Skip to main content

Inga Barkauskaite

Cookie Policy

Cookies, tracking technologies, and visitor choices.

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies and similar technologies this website uses, why they are used, how long they last, and how a choice can be given, changed or withdrawn at any time.

Last updated10 August 2026
Applies toingabarkauskaite.com
Governing lawIreland
Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. What are cookies?
  3. Why this website uses cookies
  4. Types of cookies used
  5. Cookie consent
  6. Cookie categories table
  7. Website function cookies
  8. Contact forms and spam protection
  9. Analytics cookies
  10. Third-party cookies and embedded content
  11. Session and persistent cookies
  12. Cookies and personal data
  13. How to manage cookies

Section 01

Introduction

This Cookie Policy applies to the website operated at ingabarkauskaite.com by Mega Commercial Enterprises Limited, a company registered in Ireland under number 726999.

It should be read together with the Privacy Policy, which explains how personal data is handled more generally.

This policy is intended to comply with the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 336/2011), which govern the storing of information on a device, and with the General Data Protection Regulation, which governs any personal data resulting from it.

The position in one paragraph

Until a choice is made, this website sets one cookie: the cookie that records the choice. No analytics tag is loaded and no non-essential cookie is written beforehand. Declining is a single action, of the same prominence as accepting, and a choice can be changed at any time through Cookie Settings in the footer.

Section 02

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks a browser to store on a device, so that information can be retained between one page and the next, or between one visit and the next.

Similar technologies achieve the same result by other means, and are treated identically in law and in this policy. They include:

  • Local storage and session storage — browser storage that persists without using a cookie file.
  • Pixels and tags — small invisible images or scripts that record that a page was loaded.
  • Scripts — code that runs in the browser and may read or write stored values.

Cookies are not programs. They cannot read files on a device, install software, or carry a virus. The concern with them is not damage but observation: they make it possible to recognise a browser over time.

Section 03

Why this website uses cookies

Cookies are used on this website for three purposes only:

  • To make the website work — principally to remember a cookie choice so that it is not requested on every page.
  • To keep the website secure — to distinguish human visitors from automated traffic and to support rate limiting.
  • To understand how the website is used — and only where consent has been given.

Cookies are not used for advertising, remarketing, audience building, cross-site tracking, or profiling of any kind. No cookie set by this website is shared with an advertising network.

Section 04

Types of cookies used

4.1 By purpose

  • Strictly necessary — required for the website to function or to record a consent choice. Exempt from the consent requirement under Regulation 5(5) of S.I. 336/2011.
  • Preferences — would remember display or regional choices. Currently unused.
  • Analytics — measure how the website is used. Consent required.
  • Marketing — would support advertising measurement. Currently unused.

4.2 By origin

  • First-party cookies are set by this website itself.
  • Third-party cookies are set by another organisation whose service the website relies on — here, only the content delivery network and, with consent, Google Analytics.

4.3 By duration

  • Session cookies are deleted when the browser closes.
  • Persistent cookies remain for a defined period, shown for each cookie in the table below.

Section 05

Cookie consent

This website operates its own consent tool. It is not supplied by a third party and it does not transmit any information about a visitor to anyone.

The following principles are applied, as required for consent to be valid:

  • Prior consent. Nothing non-essential is stored before a choice is made.
  • No pre-ticked boxes. Every optional category is off by default, and continued browsing is not treated as agreement.
  • Refusal is as easy as acceptance. Both are a single action, in the same place and of the same prominence.
  • Granular choice. Categories may be accepted or refused individually rather than as a block.
  • Withdrawal. Consent may be withdrawn at any time, as easily as it was given.

5.1 The record of consent

A choice is stored in a first-party cookie named ib-consent for 12 months, after which it is requested again. The cookie holds a versioned record of the categories chosen and the date. That record exists so that it can be demonstrated, if ever required, that consent was sought and what was chosen.

Where the categories or purposes change, the consent version is raised, which means the choice is requested again rather than carried over to something different from what was agreed.

5.2 Changing or withdrawing a choice

Cookie Settings appears in the footer of every page. A choice may be changed or withdrawn there at any time, with immediate effect. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of anything done while consent was in place.

Section 06

Cookie categories table

6.1 Strictly necessary — no consent required

CookieSet byPurposeLifetime
ib-consentThis websiteRecords the cookie choice made, so it is not requested on every page. This is the cookie that makes refusal possible.12 months
__cf_bmContent delivery networkDistinguishes human visitors from automated traffic in order to filter attacks.30 minutes
_cfuvidContent delivery networkSupports rate limiting. Stores no personal data and is not used for tracking.Session
Session and settings cookiesThis websiteSet only for a logged-in administrator. A visitor never receives these.Session to 12 months

6.2 Analytics — consent required

CookieSet byPurposeLifetime
_gaGoogle Analytics 4Distinguishes one visitor from another so that visits rather than page loads are counted.13 months
_ga_<id>Google Analytics 4Maintains session state for the analytics property.13 months

6.3 Preferences and marketing

Both categories appear in the settings panel and are currently unused. Nothing is set under either, whichever way the switch is set. They are listed so that the position is visible, and so that any future use is subject to a fresh consent choice rather than an old one.

