Animiyo cookie policy

A cookie is a small text file that a site asks the browser to keep and to send back on later visits. Alongside cookies there are other technologies that write information on the device without using the same mechanism: localStorage, which keeps key and value pairs until they are explicitly deleted, and IndexedDB, a database inside the browser suited to more structured objects.

The difference is technical, not legal. Article 122 of the Italian Privacy Code speaks of information stored in the terminal equipment of the user and of access to information already stored, so it covers cookies, localStorage and IndexedDB in the same way. That is why the list below is not limited to cookies in the strict sense: it includes every write Animiyo performs on your device and every external resource the browser contacts on our behalf.

• Cookies: in our case they come from third parties when the page loads their resources, namely _GRECAPTCHA for abuse protection and the Google Analytics 4 cookies once consent is given.
• localStorage: used by Animiyo for appearance preferences, for the display currency of the budget module and for the open state of the navigation menu groups.
• IndexedDB: used by Firebase Authentication to keep the token that keeps you signed in between one page load and the next.

The general rule is in article 122 of legislative decree 196/2003, as amended by legislative decree 101/2018, which implements directive 2002/58/EC in Italian law. Storing information on the user device and accessing information already stored are allowed only with informed consent, subject to two exceptions: carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network and providing a service explicitly requested by the user.

The guidelines of the Italian data protection authority on cookies and other tracking tools, adopted on 10 June 2021, explain how that rule applies. No consent for technical cookies and for the local storage needed to deliver the service; prior, freely given and revocable consent for third-party analytics tools that are not reduced to purely statistical purposes and stripped of identifying data.

• Exempt from consent: the authenticated session, the abuse attestation, interface preferences saved at the request of the user, the page language.
• Subject to prior consent: Google Analytics 4, which is a third-party service and receives data that is not anonymised at source.

This document covers only what is written on or read from your device. The full picture of the processing activities, with controller, purposes, legal bases, retention periods and data subject rights, is described in the privacy notice: this page should be read as its technical annex, not as a standalone document.

The tools listed here exist to deliver the service you ask for when you open the application. They do not profile you, they do not feed any statistics and they are not shared for commercial purposes: they fall within the exception of article 122 and stay active even if you refuse statistics.

Their absence has an immediate effect. Without the Firebase Authentication token it is impossible to stay signed in and every reload sends you back to the sign in screen; without a valid App Check attestation the Cloud Functions may reject requests, so the application pages stop receiving data. Language, by contrast, needs no write at all: it comes from the prefix in the address and, when the user is signed in, from the preference recorded in the profile.

Animiyo uses Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages are read and where navigation breaks down. The service is enabled only if the measurement identifier is configured and it is never loaded in development or emulator environments. Until consent is given the library is not loaded and none of the cookies below is set.

The data collected is usage data and pseudonymous: pages viewed, interface language, device type, where the visit came from and interaction events. What you record about your animals, health data and uploaded documents never reach the measurement tool.

Data retention in the Analytics property is set to fourteen months: past that period, user level and event level information is deleted automatically. Because this is a third-party tool that is not anonymised at source, it is not a technical cookie: it stays off until you give consent and it goes off again as soon as you withdraw it.

The entries below are written by Animiyo in the local storage of the browser. They are not cookies in the technical sense, because they do not travel with requests to the server, but they fall under the same rule in article 122 and therefore have to be declared here.

Appearance preferences are read by an inline script that runs before the page is painted for the first time. Its job is to avoid theme flicker, that is the flash of light interface that would appear for a fraction of a second before the dark theme is applied. The script only reads the animiyo.appearance key and makes no network call.

All three entries stay on the device, are never sent to third parties and serve to deliver a service explicitly requested by the user, namely remembering the settings chosen. That is why they fall within the consent exemption. You can remove them whenever you want by clearing the site data in your browser: the interface will simply go back to its default values.

When a page loads a resource from an external domain, that domain necessarily receives the IP address of the browser and the request headers: this is how the protocol works, not a tracking choice. The table lists the domains that Animiyo pages contact and the data they receive.

