies and third-party site data”.

For the Safari browser

Click “Safari” at the top of your browser window and select the “Preferences” option.
Click “Privacy” then choose your preferences.
Click “Save”.

For the Opera browser

Go to Settings and then “Preferences”.
Click “Advanced” and then select the “Cookies” tab.
Then select your preferences.
Click “OK”

For any additional information for deleting or managing cookies, you can use your browser’s Help function. You can also obtain more details about cookies and how to manage or delete them on the following website: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/. For the use and deletion of cookies in mobile phone and electronic tablet browsers, please consult your electronic device’s manual.

Additional information

If you have any questions or comments about cookies after reading this statement concerning cookies, you can contact us at the following address: dpo@spi.be

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