Cookies

We use first-party cookies for the technical functioning of the website and, if you consent to it, to collect your browsing experience on our website for anonymised statistics, whose purpose is to improve our communication and the service we offer.

You can find in this page the option to manage your consent.

First-party cookies for the technical functioning of the website

This website uses some session cookies as followed :

First-party cookies used by Matomo Analytics

We use Matomo web analytics to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the website.

Matomo is an open-source analytics platform which fully is controlled by DG CONECT. This platform enables the protection of end-user personal data thanks to features such as IP address de-identification. On top of that, the DG CONECT has created a feature to manage users’ consent to the collection of users’ browsing experience for anonymised statistics.

Data protection information and measures in Matomo

Matomo is configured to store first-party cookies.

Cookies (from Matomo) enable DG CONECT to track the following information about visitors. We use this information to prepare aggregated, anonymous statistics reports of visitors’ activity:

• IP address (with 2 bytes masked)
• Location: country, region, city, approximate latitude and longitude (Geolocation)
• Date and time of the request (visit to the site)
• Title of the page being viewed (Page Title)
• URL of the page being viewed (Page URL)
• URL of the page that was viewed prior to the current page (Referrer URL)
• Screen resolution of user's device
• Time in local visitor's time-zone
• Files that were clicked and downloaded (Download)
• Links to an outside domain that were clicked (Outlink)
• Pages generation time (the time it takes for webpages to be generated by the webserver and then downloaded by the visitor: Page speed)
• Main language of the browser being used (Accept-Language header)
• Browser version, browser plugins (PDF, Flash, Java, …) operating system version, device identifier (User-Agent header)
• Language of the visited page
• Campaigns
• Site Search

DG CONECT retains full control of the data collected through first-party cookies by storing the data in servers fully owned and controlled by the Agency itself.

Besides some session cookies, a random ID persistent cookie is generated by Matomo, which allows DG CONECT to identify when a user returns to the site. This cookie has an expiration date of 13 months, after which it is automatically removed from the user's device.

Do not track preferences

Do Not Track is a function that allows visitors not to be tracked by websites. Do Not Track options are available in a number of browsers including:

Firefox(link is external)

Internet Explorer(link is external)

Chrome(link is external)

Safari(link is external)

Opera(link is external)

Restricted access to information

All analytics data communication is encrypted via HTTPS protocol. The analytical reports generated by Piwik can only be accessed by authorised Agency staff dealing with Matomo or by duly authorised external sub-contractors, who may be required to analyse, develop and/or regularly maintain certain sites.

Masking of IP addresses

Note: institution, city and country of origin for statistical purposes are determined from the full IP, then stored and aggregated before a mask is applied. Matomo uses an IP de-identification mechanism that automatically masks a portion of each visitor's IP (Internet Protocol), effectively making it impossible to identify a particular DG CONECT website visitor via the sole IP address.

Visitor logs

Matomo automatically deletes visitors' logs after 54 weeks. Anonymised and aggregated data are stored for an indefinite period by DG CONECT for analysis purposes.

Social media cookies

DG CONECT is active on one social media platform. Our presence in the X communities strengthens our online presence and visibility.

• The website does not set cookies when displaying links to our social media channels when you browse our website.
• The social posts are retrieved from the server side, therefore the website doesn't load external libraries to integrate the tweets.
• Similarly, by clicking on the X button on our website, you will be redirected to the relevant website, it has its own cookie and privacy policies over which we have no control. You can find the cookies policies of the social media channel on which DG CONECT is active here:
  • X (link is external)