Cookie Policy

About This Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, how SHENIT AGENCY SLU uses them on FileLocations, and what your choices are regarding their use. We want to be transparent about our use of cookies and similar technologies so you can make informed decisions.

By using our Site, you may have cookies placed on your device (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.). You have control over non-essential cookies and can adjust your preferences at any time. This policy will cover:

• What cookies are and why we use them.

• The categories of cookies we use (including specific cookies, their purpose, duration, and provider).

• How you can manage or disable cookies.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your browser or device by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to the site owners. Cookies can serve many purposes: remembering your login, keeping track of your preferences, enabling features, and helping us understand how people use our Site.

There are different types of cookies:

• First-party cookies: These are set by the website you’re visiting (in this case, FileLocations). Only that website can read them.

• Third-party cookies: These are set by domains other than the one you are visiting. This can happen when a website uses external services (like analytics or advertising networks). For example, if we have Google Analytics on our site, Google may set its own cookie to perform that service.

• Session cookies: These are temporary cookies that remain on your device only while your browser is open. They get deleted once you close your browser.

• Persistent cookies: These cookies remain on your device for a set period of time or until you delete them. They don’t go away when the browser is closed and are used to remember things between sessions (like your preferences or whether you are logged in, where applicable).

Cookies can also be categorized by their purpose:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for the operation of a website. Without these, the site might not function properly. They don’t require consent (though we still want to inform you about them).

• Preferences (Functional) Cookies: These allow a site to remember choices you make (like language or region) and provide enhanced, personalized features. Our site might use these for remembering your interface preferences.

• Statistics (Analytics) Cookies: These help website owners understand how visitors interact with their site by collecting and reporting information anonymously. They tell us things like how many people visit, which pages are popular, and how users move around the site.

• Marketing (Advertising) Cookies: These are used to track visitors across websites. The goal is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user. They can also limit the number of times you see an ad and help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. They often involve creating an identifier that can remember your preferences or past actions.

How We Use Cookies on FileLocations

We use cookies to enhance your experience and to enable Site functionality. Specifically:

• To remember your settings and preferences. For example, if you select your cookie preferences on our consent banner, a cookie will save those choices so that we don’t ask you every time you visit.

• To secure our Site and users. We use Cloudflare as a security and performance solution. Cloudflare sets cookies to distinguish between legitimate users and malicious bots (like the __cf_bm cookie). This helps protect our Site from attacks and ensures that real users can access the site smoothly.

• To collect analytics data. With your permission, we use tools like Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to gather information on how visitors use our Site. These cookies help us understand things like what pages are visited, how long people stay, and what content is effective. This data is crucial for us to improve the Site’s content and structure.

• To serve and measure advertisements. Our Site is funded by advertising (Google AdSense) and we also run ad campaigns to bring in visitors. Advertising cookies (from Google and other partners like Microsoft and Yahoo) are used to show you relevant ads and track the performance of ads (e.g., did someone click an ad and then do something on our Site?). These cookies ensure you don’t see the same ad too often and (if you’ve consented) may tailor ads to your interests. If you opt out of personalized ads, these cookies may still collect data but it will only be used for non-personalized (contextual) advertising and campaign measurement.

In the next section, we provide a list of specific cookies used on our Site, categorized by their purpose, along with information about their provider and how long they last. We have included both first-party and third-party cookies.

Cookies We Use

Below is a table of the cookies that are set by our Site and our third-party partners. We have grouped them by category for clarity. Please note that the exact cookies and their lifespans may change over time (for example, when services update their technology), but we will strive to keep this list updated.

Strictly Necessary Cookies (These cookies are essential for the operation of our Site and do not require consent):

(The above consent cookies may appear either as first-party cookies on $business.url or under the domain of our CMP/Google’s consent domain. They do not track you, but just store preferences.)

Analytics Cookies (These help us understand how visitors use our Site. We only set these if you have given consent):

(Note: Analytics cookies collect information in an anonymized/pseudonymized way. They do not directly reveal your identity to us. We use them only if you allow.)

Advertising Cookies (These cookies are used by advertising partners to deliver ads, limit repetition, and measure effectiveness. They are set only if you have given consent for marketing cookies):

(Note: The exact cookies can vary based on how Google updates their services or if you’re logged into Google. We list common ones, but you might see slightly different names. They all serve to either remember preferences or aid in advertising services.)

Cookie Duration and Persistence

In the table above, we’ve specified how long each cookie typically lasts. “Session” cookies usually clear when you close your browser. “Persistent” cookies remain until their time is up or you clear them manually.

For instance, if you visit our site and consent to analytics, _ga will stick around for 2 years so that if you return within that timeframe, Google Analytics knows you’re a returning visitor (not in a personal way, just to count you as returning user vs a brand new user). If you don’t come back at all, that cookie will eventually expire and disappear. Advertising cookies like IDE last just over a year then require renewal if you continue visiting sites with AdSense.

It’s important to note that you can delete cookies at any time via your browser (which effectively ends their life immediately). Also, if you switch browsers or devices, the cookies set on one browser/device don’t carry over to another.

Third-Party Cookies and Data Sharing

As you can see from the list, many cookies on our Site are set by third parties (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Cloudflare). This means those parties receive certain information from the cookie (like your unique ID, or the fact you visited our site at a certain time with a certain browser). They use this data as described:

• Google uses analytics cookies data to compile reports for us and improve their services. Google’s advertising cookies help decide what ads to show you (if personalized ads are allowed) and measure performance. Google may also use some of this data for its own purposes in accordance with Google’s Privacy Policy, but we configure settings to limit data use (e.g., we don’t share personal data with Google outside of these cookie contexts).

