Cookie Policy
This Cookie Policy explains in detail what cookies and similar tracking technologies are, how The Vanderbilt Portfolio (“we,” “us,” or “our”) uses them on the Luanda Refinery intelligence platform located at luandarefinery.com (“the Platform”), the specific purposes for which each category of cookie is deployed, and the options available to you for managing, controlling, and disabling cookies. This Cookie Policy should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy, which provides additional information about how we collect, use, and protect your personal data.
By continuing to use the Platform after being informed of our use of cookies, you consent to the placement and use of cookies on your device as described in this policy. If you do not wish to accept cookies from the Platform, you should adjust your browser settings accordingly or discontinue use of the Platform, though doing so may affect the functionality and user experience of certain features.
What Are Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, tablet, smartphone, or other internet-enabled device when you visit a website. Cookies are stored in your web browser’s designated cookie storage directory and are sent back to the originating website (or to another website that recognizes that cookie) each time you revisit the site. Cookies are widely used across the internet by website operators of all sizes and types because they serve a range of essential and beneficial functions that would be difficult or impossible to achieve through other technical means.
Cookies were first developed in the mid-1990s as a mechanism for web browsers to remember stateful information across page requests, and they have since evolved into a fundamental technology that supports website functionality, user personalization, analytics, and advertising. Without cookies, websites would treat every page request as if it came from an entirely new visitor, making it impossible to maintain sessions, remember preferences, or provide many of the features that modern web users expect.
First-Party and Third-Party Cookies
Cookies are categorized based on the domain that sets them. First-party cookies are set by the website you are visiting directly. When you visit luandarefinery.com, any cookies set by our domain are first-party cookies. These cookies are typically used for essential website functionality, session management, and user preference storage.
Third-party cookies are set by domains other than the one you are visiting. When you visit the Platform, third-party cookies may be set by our analytics and advertising partners, including Google Analytics and Google AdSense. These cookies enable third-party services to collect data about your browsing behavior across multiple websites, to provide analytics reports to website operators, and to deliver targeted advertisements based on your interests and browsing history.
Session and Persistent Cookies
Cookies are also categorized based on their duration. Session cookies are temporary cookies that are stored in your browser’s memory only during your browsing session. Session cookies are automatically deleted when you close your browser. They are used for essential functions such as maintaining your session state as you navigate between pages on the Platform.
Persistent cookies remain on your device after you close your browser and are reactivated each time you revisit the website that set them. Persistent cookies have a defined expiration date, which may range from a few minutes to several years depending on the purpose of the cookie. They are used for functions that require the website to remember information about your previous visits, such as analytics tracking and advertising preference management.
Cookies We Use
The Platform uses the following categories of cookies, each serving distinct purposes essential to the operation, improvement, and monetization of the Platform.
Essential Cookies
Essential cookies, also known as strictly necessary cookies, are required for the Platform to function properly and to provide you with the basic features and services you expect when visiting a website. These cookies enable fundamental functions such as page navigation, access to secure areas of the Platform, and the proper rendering of content. The Platform cannot function correctly without these cookies, and they are set automatically when you access the Platform.
Essential cookies used on the Platform serve the following specific functions. They enable the web server to identify your browsing session and maintain session state as you navigate between pages, ensuring that page requests are handled correctly and that content is delivered in the proper sequence. They facilitate the proper loading and rendering of page content, including text, images, and interactive elements. They support the security of the Platform by helping to detect and prevent unauthorized access, cross-site request forgery, and other security threats.
Essential cookies do not collect personal information that could be used for marketing or advertising purposes. They do not track your browsing activity across other websites. Essential cookies set by the Platform are typically session cookies that are deleted automatically when you close your browser, though certain essential cookies may persist for a short period to support security functions.
Because essential cookies are strictly necessary for the Platform to function, they cannot be disabled through cookie preference settings without affecting the basic functionality of the Platform. If you block essential cookies through your browser settings, certain features of the Platform may not work correctly or may be unavailable.
Analytics Cookies
We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors discover, navigate, and interact with the Platform. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect information about visitor behavior, which is aggregated into statistical reports that help us improve the Platform’s content, structure, and user experience. Analytics cookies do not identify individual visitors by name or contact information, though they do assign unique identifiers to distinguish between different visitors and sessions.
