Legal / Cookies
Cookie Policy
In short: this website does not use cookies. It sets no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and it stores nothing in your browser. This policy explains what that means in practice, which outside services your browser still connects to, and what would happen if this ever changed.
01
About This Policy
This Cookie Policy applies to searchorchard.com, the website of Search Orchard, an independent SEO and digital consultancy run by Arianna Ren in Turin, Italy. It should be read together with the Privacy Policy, which explains how personal data is handled more generally.
It is written to meet the rules that apply to cookies and similar technologies in Italy and the European Union:
| Rule | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Article 5(3), Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directive) | Storing or reading information on your device requires your prior consent, unless it is strictly necessary to provide a service you have asked for. |
| Article 122, Legislative Decree 196/2003 (Italian Privacy Code) | The Italian law that puts the ePrivacy rule into effect. |
| Garante guidelines on cookies and other tracking tools, 10 June 2021 | How the Italian data protection authority expects websites to inform users and collect consent (doc. web no. 9677876). |
| Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) | Applies whenever cookies or similar technologies involve personal data, and sets the standard for valid consent. |
02
What Cookies and Similar Technologies Are
Cookies are small text files that a website places in your browser, so it can recognise your device when you return or move between pages. The same rules apply to similar technologies that store or read information on your device, such as local storage, session storage, tracking pixels and device fingerprinting.
| Type | What it means | Consent needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Technical cookies | Strictly necessary for the website to work or to provide a service you asked for, such as keeping you logged in or remembering your cookie choice. | No, but you must be told about them |
| Analytics cookies | Measure how visitors use a website. Under the Garante's guidelines they count as technical only if they cannot single you out (for example by masking part of the IP address), produce aggregate statistics for one site, and are not combined with other data. | Yes, unless those conditions are met |
| Profiling and marketing cookies | Build a profile of your interests to show you advertising or track you across websites. | Yes, always |
Cookies can also be first-party (set by the website you are visiting) or third-party (set by another service), and session (deleted when you close the browser) or persistent (kept until they expire or you delete them).
03
Cookies Used on This Website
None. The website was tested on by loading its pages in a clean browser and recording every cookie and storage entry. The result was:
| Category | Used on this website |
|---|---|
| Technical cookies | None |
| Analytics cookies (for example Google Analytics) | None |
| Profiling, advertising or social media cookies | None |
| Local storage, session storage or tracking pixels | None |
| Embedded third-party content (videos, maps, social posts) | None |
Fonts and images are served from this website's own domain, so loading a page does not send your data to font or image providers.
When you type your website address on the homepage, it is passed to the free audit page in the page address (as ?url=). This only fills in the form for you. It is not stored on your device and is not used to track you.
04
Third-Party Services Your Browser Connects To
No cookies does not mean no connections. Some features need your browser to contact an outside service directly. These connections send technical data such as your IP address and browser details, but they do not place cookies on your device.
| Service | When it happens | Cookies |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | On every page, because Cloudflare hosts and delivers this website. | None set on this website. |
| Cal.com | When the Contact or SEO Consulting page loads, to show available call times, and when you book a call. | None stored. Cal.com's server offers a security cookie (__cf_bm), but the request is made without cookies, so your browser does not store it. |
| Web3Forms | Only when you send a form. | None. |
How these services handle your data, and where it is processed, is explained in the Privacy Policy.
Links to other websites, such as the Garante's, take you to sites with their own cookie policies. This website has no control over them.
05
Why There Is No Cookie Banner
A cookie banner is needed to ask for consent before non-essential cookies are used. Because this website uses no cookies at all, there is nothing to ask consent for.
The Garante's guidelines confirm that where a website uses only technical cookies, or none, it may provide information in its policies without a specific banner (guidelines of 10 June 2021, paragraph 7.1). Not showing a banner is a deliberate choice: it means you are not asked to make a decision that would have no effect.
06
If Non-Essential Cookies Are Added
If this website ever adds analytics, advertising or other non-essential cookies, they will not be set until you have agreed. Before that happens, this policy will be updated and a consent banner will be added that follows the Garante's guidelines:
- no non-essential cookie is set before you make a choice;
- accepting and refusing are equally easy, and closing the banner with the X counts as a refusal;
- scrolling or continuing to browse is never treated as consent;
- you can choose by category, with every category switched off by default;
- your refusal is remembered, and you will not be asked again for at least six months unless something significant changes; and
- you can change or withdraw your choice at any time through a link on every page.
Access to the website will never depend on accepting cookies.
07
Managing Cookies in Your Browser
You can see, block or delete cookies from any website in your browser settings. The help pages for the main browsers are:
Blocking cookies will not affect how this website works, because it does not rely on them. On other websites, blocking technical cookies may stop some features from working.
08
Personal Data and Your Rights
The connections described in section 03 involve technical data, such as your IP address, which can be personal data. The Privacy Policy explains the purposes and legal bases for this processing, how long data is kept, international transfers, and your rights under the GDPR, including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability.
09
Changes to This Cookie Policy
This policy will be updated if the website, the services it uses or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it was last revised. If non-essential cookies are introduced, the updated policy and the consent banner will be in place before any such cookie is used.
10
Contact and Complaints
For any question about this policy, contact me directly:
| Data controller | Arianna Ren |
|---|---|
| Trading name | Search Orchard |
| Location | Turin, Italy |
| hello@searchorchard.com |
Supervisory authority
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali: garanteprivacy.it, or with the supervisory authority of the EU or EEA country where you live or work.