POLICY ON USING COOKIES AND OTHER PREFERENCES MONITORING TOOLS

The Website https://www.concretedirect.com/ (the “ Website”) and the app for smartphones using the Android/ iOS operating systems (the ” App”) use cookies and other monitoring tools to monitor the preferences of the Website and App visitors/ users and distinguish you from other users of the Website, this helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.

The information below is intended to inform the data subjects about the placement, use and management of these assets on the Website and within the App.

These tools are used to provide site visitors and App users with a much better browsing experience and use, as well as services tailored to the needs and interests of each individual.

Cookies provide site owners with valuable feedback on how their sites / applications are used by users so they can make them even more effective and accessible to users, allow multimedia applications or other types of applications on other sites to be included in a particular site to create a more valuable, useful, and enjoyable browsing experience.

Within the Website and App, we may use one or more of the following tools:
– Google Analytics (https://firebase.google.com/docs/)
– Google Firebase (https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/)
– Fabric (https://www.fabric.io/)
– Appsee (https://www.appsee.com/)
– Google AdWords (http://www.google.de/adwords/)
– newsletter2go (https://www.newsletter2go.com/)
– Facebook Plug-In (https://www.facebook.com/)
– Cookies
– Conversion Tracking
– Tracking Tags/ Pixel (Facebook, Google Analytics, Firebase, AdWords)
– Facebook Custom Audience (https://www.facebook.com/)
– Crazy Egg (https://www.crazyegg.com/)
Google Firebase Analytics will mainly be used for the App. More details on this tool are available here: https://firebase.google.com/docs/analytics/.

Google Analytics will mainly be used for the Website. More details on this tool are available here: https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/

What is a cookie?

A “Cookie Internet” (also known as “cookie browser” or “HTTP cookie” or simply “cookie”) is a small file of letters and numbers that will be stored on your browser, computer and/or other equipment of a user on which the internet is accessed.

The cookie is installed through a browser-based web-server request (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome) and is completely “passive” (it does not contain software, viruses or spyware and cannot access the information on user’s hard drive).

A cookie consists of two parts: the name and the content or the value of the cookie. Furthermore, the duration of a cookie is determined; technically, only the webserver that sent the cookie can access it again when a user returns to the Website associated with that webserver.

Cookies themselves do not require personal information to be used and, in most cases, do not personally identify internet users.

There are 2 large categories of cookies:

Session Cookies 

They are temporarily stored in the web browser’s cookie folder so they can save them until the user exits the web site or closes the browser window.

Persistent cookies

They are stored on the hard drive of a computer or equipment (and generally depend on the cookie’s default life). Persistent cookies also include those placed on a website other than the one the user is currently visiting – known as ‘third party cookies’ – which can be used anonymously to memorize the interests of a user, so that advertising is delivered as relevant as possible to users.

What is the lifetime of a cookie?

Cookies are managed by web servers. The life of a cookie may vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it is placed. As mentioned above, some cookies are used only for one session (session cookies) and are not retained once the user has left the Website, and other cookies are retained and reused whenever the user returns to that website (‘permanent cookies’). However, cookies can be deleted by a user at any time through browser settings.

What are cookies placed by third parties?

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

How cookies are used by the Website

A visit to the Website may place cookies for purposes of:
– Site performance cookies
– Visitor analysis cookies
– Cookies for geo-targeting
– Cookies to create personalized Facebook audiences. These cookies can come from the following third parties: Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube.

Strictly necessary cookies:

These are cookies that are required for the operation of the Website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of the Website.

Functionality cookies:

These are used to recognise you when you return to the Website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).

Performance cookies:

This type of cookie retains the visitor’s preferences on the Website, so they no longer need to be set at each visit of the Website.

Cookies for Visitor Analysis:

Every time a person visits the Website, analytics software provided by a third party generates a visitor’s analysis cookie. This cookie tells us if you have visited the site. The browser will tell us if you have this cookie, and if not, we will generate one. It allows monitoring of unique visitors who visit us and how often they do it.

Cookies for geo-targeting:

These cookies are used by software that determines where you come from. It is completely anonymous and is only used to target content – even when you are on our page in your own language or in another language, you receive the same advertisement.

What type of information is stored and accessed through cookies?

Cookies keep information in a small text file that allows a website to recognize a browser. The webserver will recognize the browser until the cookie expires or is deleted. The cookie stores important information that enhances Internet browsing experience.

Customize your browser settings for cookies

If you do not mind cookies and you are the only person using your computer, you can set expiration dates to store your browsing history and personal access data.
If you share your computer access, you can consider the browser setting to delete your individual browsing data each time you close your browser.

How do I stop cookies?

Disabling and refusing to receive cookies can make our Website difficult to visit, resulting in limitations on the ability to use it.

All modern browsers offer the ability to change cookie settings. These settings are usually found in your browser’s “options” or “preferences” menu.

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

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari

More information about cookies can be found at www.allaboutcookies.org or by contacting us at hello@concretedirect.com

Crazy Egg (Potential)

We use the Crazy Egg web analytics service provided by Crazy Egg Inc., 16220 Ridgeview Lane, La Mirada, CA, 90638 USA, to collect statistical data on the use of our offer on the web. With the help of Crazy Egg Inc. technology user information is collected and is transmitted to the Crazy Egg Inc. server. The technology allows us to collect, analyze and view the user’s activities during the visit to the Website. For example, we can determine, with the help of a so-called “thermal map”, which areas of the Website are visited most often and receive the most clicks. For this purpose, the so-called cookies, which are saved on your computer and allow you to analyze your activity on the Website, are sent to Crazy Egg Inc. You may refuse to collect and save data made by Crazy Egg Inc. through specific settings in your browser. The special instructions for Crazy Egg can be found at http://www.crazyegg.com/opt-out.
You can find information about the purpose and amount of data collection and data processing and subsequent use by Crazy Egg, as well as information about your rights in this context and the privacy settings that protect your privacy in the published data protection guidelines by Crazy Inc. at http://www.crazyegg.com/privacy.

[March 30, 2018]