Section 07

Website function cookies

This website is built on a content management system. That system sets cookies only for a logged-in administrator — to maintain the administrative session and remember interface preferences.

A visitor who is not logged in never receives these cookies. They are listed in the table above for completeness rather than because they affect visitors.

No cookie is used to identify a returning visitor, to link visits together, or to build any record of an individual's browsing.

Section 08

Contact forms and spam protection

The contact form does not set a tracking cookie. It uses a short-lived token to verify that a submission originated from this website rather than from an automated script.

8.1 Cloudflare Turnstile

The contact form is protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, a bot-detection service operated by Cloudflare, Inc. Turnstile establishes that a submission comes from a person rather than an automated script.

Turnstile is a privacy-preserving alternative to a conventional CAPTCHA. It does not require a visitor to solve a puzzle, does not track visitors across websites, and is not used for advertising or profiling. To perform the check it processes technical signals from the browser, including IP address, user agent and browser characteristics, and it may set a short-lived cookie on the domain in order to avoid repeating the challenge.

CookieSet byPurposeLifetime
cf_clearanceCloudflareRecords that a challenge has been passed, so that it is not repeated on every request.Up to 30 minutes
__cf_bmCloudflareBot management, as described in the strictly necessary table above.30 minutes

Turnstile is classified as strictly necessary. It protects the form against abuse and is therefore exempt from the consent requirement under the ePrivacy Regulations. It runs only in connection with the contact form and is not present on pages that do not carry one.

Cloudflare acts as a processor for this purpose. Details of its handling of that data appear in the Cloudflare privacy policy.

This website does not use reCAPTCHA or hCaptcha.

What happens to the information submitted through the form is described in the Privacy Policy.

Section 09

Analytics cookies

Where consent to analytics is given, this website uses Google Analytics 4, delivered through Google Tag Manager, to understand which pages are read and how visitors move through the site.

Where consent is declined, the Tag Manager container is not loaded at all. No analytics cookie is written, no analytics data is collected, and no request is made to Google. This goes further than merely disabling a tag that has already loaded.

9.1 Google Consent Mode

Google Consent Mode v2 is implemented. Every storage type — analytics, advertising, advertising user data, advertising personalisation, functionality and personalisation — is set to denied before any tag can run, and is updated to granted only where consent has been given for that category.

9.2 What analytics collects

Analytics produces aggregate measurements: pages viewed, approximate time on page, referring source, device category and country. It is not combined with any contact details, is not used to build a profile of an individual, and is not enriched with data from any other source. Analytics data is retained by Google for 14 months.

9.3 Cookieless measurement

The content delivery network additionally provides visitor measurement that is cookieless by design: it stores nothing on a device, uses no fingerprinting, and produces aggregate page view counts only. Because nothing is stored on the device, it falls outside the consent requirement. It is described here for completeness.

Section 10

Third-party cookies and embedded content

This website embeds no third-party video players, no social media feeds, no maps, no booking tools and no advertising. Nothing loads in the background beyond what is described in this policy.

Two third parties are involved in delivering the website:

  • The content delivery and security network, which sets the two security cookies listed above and provides cookieless measurement.
  • Google, which sets analytics cookies only where consent has been given, and which serves the typefaces used on this website. The request for typefaces discloses an IP address to Google as a technical necessity of delivering them; it sets no cookie.

Following a link to LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X or WhatsApp opens a website operated by a third party, which sets its own cookies under its own policy. This website has no control over that and sets nothing on their behalf.

Section 11

Session and persistent cookies

A session cookie exists only while the browser is open and is deleted when it closes. On this website, only the rate-limiting cookie set by the content delivery network is a session cookie.

A persistent cookie remains on the device for a defined period. On this website these are the consent record, at 12 months, and the analytics cookies, at 13 months where consent has been given.

No cookie used on this website lasts longer than 13 months. This reflects guidance that consent should be refreshed at reasonable intervals rather than treated as indefinite.

Section 12

Cookies and personal data

Some cookies involve personal data, because an identifier stored on a device can be linked to a device or browser over time. Where that is the case, the GDPR applies in addition to the ePrivacy Regulations.

The lawful basis for analytics cookies is consent, under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. The lawful basis for strictly necessary cookies is legitimate interests, under Article 6(1)(f), in operating and securing the website.

The rights described in the Privacy Policy — access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, portability and withdrawal of consent — apply to personal data arising from cookies in the same way as to any other personal data.

Section 13

How to manage cookies

The simplest route is Cookie Settings in the footer of any page on this website.

13.1 Browser controls

Independently of the settings on this website, a browser can block or delete cookies for all websites:

  • Chrome — Settings › Privacy and security › Third-party cookies
  • Safari — Settings › Privacy › Manage Website Data
  • Firefox — Settings › Privacy & Security › Cookies and Site Data
  • Edge — Settings › Cookies and site permissions

Blocking all cookies removes the cookie that stores the consent choice, with the result that the choice will be requested again on the next visit.

13.2 Browser privacy signals

Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track signals are respected where a browser sends them, and are treated as a refusal of non-essential cookies.

13.3 Changes to this policy

Where a new cookie is introduced, this policy is updated and the consent version is raised, so that consent is requested again rather than carried over. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.

Enquiries about this policy may be sent to [email protected].