Cookie Policy
Valletta Software Development Limited. Last updated: 18 September 2026
This page explains which cookies and similar technologies vallettasoftware.com uses, why, and how you can refuse them. What we do with personal data more generally is covered in our Privacy Policy.
The short version
This website uses the cookies it needs to work and to keep our forms free of bots. It also uses Google Analytics, but only if you agree to it. We do not use advertising cookies, we do not build profiles of visitors for advertising, we do not track you across other websites, and we do not sell what we measure.
What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store, so the site can recognise your browser on a later visit. The same applies to similar technologies such as local storage, pixels and tracking tags. This page covers all of them.
The law we apply
Storing or reading anything on your device is governed by regulation 5 of the Processing of Personal Data (Electronic Communications Sector) Regulations (S.L. 586.01), which implements Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive in Malta. It allows two things without consent: storage that is purely to carry out a transmission, and storage that is strictly necessary to provide a service you have explicitly asked for. Everything else, analytics included, needs your consent before it is set. Where a cookie also involves personal data, the GDPR applies on top, and our legal basis is set out in section 5 of the Privacy Policy.
Cookies we use
Strictly necessary — set without consent
| Cookie | Set by | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
_GRECAPTCHA | Google (reCAPTCHA v3) | Tells human visitors from bots so our contact and application forms can be submitted without being flooded with spam | 6 months |
vsd_cookie_consent | This website | Remembers the cookie choice you made, so we do not ask again on every page | 6 months |
reCAPTCHA is a security measure. We rely on it to protect our forms from automated abuse, which is a service you have asked for whenever you use one. If you would rather not load it at all, do not submit a form, and you can reach us by email instead.
Analytics — set only after you agree
| Cookie | Set by | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics 4, loaded through Google Tag Manager (container GTM-KTXG5GDL) | Distinguishes one browser from another so repeat visits are not counted as new people | 2 years |
_ga_* | Google Analytics 4 | Keeps the state of the current visit, so a session can be measured from start to finish | 2 years |
We use this to see which pages are read, which links are clicked and which search engine or site you arrived from. Google truncates IP addresses before storing them, we have turned off data sharing with Google for its own purposes, and event-level data is deleted after 14 months. None of it is used to identify you personally or to target advertising.
Loaded only if you use them
If you open the booking widget to schedule a call, Calendly loads at that moment and sets its own cookies to run the booking. Nothing from Calendly is loaded until you click. Calendly is a separate controller for what happens inside its widget, and its own privacy notice applies.
What we do not use
No advertising, retargeting or cross-site tracking cookies, no social media pixels, and no fingerprinting. We do not share what we measure with advertising networks. If that ever changes, we will ask for your consent before anything is set, and this page will be updated before it happens.
Some of what we know about how our content performs never touches your device at all. Google Search Console and the third-party SEO tools we use report on our pages from the outside.
Your choice, and how to change it
When you first arrive, we ask whether you accept analytics cookies. Nothing but the strictly necessary cookies above is set unless you say yes, and refusing is as easy as accepting. Your answer is remembered for six months, after which we ask again.
You can change your mind at any time by reopening the cookie settings from the link in the footer. Withdrawing consent deletes the Google Analytics cookies already on your device and reloads the page, so nothing from Google keeps running in the background. You do not have to clear anything yourself.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, usually under privacy or site settings, or install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on to opt out across every site that uses Google Analytics. Blocking strictly necessary cookies will stop parts of this site from working.
Transfers outside the EEA
Google and Calendly are based in the United States. Those transfers rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the adequacy decision the European Commission adopted on 10 July 2023, and on Standard Contractual Clauses where a recipient is not certified under it. Section 10 of the Privacy Policy explains this in full.
Changes
We update this page if our use of cookies changes, and we will ask for fresh consent before setting anything new that requires it. The date above shows the current version.
Contact
Questions about this page, or about cookies on this site:
Valletta Software Development Limited
135 La Spinola Court, Paceville, San Giljan, Malta
Company No. C88523
info@vallettasoftware.com
You can also complain to the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC), Malta, idpc.org.mt.