Axigen Cookie Policy

Effective since: June 14, 2016

Software Product: Axigen Mail Server
Copyright since 2001 © Axigen Messaging SRL. All rights reserved.
Axigen is a trademark of Axigen Messaging SRL (Axigen Messaging)

The information presented below is intended to inform the user about the placement, use, and administration of the "cookies" used on the Axigen website (axigen.com), including its associated online store (buy.axigen.com).

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy, the practices of this website and your interactions with it, you can contact us by using the contact page: https://www.axigen.com/about-us/contact/.

It’s important that you carefully read and understand this Cookie Policy.

This website uses first party cookies and third party cookies in order to provide visitors with a better browsing experience, as well as services adapted to everyone's needs and interests.

The Axigen website may use third-party services to collect information for statistical purposes and about the use of the site by the users. Specifically, the website uses Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Zopim, Hotjar, and Spiceworks. Additional cookies are placed by Avangate – Axigen’s online store provider, MediaWiki – the software used for the Documentation section and vBulletin – the software used for Axigen’s forum.

1. What are cookies?

Cookies are small files which are stored on a user's computer or device using a browser for accessing the Internet. They are designed to hold a modest amount of data specific to a particular client and website, and can be accessed either by the web server or the client device. This allows the server to deliver a page tailored to a particular user, or the page itself can contain some script which is aware of the data in the cookie and so it is able to carry information from one visit to the website (or related site) to the next one.

Cookies do not contain any kind of specific personal information and most of them are deleted from the hard drive once you close the browser (so-called session cookies).

1.1. What are the different types of cookies?

A cookie can be classified by its lifespan and the domain to which it belongs. By lifespan, a cookie is either a:

  1. Session cookie, which is erased when the user closes the browser or
  2. Persistent cookie, which remains on the user's computer/ device for a predefined period of time.

As for the domain to which it belongs, there are either:

  1. First-party cookies which are set by the web server of the visited page and share the same domain
  2. Third-party cookies stored by a different domain to the visited page's domain. This can happen when the webpage references a file, such as JavaScript, located outside its domain.

Session cookies

A session cookie expires when the user closes their browser, and sometimes just after a certain period of time has elapsed (for example, on mobile devices, where the concept of ‘closing your browser’ is less relevant).

Sessions are therefore ideal to remember – for example – if a user has logged into a website. When they close their browser they are automatically logged out. They are usually considered relatively unobtrusive from a privacy perspective.

Persistent cookies

A persistent cookie, also known as a stored cookie, is a file that is stored on a user's hard drive. The cookie would remain on the hard drive until it reaches its expiration date. At this point the browser would purge the cookie from the hard drive.

A persistent cookie enables a website to remember the user on their subsequent visits, speeding up or enhancing their experience of services or functions offered.

Persistent cookies can be used to collect identifying information about the user, such as Web surfing behavior or user preferences for a specific website.

1.2. What information does a cookie store?

For the most part a cookie will contain a string of text that contains information about the browser. To work, a cookie does not need to know where the user is from, it only needs to remember their browser. Some websites do use cookies to store more personal information about the user. However, this can be done only if the user has provided the website with that personal information. Legitimate websites will encrypt this personal information stored in the cookie to prevent unauthorized usage by another party with access to their cookie folder.

Cookies have six parameters that can be passed to them:

  1. The name of the cookie.
  2. The value of the cookie.
  3. The expiration date of the cookie – this determines how long the cookie will remain active in the user’s browser.
  4. The path the cookie is valid for – this sets the URL path the cookie is valid for. Web pages outside of that path cannot use the cookie.
  5. The domain the cookie is valid for – this makes the cookie accessible to pages on any of the servers associated with a specific domain when a wevsite uses multiple servers for that domain.
  6. The need for a secure connection – this indicates that the cookie can only be used under a secure server condition, such as a website using SSL.

1.3. Advantages of cookies

Cookies exist to help ease the user’s browsing experience. They allow their personal preferences and selections while viewing websites to be saved so that the next time they visit those websites they don’t have to change the settings again. Some of the websites that require cookies are forums, blogs, shopping carts, chat rooms, or home pages of specific websites. If the user deletes their cookies for privacy reasons, or because they want to clean up the temporary internet files in their computer, this will have various effects on these kinds of websites. For example, there may be a chance that the user won’t be able to view their personal messages in a forum, or the topics that they had already seen will not be marked as read; rather, they will be displayed as new topics again.