The public databases in the last row are queried only when you open the features that use them, for example a search for an active ingredient, a pet food record or a currency conversion. In the context of Animiyo they do not set cookies useful for tracking, but they still receive the IP address of whoever makes the request.

The choice about statistics is always reversible and never final. The preferences panel opens from the link at the bottom of every page, both on the public site and inside the application.

1. 1

   Open the preferences panel

   Scroll to the bottom of any page and use the link to cookie preferences. The panel shows the categories with their current state, without sending you anywhere else.

2. 2

   Decide category by category

   Technical tools are marked as always on, because without them the service cannot be delivered. Statistics have a separate switch: you can accept or refuse them without changing anything in the other categories.

3. 3

   Save and check

   The choice is recorded on the device and reapplied on later visits, so the panel does not reappear on every page. If you open the site from another browser or another device the choice has to be made again, because it stays local.

4. 4

   Withdraw whenever you want

   Open the same panel and switch statistics off: from that moment the measurement library is no longer loaded and no new _ga cookie is set. Withdrawal takes effect immediately and does not require closing the browser.

5. 5

   Remove what is already there

   Withdrawal blocks future writes but does not delete cookies that are already saved. Clear the site data in your browser, or install the add on published by Google to disable Analytics, which works across every site you visit.

If you would rather not use the panel, the same effects can be obtained from your browser settings, from private browsing or by deleting site data by hand. These are blunter instruments, because they act on all categories at once, but they remain fully valid.

Every browser has its own controls, independent of the site panel, that apply to every site you visit. The exact paths change with versions, so they are described in words here rather than with direct links.

• Chrome: in settings, under the privacy and security section, the entry for cookies and site data lets you block third-party cookies, clear data on exit and act on a single site.
• Safari: the privacy pane in the preferences holds cross site tracking prevention, blocking of all cookies and management of website data; on iPhone and iPad the same entries sit in the system settings for the browser.
• Firefox: in the privacy and security section, tracking protection offers a standard level, a strict level and a custom one, along with cookie and data management per site.
• Edge: the section for cookies and site permissions lets you block third-party cookies, set per site exceptions and choose to clear data on close.

Private or incognito browsing uses a separate store that is emptied when all windows are closed. It is useful for a one off visit, but it does not prevent writes during the session: it simply does not keep them.

The main resources of the platform, that is Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, Cloud Firestore and Cloud Storage, are located in the us-central1 region, in the United States. Data collected by the measurement tools may therefore be processed outside the European Union.

• Google Ireland Limited as the contracting counterparty for the measurement services.
• Standard contractual clauses of implementing decision 2021/914.
• Certification of Google LLC under the EU United States Data Privacy Framework.
• Encryption of data in transit and at rest.

The residual risk cannot be reduced to zero and has to be stated. Once data sits under a jurisdiction other than the European one, local authorities may in theory make access requests under their own domestic law. If you do not want to take that risk for measurement data, refuse consent to statistics: in that case no event is sent to Google Analytics. Technical tools, on the other hand, remain necessary for the service to work and do not send browsing data for measurement purposes.

A list of absences is as verifiable as a list of presences: if you find something in your browser that does not appear in the tables above, either it is a mistake on our side or it does not come from Animiyo.

• Advertising cookies and ad networks: none, on any page of the site or of the application.
• Social network pixels and measurement tools: absent.
• Device or browser fingerprinting techniques: not used.
• Commercial profiling and behavioural advertising: not carried out.
• Sale or transfer of data to brokers: never, on any basis.
• Training of models on user data: excluded.
• Payment cookies: absent, because the Stripe gateway present in the code is disabled and no payment is processed.

At the top of the page you will find the document version, the effective date and the date of the last revision: these are the three references to quote in any report. Earlier versions stay tracked in the version control system of the code, which is the authoritative history.

The list is checked periodically and whenever the dependencies that load external resources change. If a library stops being used its row disappears from the tables; if a new one is introduced its row appears before the feature reaches production.

When the purpose of a tool changes, or a new tool subject to consent is introduced, the consent already collected is no longer valid: the preferences panel is shown again and statistics stay off until you make a new choice. For reports or questions about this document you can use the Contacts page, at the path /contatti.