A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site.
Every time you visit the websites managed by FRA, you will be prompted to accept or refuse cookies.
The purpose is to enable the site to remember your preferences such as whether or not you have accepted cookies or which country has been selected or to maintain a Moodle session for a certain period of time.
That way, you will not be asked the same question when browsing around the site during the same visit.
Cookies can also be used to establish anonymised statistics about the browsing experience on our sites.
The websites managed by FRA mostly use first-party cookies. These are cookies set and controlled by FRA, not by any external organisation.
However, to view content on some of our pages, you will have to accept cookies from external organisations.
The 3 types of first-party cookies we use are to:
These are set by us and only we can read them. They remember if you have agreed to (or refused) this site’s cookie policy:
Name: cck3
Service: Cookie consent kit
Purpose: Stores your preferences for 3rd-party cookies (so you won't be asked again)
Cookie type and duration: First-party session cookie deleted after you quit your browser
Name: cck1
Purpose: Stores your cookie preferences (so you won’t be asked again)
Cookie type and duration: First-party persistent cookie, 6 months
There are some cookies that we have to include in order for certain web pages to function. For this reason, they do not require your consent. In particular, technical cookies required by FRA’s e-learning Moodle platform are:
Name of cookie: MoodleSession
Service/website where cookie used: FRA e-learning platform
Purpose of cookie: Identifies your session
Cookie type and duration: First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser
We use these purely for internal research on how we can improve the service we provide for all our users.
The cookies simply assess how you interact with our website – as an anonymous user (the data gathered does not identify you personally).
Also, this data is not shared with any third parties or used for any other purpose. The anonymised statistics could be shared with contractors working on communication projects under contractual agreement with the European Commission.
However, you are free to refuse these types of cookies via the cookie banner.
Analytics cookies are:
Name: _pk_id#
Service: Corporate web analytics service, based on Matomo open source software
Purpose: Recognises website visitors (anonymously – no personal information is collected on the user)
Cookie type and duration: First-party persistent cookie, 13 months
Name: _pk_ses#
Purpose: Identifies the pages viewed by the same user during the same visit. (anonymously – no personal information is collected on the user)
Cookie type and duration: First-party persistent cookie, 30 minutes
Matomo is configured to store first-party cookies.
Cookies (from Matomo) enable FRA to track the following information about visitors. We use this information to prepare aggregated, anonymous statistics reports of visitors’ activity:
FRA 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 FRA 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.
All analytics data communication is encrypted via HTTPS protocol. The analytical reports generated by Matomo 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.
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 FRA website visitor via the sole IP address.
Matomo automatically deletes visitors' logs after 54 weeks. Anonymised and aggregated data are stored for an indefinite period by FRA for analysis purposes.
Some of our pages display content from external providers, e.g. YouTube.
To view this third-party content, you first have to accept their specific terms and conditions. This includes their cookie policies, which we have no control over.
But if you do not view this content, no third-party cookies are installed on your device.
This third-party service is outside of the control of FRA. Providers may, at any time, change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies, etc.
You can delete all cookies that are already on your device by clearing the browsing history of your browser. This will remove all cookies from all websites you have visited.
Be aware though that you may also lose some saved information (e.g. saved login details, site preferences).
For more detailed control over site-specific cookies, check the privacy and cookie settings in your preferred browser.
You can set most modern browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. profile logging-in).
FRA is active on five social media platforms. Our presence in the Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn communities strengthens our online presence and visibility.
The FRA website does not set cookies when displaying links to our social media channels when you browse our website.
You can watch FRA videos, which we upload (embed) also to our YouTube page. You can also follow links from our website to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
In order to watch a FRA video on our website, a message will alert you that you need to accept YouTube cookies to do so. YouTube has its own cookie and privacy policies over which we have no control. There is no installation of cookies from YouTube until you consent to YouTube cookies.
Similarly, by clicking on the LinkedIn or Facebook buttons on our website, you will be redirected to the relevant websites, each of which has its own cookie and privacy policies over which we have no control. You can find the cookies policies of the five social media channels on which FRA is active here:
More information can be found in FRA's Social media Data Protection Notice.
You can enquire about the way we use cookies via our contact form.