1.4. Cookie expiration

The lifetime of a cookie can vary significantly, depending on the purpose for which it was placed. Some cookies are used only for one session (session cookies) and are not retained once the user has left the website, while other cookies are retained and reused every time the user returns to that website (persistent cookie).

All these cookies can be manually deleted by a user at any time via the browser settings.

1.5. Third party cookies

The Axigen website uses third-party services to collect information for statistical purposes and about the use of the website by the users.

A third-party cookie is one that is placed on a user’s computer by a website from a domain other than the one the user is visiting. As with standard cookies, third-party cookies are placed so that a site can remember something about the user at a later time. Both are typically used to store surfing and personalization preferences, and tracking information.

2. Why and how we use cookies

There are broadly three reasons why a cookie might be stored on the user’s device when visiting the Axigen website.

  1. Cookies that make the website work properly for the user and enable them to make use of the secure online services that we provide.
  2. Cookies that collect data about how the user uses the website, which is anonymized and used to help us improve our online services.
  3. Cookies that are placed by third party services we make use of to enhance the information we present online.

These cookies are placed on the user’s device either by the Axigen or by the third parties whose services we use as part of the website.

Some cookies are retained in the user’s browser for only as long as they visit our website, while others persist for a longer specified period.

2.1. Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential to our website in order to enable the user to move around and to use the features, such as remembering when they last visited the forum and their last visited discussion when they move to other pages within a browser session. Without strictly necessary cookies, we may not be able to provide certain services which the user has asked for and our website will not perform as smoothly as we indended to.

2.2. Performance cookies

Performance cookies collect information about the user’s use of our website and enable us to improve the way it works. For example, performance cookies will show us which are the most frequently visited pages on our website and help us record any difficulties users have with our website. Performance cookies do not collect information that identifies the user personally. In addition, all information that is collected by these cookies is aggregated and anonymized.

We may use third parties to manage our performance cookies but we do not allow any third party to use these cookies other than for the purposes listed in this paragraph.

2.3. Targeting cookies

These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to the user and their interests. They are also used to limit the number of time you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

The list of the cookies used by the Axigen website:

PHPSESSID Session Cookie automatically added by the web server, which helps identify unique browser sessions and is used to authenticate users, thus uniquely identifying a user.
agree-cookies 1 year Signals that the user has agreed with the cookie policy
downloadRegID 90 days Signals that the user filled out a form to download a product
mp_(hexdigits)_mixpanel 1 year This cookie is set by Mixpanel for analysing traffic, and in particular how users reached the platform.
mp_mixpanel_c 1 month This cookie is set by Mixpanel for analysing traffic, and in particular how users reached the platform.
_swnid 20 years This cookie is set by Spiceworks. Its goal is to measure view-through activity of specific campaigns, gain insight on users, and track conversions.
__cfduid 1 year This cookie is set by Zopim. It tracks the user visits and page navigation with the aim of providing our sales team a useful tool to support the user and to provide them with direct information.
__zlcmid 1 year Stores the Zopim Live Chat ID to identify the device during visits.
_hjIncludedInSample Session This cookie is set by Hotjar. It lets Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels.
_gat 10 minutes This cookie is set by Google Analytics. It’s used to throttle the request rate.
_ga 2 years This cookie is set by Google Analytics. It’s used to distinguish users.
bblastactivity Session Remembers the time the user last performed an action on the site
bblastvisit Session Remembers the time the user last visited the site
bbsessionhash Session Used to identify user session
bbpassword Session Set only if 'Remember me' is checked when logging in. Enables auto-login on subsequent visits.
bbuserid Session Set only if 'Remember me' is checked when logging in. Enables auto-login on subsequent visits
bbchannel_view Session Sets the time stamp for the last time the user visited a channel.
bbdiscussion_view Session Sets the time stamp for the last time the user visited a discussion.
GKD 10 years This cookie allows Avangate to identify a user session.
s_fid 5 years It is a new cookie introduced in 2013 as a 'fallback' visitor identifier where the s_vi cookie normally used for this purpose is blocked. It contains a randomly generated, unique id.
s_cc Session These (Adobe) Analytics cookies help Avangate to measure and understand how you use our apps, websites, social networking pages, and advertising campaigns. 
s_vi_jx7Djeljx7Fnonx7D 2 years Avangate uses (Adobe) Analytics for insights into how many people visit the website, and how the users interact with it.  
_scss Session Avangate uses (Adobe) Analytics for insights into how many people visit the website, and how the users interact with it.
mainProd Session Remembers the main product added to cart
customCartProdsIdsArr Session Remembers the product id's added to cart
pay Session Used for buying the products

