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Cookie Policy

International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC)  ·  ifac-control.org  ·  Effective: 4 September 2026

This Cookie Policy explains how IFAC uses cookies and similar technologies on this website, and how you can manage your preferences at any time.

1 What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They help websites work correctly and allow operators to understand how visitors use their site. Cookies can be first-party (set by the website you are visiting) or third-party (set by another domain). They can be session cookies, deleted when you close your browser, or persistent cookies, which remain for a set period.

When you first visit this website, a consent banner asks whether you accept optional cookies. As a matter of policy, we apply the same opt-in standard to every visitor regardless of location – Statistics and Marketing cookies remain off until you affirmatively accept them, even in jurisdictions where notice-only or opt-out would be legally sufficient. Cookies on this site are grouped into three categories:

  • Functional – required for the site to work. Always on; cannot be switched off.
  • Statistics – Google Analytics 4. Off until you accept. Helps us understand how the site is used in aggregate.
  • Marketing – YouTube video embeds. Off until you accept. Once you accept, embedded YouTube players load automatically on pages that contain them, at which point YouTube may set cookies on your device.

You can change or withdraw your consent at any time by clicking Manage Cookies in the footer, which reopens the preference centre. You can also block cookies directly in your browser (see section 5.2). Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that already took place while consent was in force.

3 Cookies We Use

3.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for the website to function correctly and cannot be switched off. They fall into two groups:

  • Infrastructure cookies — set by our hosting provider or by WordPress on every request (see the wpe-no-cache and wordpress_logged_in cards below).
  • Consent-storage cookies — set by our consent-management plugin (Complianz) only after you interact with the banner, to remember your choices for future visits (see the cmplz card below).

cmplz_consented_services, cmplz_policy_id, cmplz_marketing, cmplz_statistics, cmplz_banner-status

Remember your consent choices so the banner does not reappear on every page. Set by the Complianz consent-management plugin only after you interact with the banner.

Set by: IFAC (first party, via Complianz)  ·  Duration: 365 days

wpe-no-cache, wordpress_no_cache_user

Signal to our hosting provider (WP Engine) to serve a fresh, uncached copy of the response. Set on every visitor.

Set by: IFAC (first party)  ·  Duration: Session (deleted when your browser is closed)

wordpress_logged_in_*, wp-settings-*

Used by WordPress to manage authenticated sessions for site administrators and editors only. These cookies are not set for general visitors who are not logged in.

Set by: IFAC (first party)  ·  Duration: Session, or up to 1 year for the settings variants

3.2 Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics 4)

These cookies allow us to understand how visitors use this website in aggregate. All data is anonymised. We do not use this data to identify you personally.

_ga

Distinguishes unique visitors and collects information about how this site is used, including which pages are visited and how long visitors spend on them. Used to improve our content and understand our audience. We do not use this data to identify you personally.

Set by: Google Ireland Limited (third party, via Google Analytics 4)  ·  Duration: 2 years

_ga_*

Maintains analytics session state for Google Analytics 4.

Set by: Google Ireland Limited (third party)  ·  Duration: 1 year

More information: policies.google.com/privacy

3.3 Media Cookies (YouTube video embeds)

These cookies are set by YouTube whenever you interact with an embedded video on this website. If you do not play any embedded video, these cookies are not set.

YSC

Registers a unique ID to track statistics of the YouTube videos you watch.

Set by: Google LLC (third party, via YouTube)  ·  Duration: Session

VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE

Estimates bandwidth on pages with embedded YouTube videos.

Set by: Google LLC (third party, via YouTube)  ·  Duration: 180 days

yt-remote-*, yt-player-*

Stores your YouTube player preferences such as volume and playback quality.

Set by: Google LLC (third party, via YouTube)  ·  Duration: Persistent (stored in browser local storage)

More information: policies.google.com/privacy

4 Cookies We Do Not Use

This website does not use:

  • Advertising, targeting, or retargeting cookies of any kind.
  • Social media tracking cookies from LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, or Bluesky (our social media icons are plain hyperlinks only, not embedded widgets or tracking pixels).
  • Affiliate cookies.
  • Cookies linked to visitor accounts (no visitor accounts exist on this website).
  • Any cookies used for automated decision-making or profiling.

5 How to Manage Your Cookies

5.1 Through Our Cookie Settings

The fastest way to change your choices is to open our preference centre. Click Manage Cookies in the footer of any page — you can then toggle Statistics and Marketing on or off, or withdraw consent entirely. Your choice takes effect immediately and is remembered for future visits.

5.2 Through Your Browser

Every modern browser lets you block or delete cookies through its settings. Blocking all cookies from this site is safe — most of the site will continue to work; only a few interactive elements (such as embedded YouTube videos) may not function.

5.3 Google Analytics Opt-Out

Install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout to prevent Google Analytics from collecting data about your visit.

Cookies set by Google Analytics and YouTube are governed by Google’s own policies. IFAC does not have direct access to the information these cookies collect.

We may update this Cookie Policy when we change the cookies we use or when required by law. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. Please check this page periodically for the latest information.

8 Contact

Questions about this Cookie Policy:

IFAC Secretariat — [email protected]

Contact form — ifac-control.org/contact