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GS1 AISBL – COOKIE POLICY

Welcome to the Cookie Policy for the gs1.org website operated by GS1 AISBL, an international non-profit organisation registered in Belgium, with offices at Avenue Louise 326, box 10, 1050 Brussels (enterprise number: 419.640.608) (hereafter “GS1”).

This policy describes how we use cookies on our public website www.gs1.org. For the purpose of this Cookie Policy, GS1 is the Controller. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact privacy@gs1.org. Please note that GS1 also operates separate websites that are accessible subject to user authentication and are subject to their own separate cookie policy.

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. They can have the following characteristics:

  • First party cookies are cookies set by the website you are visiting. Only that website can read them. In addition, a website might potentially use external services, which also set their own cookies, known as third-party cookies.
  • Persistent cookies are cookies saved on your computer and that are not deleted automatically when you quit your browser, unlike a session cookie, which is deleted when you quit your browser.

Every time you visit our www.gs1.org website, you will be prompted to accept or refuse cookies through our cookie consent module. The purpose is to enable the site to remember your preferences (such as username, language, etc.) for a certain period of time. That way, you do not have to re-enter them 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.

How do we use cookies?

The www.gs1.org website mostly uses “first-party cookies”. These are cookies set and controlled by GS1, not by any external organisation. However, to view some of our pages (e.g. when a Youtube video is embedded), you will have to accept cookies from external organisations.

Below is an overview of the “first party cookies” and “third party cookies” we use on www.gs1.org.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

The necessary cookies are essential for the right functioning of the website and as such cannot be disabled. These cookies help to make the website useful by allowing basic functions such as navigation and page access to protect areas of the website. The website may not function properly without the cookies.

These cookies help us store visitor preferences. They are set by us and only we can read them. They remember:

  • if you have agreed to (or refused) this site’s cookie policy
  • we sometimes use survey pop-up (about how helpful the site content was) – if you have already replied to a survey pop-up, the cookie ensures you won't be asked again
Name Purpose Cookie type and duration
has_js Most commonly associated with the Drupal content management system. Drupal uses this cookie to indicate whether or not the visitors browser has JavaScript enabled. First-party session cookie deleted after you close your browser
Drupal.visitor.teamMember This cookie checks if the user’s IP is within a specific list of members. If yes, this cookie is set to true, if not is false First-party persistent cookie, 1 day.
has_js Most commonly associated with the Drupal content management system. Drupal uses this cookie to indicate whether or not the visitors browser has JavaScript enabled. First-party persistent cookie deleted after you close your browser
uspopup_cookie_js It only appears for US users. This cookie gathers the location of the user and displays a banner to redirect the user to gs1us.org. First-party session cookie, 1 month
cookie-agreed-version Indicates the version of the acceptance of cookies. First-party persistent cookie, 3 months
CONSENT This cookie carries out information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website. Third-party persistent cookie deleted after you close your browser
gsone_verified_search_terms_1_1 This cookie is used to identify if the user has accepted or not the terms and conditions of the Verified by GS1 Search tool. First-party persistent cookie, 3 months
JSESSIONID General purpose platform session cookie, used by sites written in JSP. Usually used to maintain an anonymous user session by the server. First-party session cookie deleted after you close your browser
OptanonAlertBoxClosed This cookie is set by websites using certain versions of the cookie law compliance solution from OneTrust. It is set after visitors have seen a cookie information notice and in some cases only when they actively close the notice down. It enables the website not to show the message more than once to a user. The cookie has a one year lifespan and contains no personal information. First-party persistent cookie, 1 year.
OptanonConsent This cookie is set by the cookie compliance solution from OneTrust. It stores information about the categories of cookies the site uses and whether visitors have given or withdrawn consent for the use of each category. This enables site owners to prevent cookies in each category from being set in the users browser, when consent is not given. The cookie has a normal lifespan of one year, so that returning visitors to the site will have their preferences remembered. It contains no information that can identify the site visitor. First-party persistent cookie, 1 year.

Functional Cookies

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, then some or all of these services may not function properly. In particular, the following technical cookies are required by certain IT systems:

Name Purpose Cookie type and duration
ai_session This cookie name is associated with the Microsoft Application Insights software, which collects statistical usage and telemetry information for apps built on the Azure cloud platform. This is a unique anonymous session identifier cookie. Third-party persistent cookie, deleted after you qucloseit your browser
ai_user This cookie name is associated with the Microsoft Application Insights software, which collects statictical usage and telemetry information for apps built on the Azure cloud platform. This is a unique user identifier cookie enabling counting of the number of users accessing the application over time.user Third-party persistent cookie, deleted after you close your browser
YSC Stores information on whether you have already replied to a survey pop-up – so you won't be asked again. Third-party session cookie, deleted after you close your browser

Performance cookies

We use these cookies purely for internal research on how we can improve the service we provide for all our users. The cookies assess how you interact with our website – as an anonymous user (the data gathered does not identify you personally). They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Also, this data is not shared with any third parties or used for any other purpose. The anonymised statistics could be shared with service providers in communication projects working under an agreement with GS1.

However, you are free to refuse these types of cookies – either via the cookie banner you’ll see on the first page you visit or at www.gs1.org/cookie-policy

Name Purpose Cookie type and duration
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE This cookie is set by Youtube to keep track of user preferences for Youtube videos embedded in sites;it can also determine whether the website visitor is using the new or old version of the Youtube interface. Third-party persistent cookie, deleted after you close your browser
_ga This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics - which is a significant update to Google's more commonly used analytics service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports. By default it is set to expire after 2 years, although this is customisable by website owners._ga Third-party persistent cookie, 3 years.
s_xxxx This domain is owned by Adobe/Omniture. The main business activity is: Analytics First-party session cookie, deleted after you close your browser
_gid This cookie is installed by Google Analytics and is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing (in an anonymous form). First-party persistent cookie, 1 day
CONSENT This cookie carries out information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website. Third-party session cookie, deleted after you close your browser

More information on Third-Party Cookies

Some of our pages display content from external providers, namely:

  • YouTube
  • Google Maps

To view this third-party content, you first must accept their specific terms and conditions. This includes their cookie policies, which we have no control over. These third-party services are outside of the control of the GS1. Providers may, at any time, change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies, etc.

How can you manage cookies?

Removing cookies from your device

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).

Managing site-specific cookies

For more detailed control over site-specific cookies, check the privacy and cookie settings in your preferred browser.

Blocking cookies

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).

Managing our analytics cookies

You can manage your preferences concerning cookies on www.gs1.org/cookie-policy

Complaints

If you have a complaint about the way GS1 handles or processes your personal data, you may lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority, which for GS1 is the Data Protection Authority (Belgium)(https://www.dataprotectionauthority.be/citizen). At first instance, we recommend that you direct any concerns or complaints to privacy@gs1.org .

Last updated on 17 January 2022