The specific analytics cookies used on the Platform include the following:
_ga Cookie. This is a persistent cookie set by Google Analytics that is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. The _ga cookie is included in each page request to the Platform and is used to calculate visitor, session, and campaign data for the Platform’s analytics reports. This cookie expires two years after it is set or last updated.
_gid Cookie. This is a persistent cookie set by Google Analytics that is used to distinguish users and to store and update a unique value for each page visited. The _gid cookie enables Google Analytics to determine which pages are viewed during a single browsing session and to calculate session-level metrics such as pages per session and session duration. This cookie expires 24 hours after it is set.
_gat Cookie. This is a short-lived cookie set by Google Analytics that is used to throttle the rate at which page view requests are sent to the Google Analytics data collection servers. The _gat cookie prevents excessive data transmission and helps ensure that analytics data collection does not negatively impact the performance of the Platform or the user’s browsing experience. This cookie expires one minute after it is set.
ga[container-id] Cookie. This cookie is used by Google Analytics 4 to persist session state across page loads. It stores a session identifier and information about the session that enables Google Analytics to stitch together page views and events that occur during a single visit. This cookie expires two years after it is set.
The data collected by analytics cookies is transmitted to Google’s servers, which may be located in various countries, and is processed by Google in accordance with Google’s Privacy Policy. The analytics data includes information about page views, session duration, bounce rate, geographic location of visitors, traffic sources, device and browser characteristics, and user navigation patterns. This data is presented to us in aggregate form and is used to understand which content is most popular, how visitors navigate the Platform, where visitors come from geographically and which referring websites drive the most traffic, how the Platform performs on different devices and browsers, and how Platform usage trends change over time.
We have configured Google Analytics to anonymize IP addresses, which means that the last octet of your IP address is masked before the data is stored and processed. This reduces the precision of geographic location data but provides an additional layer of privacy protection.
Advertising Cookies
The Platform may display advertisements served through Google AdSense, a program operated by Google LLC that enables website publishers to earn revenue by displaying targeted advertisements to their visitors. Google AdSense uses cookies, web beacons, JavaScript tags, and similar technologies to collect information about your browsing behavior and to serve advertisements that are relevant to your interests.
Advertising cookies may be set by Google and by its network of advertising partners. These cookies may collect information about your visits to the Platform and to other websites across the internet, including the pages you viewed, the advertisements you saw and interacted with, the products or services you showed interest in, and the amount of time you spent on various pages. This information is used to build a profile of your interests and to select and display advertisements that are more likely to be relevant and useful to you.
The specific advertising cookies used on the Platform vary depending on Google’s advertising technology and the advertising partners participating in the ad auction for each page view. Common advertising cookies include those used by Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform, which track ad impressions, clicks, and conversions, and those used by Google’s remarketing services, which enable advertisements for previously visited websites to be displayed as you browse other sites in Google’s advertising network.
Advertising cookies are persistent cookies with expiration periods that vary depending on the specific cookie and the advertising partner that sets it. Some advertising cookies may persist for up to two years, while others expire after shorter periods.
The revenue generated through advertising displayed via Google AdSense supports the continued operation of the Platform and enables us to provide high-quality content to our readers at no charge. We recognize that advertising cookies involve the collection and processing of browsing data across multiple websites, and we provide information below about your options for managing and opting out of advertising cookies.
Other Tracking Technologies
In addition to cookies, the Platform and its third-party partners may use other tracking technologies including web beacons, pixel tags, and JavaScript tags. Web beacons, also known as clear GIFs or tracking pixels, are small transparent images embedded in web pages or emails that are used to track whether a page has been viewed or an email has been opened. JavaScript tags are code snippets embedded in web pages that execute when the page loads and collect information about the page view and the visitor’s browser environment.
These technologies work in conjunction with cookies to collect analytics and advertising data. They are subject to the same privacy considerations and management options as cookies and are covered by this Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy.
Managing Cookies
You have several options for managing, controlling, and disabling cookies on the Platform. We respect your right to make informed choices about the tracking technologies used during your visit, and we provide the following information to help you exercise that right.
