Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, smartphone, or other device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and provide a better user experience.

Cookies typically contain:

• Cookie name: A unique identifier for the cookie
• Cookie value: Data stored by the cookie (e.g., user ID, preferences)
• Expiration date: When the cookie will be deleted
• Domain: Which website can access the cookie

CFIN uses cookies for the following purposes:

Essential Functions

• Keep you logged in to your account
• Remember your session state across pages
• Protect against security threats (CSRF attacks)
• Load balance traffic across our servers

User Preferences

• Remember your theme preference (light/dark mode)
• Store your currency selection (EUR/USD/GBP)
• Save your language preference
• Remember your cookie consent choices

Analytics & Performance

• Understand which features are most used
• Measure page load times and performance
• Track user navigation patterns (anonymized)
• Identify and fix bugs

Marketing & Attribution

• Track which marketing campaigns brought you to CFIN
• Measure effectiveness of our advertising
• Understand referral sources

In brief — essential cookies always run so the site works, while preference, analytics, and marketing cookies are optional and controlled by your consent.

1. Essential Cookies (Always Active)

Cookie Name	Purpose	Duration
session	Maintains your login session and carries the CSRF-protection token	Session (deleted on browser close)

Legal Basis: Contractual necessity (GDPR Article 6(1)(b))

2. Preference Cookies (Optional)

These cookies remember your settings and preferences to enhance your experience.

Cookie Name	Purpose	Duration
currency	Stores your preferred currency (EUR/USD/GBP)	1 year
lang	Stores your language preference	1 year
cookie_consent	Records your cookie consent choices	1 year

Legal Basis: Legitimate interest (GDPR Article 6(1)(f))

3. Analytics Cookies (Requires Consent)

These cookies help us understand how users interact with the CFIN platform. All analytics data is anonymized and aggregated.

Cookie Name	Purpose	Duration
_analytics_id	Anonymous user identifier for analytics	2 years
_page_views	Tracks page views and navigation	2 years
_feature_usage	Tracks which features are used	2 years

Legal Basis: Consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a))

4. Marketing Cookies (Requires Consent)

These cookies track marketing campaign effectiveness and referral sources.

Cookie Name	Purpose	Duration
_referral_source	Tracks how you found CFIN	90 days
_campaign_id	Identifies marketing campaign	90 days
_utm_params	Stores UTM campaign parameters	90 days
_referral_code	Stores friend's referral code used during registration	30 days
_promo_code	Stores promotional code applied during registration	30 days

Legal Basis: Consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a))

In brief — only Stripe (payments and fraud prevention) sets third-party cookies; our email, MT5, and geocoding providers set none in your browser.

CFIN works with trusted third-party service providers who may set their own cookies when you use our platform.

Stripe (Payment Processing)

Type: Essential
Purpose: Securely process payments and prevent fraud
Privacy Policy: stripe.com/privacy

Third-Party Cookie List

Provider	Cookie Name	Purpose	Type
Stripe	__stripe_sid	Payment session tracking	Essential
Stripe	__stripe_mid	Fraud prevention	Essential

In brief — you control cookies through the consent banner, which you can re-open at any time from the "Cookie preferences" control, or through your browser, but blocking essential ones will break login.

You have full control over which cookies are used on CFIN. Here are the ways you can manage your preferences:

1. Cookie Consent Banner

When you first visit CFIN, you'll see a cookie consent banner allowing you to:

• Accept All: Enable all cookies (essential, preference, analytics, marketing)
• Reject Non-Essential: Only essential cookies will be used
• Customize: Choose which cookie categories to enable

2. Change or Withdraw Your Consent

You can re-open the consent banner at any time to change your choice or withdraw your consent. Withdrawing is as easy as giving consent, and applies from the moment you save it:

• Use the "Cookie preferences" control below, or the same control in the site footer
• Toggle individual cookie categories on/off, then save
• Changes take effect immediately, and cookies you switch off are deleted

3. Browser Settings

You can also control cookies through your browser settings:

Google Chrome

• Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and other site data
• Choose: "Allow all cookies", "Block third-party cookies", or "Block all cookies"

Mozilla Firefox

• Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
• Choose: "Standard", "Strict", or "Custom" tracking protection

Apple Safari

• Preferences > Privacy
• Enable "Prevent cross-site tracking" and "Block all cookies" as desired

Microsoft Edge

• Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies
• Choose: "Block all cookies", "Block third-party cookies", or "Allow all cookies"

4. Clearing Cookies

To delete cookies that have already been set:

• Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear browsing data > Cookies
• Firefox: Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data
• Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data > Remove All
• Edge: Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data > Cookies

In brief — if your browser sends a Do-Not-Track signal, we automatically turn off analytics and marketing cookies.

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) setting that sends a signal to websites requesting not to be tracked.

CFIN's DNT Policy: We respect DNT signals. If your browser sends a DNT signal, we will:

• Automatically disable analytics cookies
• Automatically disable marketing cookies
• Continue using essential and preference cookies (required for functionality)

To enable DNT in your browser:

• Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Send a "Do Not Track" request
• Firefox: Options > Privacy & Security > Send websites a "Do Not Track" signal
• Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Prevent cross-site tracking (similar effect)

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our cookie usage or legal requirements.

When we update this policy:

• The "Last Updated" date at the top will change
• We will notify you via a banner on the website
• For material changes, we will ask for your renewed consent

Previous versions of this policy are available upon request at privacy@cfin.be.

The laws, regulations, and authorities referred to across our legal documents are listed below, each linking to its official source so you can verify exactly where the information comes from.

EU legislation

• General Data Protection Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR)
• ePrivacy Directive — Directive 2002/58/EC
• Consumer Rights Directive — Directive 2011/83/EU
• Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts — Directive 93/13/EEC
• Trade Secrets Directive — Directive (EU) 2016/943
• Legal Protection of Computer Programs — Directive 2009/24/EC
• Legal Protection of Databases — Directive 96/9/EC
• Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFID II) — Directive 2014/65/EU
• Standard Contractual Clauses — Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914
• EU–US Data Privacy Framework adequacy — Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1795

Belgian law

• Code of Economic Law, Book VI (market practices & consumer protection) — FPS Economy
• Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of trade secrets — Belgian Official Gazette (Justel)
• Belgian Civil Code (incl. art. 5.88 on penalty clauses) — Belgian Official Gazette (Justel)

Regulators, authorities & frameworks

• Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD / GBA)
• Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA)
• European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)
• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (WIPO)

External links are provided for reference only. CFIN is not responsible for the content of official or third-party websites, and the linked source always prevails over any summary in our documents.