3. Privacy Concerns on Cookies

Cookies are NOT viruses. Cookies use a plain text format. They are not compiled pieces of code so they cannot be executed, nor are they self-executing. Accordingly, they cannot make copies of themselves and spread to other networks to execute and replicate again. Since they cannot perform these functions, they fall outside the standard virus definition.

Cookies CAN be used for malicious purposes though. Since they store information about a user's browsing preferences and history, both on a specific website and browsing among several websites, cookies can be used to act as a form of spyware. Many anti-spyware products are well aware of this problem and routinely flag cookies as candidates for deletion after standard virus and/ or spyware scans.

Most browsers have built in privacy settings that provide different levels of cookie acceptance, expiration time, and disposal after a user has visited a particular website.

3.1. Other cookie-based threats

Since identity protection is highly valued and is every Internet user’s right , it’s important to be aware of what threat cookies can pose.

As cookies are transmitted back and forth between a browser and website, if an attacker or unauthorized person gets in between the data transmission, the sensitive cookie information can be intercepted. Although relatively rare, this can happen if the browser is connecting to the server using an unencrypted network like an non-secured WiFi channel. Internet security is only attainable if the users regualrly use an anti-virus protection program.

3.2. Key tips for safe and responsible cookie-based Web browsing

Due to their flexibility and the fact that many of the largest and most-visited websites use cookies by default, cookies are almost unavoidable. Disabling cookies will lock a user out of many of the most widely-used websites on the Internet. Even search settings require cookies for language settings. Here are some tips that can be used to ensure a worry-free, cookie-based browsing:

  • Customize your browser's cookie settings to reflect your comfort level with cookie security or use our guide to delete cookies.
  • If you are very comfortable with cookies and you are the only person using your computer, you may want to set long expiration time frames for storing your personal access information and browsing history.
  • If you share access on your computer, you may want to set your browser to clear private browsing data every time you close your browser. While not as secure as rejecting cookies outright, this option lets you access cookie-based websites while deleting any sensitive information after your browsing session.
  • Install and keep antispyware applications updated – many spyware detection, cleanup applications, and spyware removers include attack site detection. They block your browser from accessing websites designed to exploit browser vulnerabilities or download malicious software.
  • Make sure your browser is updated – if you haven't already, set your browser to update automatically. This eliminates security vulnerabilities caused by outdated browsers. Many cookie-based exploits are based on exploiting older browsers' security shortcomings.

Cookies are everywhere and can't really be avoided if you wish to enjoy the biggest and best websites out there. With a clear understanding of how they operate and how they help your browsing experience, you can take the necessary security measures to ensure that you browse the Internet confidently.

4. How can you control cookies?

If you don’t want to receive cookies, you can modify your browser so that it notifies you when cookies are sent to it, or you can refuse cookies altogether. You can also delete cookies that have already been set.

If you wish to restrict or block web browser cookies which are set on your device then you can do this through your browser settings; the Help function within your browser should tell you how.

Alternatively, you may wish to visit http://www.aboutcookies.org, which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of desktop browsers.

For settings for cookies created by third parties, you can consult the website http://www.youronlinechoices.com

In addition, Google Analytics provide their own opt-out options: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Please note that by deleting cookies or disabling future cookies you may be unable to access certain areas or features of our website and it will mean that you will not be able to use our online shop. If you adjust your cookie settings, this will also affect the other websites you visit.

Axigen is a premium, scalable, all-in-one Windows & Linux mail server software. A free mail server version is available for personal and lab use, along with the business mail server and the MSP mail server, for Managed Service Providers, which also include features like personal organizer, groupware, AntiVirus, AntiSpam, or advanced security policies. The carrier-class ISP mail server solution completes the Axigen offering and comes with clustering support, delegated administration, extensive APIs, as well as a cloud-native, Kubernetes based deployment option.

Axigen uses cookies. By using our services, you’re agreeing to our Cookie Policy. GOT IT