• Microsoft uses Clarity cookies to provide us with user behavior insights. Clarity data might be used by Microsoft to enhance their analytics products, but they don’t use it to identify you personally or for advertising directly (unless you’ve also allowed Microsoft Advertising cookies, which in that case, the MUID ties into Bing Ads network).

• Yahoo’s cookies on our site are mainly for our use in conversion tracking. Yahoo receives that data when a conversion happens so they can report it to us and gauge ad effectiveness. They would handle that under Yahoo Japan’s privacy guidelines, ensuring it’s not misused.

• Cloudflare’s cookie is purely functional for security. The data from that cookie (e.g., whether you passed a bot check) is used by Cloudflare to protect us and other sites. Cloudflare doesn’t use that for anything like advertising; it stays within security operations.

All these third parties have committed to protecting data via contracts we have (for example, we have Data Processing Agreements with Google and Microsoft through their standard terms).

We do not sell data collected by cookies to any data brokers or unknown parties. Any sharing occurs as part of the services we use (advertising, analytics, etc.), as explained above.

Managing and Disabling Cookies

Your Consent Choices: When you first visit FileLocations, you will see a cookie consent banner. We use a Consent Management Platform (CMP) that complies with the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). This banner lets you:

• Accept all non-essential cookies (meaning you agree to analytics, ads, etc. in addition to the necessary ones).

• Reject non-essential cookies (which means only necessary cookies will be used).

• Customize your choices category by category (and often vendor by vendor if you click into details).

If you made a choice and later change your mind, you can update your preferences. To do so:

• Look for a link or button on our site that says something like “Privacy Settings” or “Cookie Preferences”. This is often in the footer or as a floating widget. Clicking it will bring the consent banner or settings back up, and you can adjust toggles and resubmit your preferences.

• If you can’t find that, you can always clear cookies via your browser, which will reset the consent state and cause the banner to appear again on your next visit, where you can make a new choice.

Browser Controls: In addition to using our site’s tools, you have full control in your web browser:

• You can set your browser to block or alert you about cookies from specific sites or all sites. Typically, this is found under settings in a section like “Privacy” or “Security”. For example, in Chrome you go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data; in Safari, Preferences > Privacy; in Firefox, Options > Privacy & Security.

• You can delete cookies that are already on your device. Most browsers make it easy to clear cookies for a single site or all sites. Be aware that if you clear all cookies, it will remove things like saved logins on other sites, so you might have to log in again where applicable.

• There are also browser extensions and tools specifically made to manage cookies and trackers (like Ghostery, Privacy Badger, etc.) which give you granular control over what gets loaded.

Do Not Track: Some browsers have a “Do Not Track” (DNT) feature that, when enabled, sends a signal to websites indicating you don’t want to be tracked. However, there isn’t a universal standard on how sites should respond to DNT signals. Our Site currently doesn’t change its behavior in response to DNT (instead, we rely on the consent tools described). We encourage you to use the consent mechanism directly for the most reliable control.

Effect of Disabling Cookies: If you choose to disable cookies (whether via our banner or your browser settings), keep in mind:

• Strictly necessary cookies are, as the name suggests, necessary. If you manage to block those via browser (which some browsers allow if you set to very strict mode), some core features of our Site might not work properly. For example, blocking all cookies might trigger the cookie banner on every single page visit because we can’t save that you’ve closed it.

• Disabling analytics and ad cookies will not prevent you from using our Site; it will function normally. The only difference is we won’t have the analytics insight about your visit (which is fine) and you’ll likely see less relevant ads (maybe repetitive ones, or generic ones).

• If you disable Cloudflare’s cookie by some means, Cloudflare might treat you as a potential bot on each page load (worst-case scenario, you might get more “are you human?” checks, though typically necessary cookies like Cloudflare’s aren’t subject to user consent because they’re security-related).

Opt-Out Mechanisms: Besides our site and browser controls, some third parties offer their own opt-out:

• Google provides a browser add-on for opting out of Google Analytics (which prevents GA script from running) – you can find it by searching “Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on”.

• AdChoices: For interest-based advertising, in some regions you can use industry opt-out websites like aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.eu (EU) to opt out of many advertising cookies from participating networks. Note that these often work by setting an opt-out cookie, so if you clear cookies, you remove the opt-out and would need to set it again.

• If you have a Google account, you can adjust ad personalization settings at adssettings.google.com to influence what Google does with cookies on any site.

• Similarly, Microsoft has ad preference settings for Bing Ads (you can find on Microsoft’s site) and Yahoo Japan likely follows Yahoo’s standard opt-out processes for interest-based ads.

We want to emphasize that we will not set or use any non-essential cookies without your consent in jurisdictions where that’s required (and as a practice, we aim to do this globally). If you decline them, they’ll be inactive. If you accept them, you can still later disable them. Our goal is to make sure you’re comfortable with how data is being collected.

Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy occasionally to reflect changes in the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. It’s a good idea to review this policy from time to time to stay informed about our cookie practices.

At the top of this policy, we’ll indicate the date of the latest revision. If the changes are significant (for example, if we start using a whole new category of cookies or new partners), we may notify you by additional means – such as a notice on our Site or adjusting the cookie banner to draw attention to the update.

By continuing to use our Site after we post any updates, you agree to the updated policy (to the extent it applies to you). Remember, you can always adjust your cookie settings as described above.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about our use of cookies and other tracking technologies, feel free to contact us. We’re here to help explain or assist in any way needed.

• Email: [email protected]

For more information about how we handle personal data (beyond cookies), please see our Privacy Policy. It covers our broader approach to privacy, of which cookie management is one part.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Cookie Policy. We hope this helps you understand and feel more confident about our use of cookies. Happy browsing on FileLocations!