Browser Settings
Most modern web browsers provide built-in settings that allow you to control how cookies are handled. Through your browser settings, you can typically configure your browser to accept all cookies from all websites, accept cookies only from the website you are visiting (blocking third-party cookies), be notified when a cookie is about to be set so that you can decide whether to accept or reject it, block all cookies from all websites, or delete all cookies that are currently stored on your device.
The process for accessing and modifying cookie settings varies by browser. You can typically find cookie settings in the “Privacy,” “Security,” or “Settings” section of your browser’s preferences or options menu. The following resources provide instructions for managing cookies in common browsers:
Google Chrome: Navigate to Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Cookies and other site data, where you can configure cookie preferences and view and delete individual cookies.
Mozilla Firefox: Navigate to Settings, then Privacy and Security, where you can choose between Standard, Strict, and Custom tracking protection levels and manage individual cookie permissions.
Apple Safari: Navigate to Preferences, then Privacy, where you can configure cookie blocking preferences and manage website data.
Microsoft Edge: Navigate to Settings, then Cookies and site permissions, then Cookies and site data, where you can configure cookie preferences and manage exceptions for specific websites.
Please note that if you choose to block or delete cookies, certain features of the Platform may not function correctly. Essential cookies are required for the basic operation of the Platform, and blocking them may prevent pages from loading properly or may cause other functional issues.
Google Analytics Opt-Out
You can specifically opt out of Google Analytics data collection without affecting other cookies by installing the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on. This add-on is developed and maintained by Google and is available for free download at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript running on websites to instruct it not to send information about your visit to Google Analytics. The add-on is available for all major browsers.
Advertising Opt-Out
You can opt out of personalized advertising served through Google AdSense and Google’s broader advertising network by visiting the following resources:
Google Ad Settings. Visit adssettings.google.com to view and manage your Google advertising preferences. You can opt out of personalized ads, view the interest categories that Google has associated with your profile, and adjust your advertising preferences.
Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). Visit optout.aboutads.info to opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies that are members of the DAA. This opt-out tool allows you to select which participating companies you wish to opt out from.
Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). Visit optout.networkadvertising.org to opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies that are members of the NAI.
European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA). For users in the European Economic Area, visit youronlinechoices.eu to manage your advertising preferences with participating companies.
Please note that opting out of personalized advertising does not mean you will no longer see advertisements on the Platform. You will continue to see advertisements, but they will be generic rather than tailored to your browsing history and interests. Opt-out preferences are typically stored in cookies, so if you delete your cookies, you may need to renew your opt-out preferences.
Do Not Track Signals
Some web browsers transmit “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals to websites. There is currently no universally accepted standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals. The Platform does not currently alter its data collection and use practices in response to DNT signals. If a standardized approach to DNT is established in the future, we will review and update this policy accordingly.
Impact of Blocking Cookies
We want you to make informed decisions about cookie management, and it is important to understand the potential consequences of blocking or deleting different categories of cookies.
Blocking essential cookies may prevent the Platform from functioning correctly, cause pages to load improperly, and interfere with navigation and content display. Blocking analytics cookies will not affect your browsing experience but will prevent your visit from being recorded in our analytics data, reducing our ability to understand and improve the Platform. Blocking advertising cookies will not prevent advertisements from being displayed but will result in less relevant advertisements being shown, as the ads will be generic rather than tailored to your interests.
Updates to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies and tracking technologies we use, changes in applicable law or regulatory guidance, or other operational considerations. When we make material changes to this Cookie Policy, we will update the effective date at the bottom of this page. We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about our use of cookies and the options available to you.
Relationship to Privacy Policy
This Cookie Policy is a supplementary document that should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy provides comprehensive information about all categories of data we collect, how we use that data, and your rights regarding your personal information. To the extent that cookies collect personal data, that data is processed in accordance with the terms set out in the Privacy Policy.
Contact
For questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies and tracking technologies, please contact us at:
Email: info@luandarefinery.com
We will make reasonable efforts to respond to all cookie-related inquiries within two business days of receipt.
Effective date: March 22, 2026.