Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files that websites save on the user's device (computer, smartphone, tablet) during browsing. They are used to remember information useful for the site's operation (e.g. the chosen language or login state) and, in some cases, to collect aggregate statistics on service usage.

Alongside cookies, the Site also uses similar technologies such as localStorage and sessionStorage to store preferences and settings directly in the user's browser. Where relevant, the provisions of this Policy also apply to such technologies.

The Site uses the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly necessary (technical) cookies: essential for the Site's operation and the delivery of the requested service. They do not require user consent under Article 122 of the Italian Privacy Code.
• Preference cookies: save user choices (language, map/list view) for subsequent visits. Treated as technical when strictly tied to the requested service.
• Third-party analytics cookies: collect aggregate statistics on Site usage. Require prior user consent.
• Third-party cookies for integrated services (maps, social-media embeds): set directly by third-party providers when users interact with these services. Require prior user consent.
• Advertising cookies: used by Google AdSense and its partners to select, limit and measure advertisements. They require prior consent and, without it, only non-personalised advertisements are shown.

GuardaMe does not use advertising profiling, retargeting or cross-site tracking cookies.

Without these cookies essential functions could not operate (authentication, security, storing the privacy choice, language). They are therefore set without consent, as permitted by Article 122 of the Italian Privacy Code. The Cloudflare cookies appear only once the Site is delivered through that network.

Besides cookies, the Site stores a few values in the browser's own storage (localStorage and sessionStorage). They stay on the device and are never read by third parties; the measurement identifiers below are sent to our own servers together with usage events (see section 5).

• salentome.deviceId — a random identifier for the browser, with no name or e-mail attached, used to count returning visitors and to join a visit to an account after login. Kept until the browser storage is cleared.
• salentome.analyticsSession — a random identifier for the current tab, deleted when the tab is closed.
• salentome.sessionStartedAt — the moment the current visit started, used to measure its duration.
• salentome.userComune.v1 — the reference municipality resolved for the visitor, when location has been allowed.
• salentome_footer_visibility, salentome.shuffleSeed, salentome:search — display preferences: which footer links are shown, the order of the cards during a visit, and the last search so it can be restored.
• user — the name, e-mail and role of the signed-in account, so the interface can show them without asking the server again. No password and no access token are stored here.

All of this can be deleted at any time by clearing the browsing data for the salentome.com and pugliame.com domains.

The Site uses Google Analytics 4 to collect aggregate usage statistics (most-visited pages, average session duration, devices and geographic origin at city level). Such data is processed in aggregate form and does not allow identification of individual users.

Analytics cookies are set only after the user's explicit consent via the cookie banner.

Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager scripts are loaded subject to consent. For more information on Google's processing see the Google Privacy Policy.

Our own measurement. Independently of Google, the Site records how its content is used: pages and activities opened, cards shown and clicked, searches performed, shares, and the start and end of each visit. Each event is stored with the random device and session identifiers described in section 4, the IP address, the type of device and, for signed-in users, the account. The purpose is to understand which content is useful and to plan the editorial work; these events are not used to build advertising profiles and are not shared with advertisers. They are kept for a maximum of 14 months and then deleted or irreversibly aggregated. Where this measurement relies on identifiers stored in the browser, it is carried out on the basis of the consent given through the privacy banner.

Advertising is currently suspended. Since 19 September 2026 the AdSense script is no longer loaded on any page: no advertisement is requested and no advertising cookie is written. The description below applies if and when advertising returns; this page will say so.

The Site is financed by advertising and displays advertisements served by Google AdSense (Google Ireland Ltd.). The advertising script is loaded on every page; whether it may read or write cookies, and whether the advertisements are personalised, depends entirely on the choice expressed on the privacy banner.

• Consent given: Google and the advertising partners selected on the banner may set their own cookies and use them, together with the IP address and browsing data, to select and measure personalised advertisements.
• Consent refused: advertisements may still appear, but non-personalised; Google is instructed through Consent Mode (ad_storage and ad_user_data denied, ads_data_redaction active) not to use identifiers for advertising purposes.

Advertising partners are managed through the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework: the complete list of the companies involved, and the purposes each of them declares, can be consulted and changed at any time from the banner's “Manage options” screen. Google's processing is described in the Google advertising policy. GuardaMe has no access to these cookies and receives from Google only aggregate revenue statistics.

Some pages embed content or services provided by third parties, which may set their own cookies and receive the visitor's IP address:

• Google Maps and Google Places (map, address search and suggestions): may set NID, SOCS, CONSENT. Policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
• Instagram and Facebook (Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd.) — event cards reproduce the original post through the platform's own player, which loads as soon as the card becomes visible, not only when it is clicked. Meta may set cookies such as datr, sb, fr. Policy: facebook.com/privacy/policy.
• Google reCAPTCHA v3 — loaded on the contact page only, to tell a human from an automated script. It analyses interaction with the page and may set the _GRECAPTCHA cookie (6 months). It is a security measure and is not used for advertising.

Web fonts are hosted on our own servers: displaying the Site sends no request to Google Fonts. GuardaMe has neither access to nor control over third-party cookies.

On the first visit our own privacy message appears, with Accept all and Reject all given the same visual weight, plus Choose for a per-category decision. Refusing is therefore exactly as easy as accepting, as the Italian Data Protection Authority requires. Until a choice is made nothing optional runs: Google Consent Mode stays denied, no analytics cookie is written and our own measurement sends nothing.

The choice is stored in the technical cookie sm_consent for 12 months; afterwards the message appears again. It can be changed or withdrawn at any time, with effect for the future, through the “Cookie settings” link at the foot of every page; withdrawing also deletes the analytics cookies already set.

Cookies can also be blocked in the browser itself — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge — bearing in mind that blocking strictly necessary cookies prevents signing in and other essential functions.

The duration of each cookie is indicated in the tables of the previous sections. In general:

• Session cookies are deleted when the browser is closed;
• Persistent cookies remain stored until the indicated expiry or until manual deletion by the user.

After the indicated terms, cookies are automatically deleted by the browser. GuardaMe does not retain server-side copies of cookies beyond what is necessary for the stated purposes.

GuardaMe may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in integrated services or regulatory amendments. Material changes will be communicated by notice on the Site or, for registered users, by email, with reasonable advance notice before entry into force. The date of the latest update is shown at the bottom of this page.

This Cookie Policy is an integral part of the Privacy Policy. For any request or exercise of GDPR rights, you can contact GuardaMe via the Contact page.

Regulatory references: Article 122 of the Italian Privacy Code (Legislative Decree 196/2003 as amended); Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR); Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy); Italian DPA Decision no. 231 of 10 June 2021 "Guidelines on cookies and other tracking tools".