This Policy explains the cookies and similar technologies used on the DataFort Solutions Ltd. website. It should be read together with our Privacy Notice, which explains the wider processing of personal data, and our Terms of Service.
1. The law that applies
Storing information on, or gaining access to information already stored on, a user's terminal equipment is governed in Ireland by Regulation 5(3) of the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 336/2011), which transposes Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC.
The rule is straightforward: consent is required before any non-essential information is stored on or read from your device. Two narrow exemptions exist — storage carried out for the sole purpose of transmitting a communication, and storage that is strictly necessary to provide a service that you have explicitly requested. Everything outside those exemptions needs consent.
Where consent is required, it must meet the GDPR standard in Articles 4(11) and 7: freely given, specific, informed, unambiguous, given by a clear affirmative action, as easy to withdraw as to give, and capable of being evidenced. Continuing to browse is not consent. Pre-ticked boxes are not consent. A banner with only an "Accept" button is not consent.
How we apply that here. The banner offers a single, clear choice: Accept or Reject. Nothing beyond what is strictly necessary is written to your device until you accept. Rejecting takes exactly one click, as does accepting, and we record your decision with a timestamp and the policy version. You can revisit the choice at any time using the Cookie preferences link in the footer of every page.
2. What a cookie is, and what else we use
A cookie is a small text file placed on your device by a website and returned to that website on subsequent requests. "Similar technologies" covers anything that performs the same function, including localStorage and sessionStorage, pixels, tags, software development kits and device fingerprinting. The legal test is the same for all of them, and so is our treatment of them.
This website currently uses no advertising technology, no cross-site tracking, no social media pixels, no fingerprinting, and no third-party cookies set from a different domain for marketing purposes. Should that change, this Policy and the preference panel will be updated and fresh consent will be sought before the new category is activated.
3. The categories we use
3.1 Strictly necessary
Required for the website to be delivered and operated securely. These cannot be switched off, because without them the service you explicitly requested cannot be provided. They fall within the Regulation 5(3) exemption and are set on the basis of our legitimate interest in operating a secure website under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
datafort-consent | localStorage | Stores your Accept or Reject decision, the time you made it and the policy version, so the banner is not shown again and so we can evidence your consent under Article 7(1). | Until cleared, reviewed at 12 months |
| Session / load-balancing | HTTP cookie | Set by our hosting infrastructure to route your request correctly and maintain page delivery during your visit. | Session |
| Security tokens | HTTP cookie | Protect forms against cross-site request forgery and support abuse prevention. | Session |
3.2 Preferences
Remember interface choices so the site behaves consistently on your next visit — for example a previously selected view or a dismissed notice. Set only once you have accepted, under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. Withdrawing consent removes them.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
df-prefs | localStorage | Stores non-identifying interface preferences. | 12 months |
3.3 Statistics
Aggregated, pseudonymised measurement of page views and navigation paths so we can see which content is useful and improve it. Set only with your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. We configure measurement to minimise data: IP addresses are truncated before storage, we do not enable cross-site or cross-device tracking, we do not share the data with any advertising network, and we do not use it to build a profile of you.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
df-stats-id | HTTP cookie | Pseudonymous identifier used to count a visit once rather than many times. | 13 months maximum |
df-stats-session | HTTP cookie | Distinguishes one visit from the next for aggregate reporting. | 30 minutes |
4. Third-party content
This website loads web-font files from Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com) so that pages render in the intended typeface. Requesting a font file necessarily discloses your IP address and user-agent string to that provider, which is a transfer of personal data to a third party and may involve a transfer outside the EEA. Google does not set cookies when serving font files, but the request itself is logged by the provider.
If you prefer to avoid that disclosure entirely, your browser's content-blocking settings or an extension can block requests to those domains; the site will fall back to your system typeface and remains fully usable. We keep this dependency under review and will self-host the font files if the balance of convenience changes.
Where we embed any other third-party content in future — a video player, a map, a scheduling widget — it will be blocked until you have consented to the relevant category, and this section will be updated.
5. Server logs, which are not cookies
Separately from cookies, our web server records each request: IP address, timestamp, requested URL, response code, referring page and user-agent string. This is not storage on your device, so Regulation 5(3) does not apply; it is processing of personal data under the GDPR, carried out on the basis of our legitimate interest in network and information security, which Recital 49 expressly recognises. Logs are retained for 90 days unless they are needed for an active security investigation. See section 6 of the Privacy Notice.
6. How to change or withdraw your choice
Three options, any of which you can use at any time:
- The banner. Use the Cookie preferences link here or in the footer of every page to bring the banner back and make a different choice. Withdrawal takes effect immediately and is as simple as giving consent, as Article 7(3) requires.
- Your browser. Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies and site data, either globally or for a single site. Deleting our site data also deletes the record of your decision, so the banner will reappear on your next visit.
- Browser privacy settings. Content blocking and tracking protection features will prevent third-party requests, including the font requests described in section 4.
7. What happens if you reject
If you choose Reject, we record that decision, set nothing further on your device, and your browser is redirected away from this website to gdpr.eu, the official GDPR information site. You are free to return here at any time and make a different choice.
If you choose Accept, the decision is recorded so that you are not asked again on every page, and the site behaves normally.
8. Your rights
Where cookies process personal data, the rights described in section 8 of the Privacy Notice apply — including access, erasure, restriction, objection and withdrawal of consent. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission, 6 Pembroke Row, Dublin 2, D02 X963, Ireland, dataprotection.ie.
9. Changes to this Policy
We will update this Policy whenever the technologies used on this website change. The version number and date at the top of the page record the current revision, and the version history is listed in the Legal Centre. Where we introduce a new non-essential category, we will seek fresh consent before activating it rather than relying on a consent you gave to an earlier version.
10. Contact
Questions about this Policy may be sent through our contact page or by post to DataFort Solutions Ltd., 12 Emerald Square, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Related documents: Privacy Notice · Terms of Service · Data Processing Agreement · Legal Centre