Cookie Policy
1. Introduction
This Cookie Policy explains how cookies and similar technologies are used on iHemera.com (the "Website"), operated under the iHemera brand by Mega Commercial Enterprises Limited, an Irish-registered company, incorporated under Company Number 726999, with its registered office at 77 Camden Street Lower, Dublin, D02 XE80, Ireland. It should be read together with our Privacy Policy. Contact for all cookie and privacy matters: [email protected].
We use cookies sparingly and deliberately. We do not use advertising cookies, we do not sell or share data collected through cookies for marketing purposes, and we do not track you across other websites.
2. What Cookies Are
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They allow the website to function properly, remember your choices, and, where enabled, understand in aggregate how the website is used. Similar technologies (such as local storage and pixels) are treated the same way in this Policy, and "cookies" refers to all of them. Cookies set by us are "first-party cookies"; cookies set by other organisations through our Website are "third-party cookies". Cookies may be "session" cookies (deleted when you close your browser) or "persistent" cookies (retained for a set period).
3. The Legal Basis for Cookies
Under the Irish European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011 and the GDPR, we use cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation of the Website without consent, and all other cookies only with your prior consent, given through the cookie banner or settings on the Website. You may refuse or withdraw consent at any time as described in Section 6, without affecting your ability to browse the Website.
4. The Categories of Cookies We Use
4.1 Strictly necessary cookies
These are essential for the Website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually set only in response to actions you take, such as submitting a form, setting privacy preferences, or maintaining security. They do not store personally identifying information beyond what is necessary for these functions.
| Purpose | Description | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Security and integrity | Cookies set by the content management system and security features to protect the Website and its forms against malicious activity and to verify legitimate requests. | Session to 12 months |
| Form functionality | Cookies that allow enquiry, application and contact forms to function correctly and to prevent duplicate or automated submissions. | Session |
| Consent preferences | Cookies that record the cookie choices you make, so the Website can respect them on future visits. | 6 to 12 months |
4.2 Functional cookies
These enable enhanced functionality and personalisation, such as remembering preferences you have set. If you do not allow them, some conveniences may not function, but the Website remains fully usable. Set only with your consent.
4.3 Analytics cookies
Where enabled and only with your consent, analytics cookies help us understand, in aggregate and privacy-respecting form, how visitors use the Website: which pages are read, how visitors arrive, and where difficulties occur. We use this information solely to improve the Website. IP addresses are truncated or pseudonymised where the analytics tool supports it, and analytics data is not used to identify you or combined with client records.
| Purpose | Description | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Audience measurement | Aggregate counting of visits, pages viewed, approximate (city-level) location and referral sources. | Up to 24 months |
| Site improvement | Understanding navigation patterns to improve structure and content. | Up to 24 months |
4.4 Third-party content
Some pages load resources from third parties, such as web fonts or embedded scheduling and form tools. When your browser requests these resources, the third party may receive technical information such as your IP address, and may set cookies where you have consented to the relevant category. We select providers with appropriate data protection commitments, and details of the processors we use are available on request via [email protected].
4.5 What we do not use
- No advertising, retargeting or marketing cookies.
- No social media tracking pixels.
- No cross-site tracking or sale of cookie data.
- No profiling of visitors for commercial purposes.
4.6 Cookies in use
The table below lists every cookie this Website sets for visitors. Analytics cookies are set only after you accept analytics in the cookie banner; if you decline, they are not set.
| Cookie | Set by and purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| ihemera- | iHemera (strictly necessary). Records your cookie choices so the Website can respect them on future visits. | 12 months |
| _ga | Google Analytics (analytics, only with your consent). Distinguishes visitors so that visits can be counted in aggregate. | 24 months |
| _ga_ | Google Analytics (analytics, only with your consent). Keeps the state of a visit for this Website’s measurement. | 24 months |
Google Analytics is provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Google may process analytics data in the United States; such transfers rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, under which Google LLC is certified, and on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
5. Cookies and Personal Data
Where information collected through cookies constitutes personal data, it is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy. The legal basis is consent for all non-essential cookies, and our legitimate interest in operating a secure, functioning website for strictly necessary cookies.
6. Managing and Withdrawing Consent
- On the Website: you can accept, refuse or customise non-essential cookies through the cookie banner presented on your first visit, and change your choices at any time through the cookie settings control available on the Website. Withdrawing consent takes effect for future processing; it does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
- In your browser: all major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through their settings, including blocking third-party cookies specifically. Instructions are available in your browser's help section. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may impair parts of the Website, such as forms.
- Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control: where your browser transmits a recognised opt-out signal, we honour it for non-essential cookies to the extent our consent tooling supports it.
7. Retention
Cookies persist for the durations indicated above or, where a duration is set by a third party, for the period stated in that party's documentation. Consent records are retained as described in the Privacy Policy. You can delete all cookies from your device at any time through your browser.
8. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time, including when we add or remove tools on the Website. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised. Where a change involves a new non-essential cookie category, consent will be sought again through the cookie controls.
9. Contact
Questions about this Cookie Policy or the cookies in use: [email protected] · T: +353 87 148 3870
iHemera is a brand of Mega Commercial Enterprises Limited, 77 Camden Street Lower, Dublin, D02 XE80, Ireland · Company Number 726999 · Republic of Ireland
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (www.dataprotection.ie) or the supervisory authority of your habitual residence.