Cookie Policy

1. What Are Cookies

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, provide a better browsing experience, and supply information to the owners of the site.

Cookies allow a website to recognise your device and remember certain information about your visit, such as your preferred language, font size, and other display preferences. This means you do not have to re-enter information each time you return to the site or browse from one page to another.

Cookies can be “persistent” or “session” cookies. Persistent cookies remain on your device after you close your browser and are activated each time you revisit the website that created them. Session cookies are temporary and are deleted from your device once you close your browser.

2. How We Use Cookies

Smart Tech Media (“we”, “us”, or “our”) uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website smarttechmedia.net for several purposes, including:

• Ensuring the proper functioning and security of our website
• Remembering your preferences and settings
• Understanding how visitors interact with our website so we can improve it
• Analysing traffic patterns, page views, and user behaviour
• Measuring the effectiveness of our content and services

We are committed to being transparent about the technologies we use. This Cookie Policy explains the types of cookies we use, their purpose, and how you can manage your cookie preferences.

3. Types of Cookies We Use

3.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for the website to function correctly. They enable core features such as session management, security, and accessibility. Without these cookies, certain services you have requested cannot be provided. Strictly necessary cookies do not require your consent as they are integral to the operation of the website.

These cookies are used to:

• Maintain your session as you navigate between pages
• Ensure the security and integrity of website forms (e.g., the contact form)
• Remember your cookie consent preferences
• Protect against cross-site request forgery and other security threats

3.2 Performance and Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website, such as which pages are visited most often, how visitors move around the site, and whether they encounter any error messages. All information collected by these cookies is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is used solely to improve how our website works.

We use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors engage with our website. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour data. This information is processed in a way that does not directly identify anyone. We do not make any attempt to link the analytics data with individual identities.

Information collected includes:

• Number of visitors and page views
• Traffic sources and referral paths
• Pages visited, time spent on each page, and bounce rates
• Geographic location (country or city level only)
• Browser type, device type, and operating system

3.3 Functionality Cookies

Functionality cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced, more personalised features. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages.

These cookies are used to:

• Remember your display preferences (e.g., theme or layout settings)
• Remember your language or region preference
• Store whether you have previously acknowledged notices or banners
• Provide enhanced features such as live chat or embedded content

If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these features may not function properly.

3.4 Marketing and Advertising Cookies

At present, Smart Tech Media does not use marketing or advertising cookies on this website. We do not serve targeted advertisements, nor do we use cookies to track your browsing activity across other websites for advertising purposes.

Should this change in the future, we will update this Cookie Policy accordingly and, where required, seek your consent before placing any such cookies on your device.

4. Cookie Details

The following table provides details about the specific cookies used on our website:

5. Third-Party Cookies

In addition to the cookies we set directly, certain third-party services used on our website may also place cookies on your device. We do not control the cookies set by these third parties. Below is an overview of the third-party services we use and how they use cookies:

5.1 Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to monitor and analyse web traffic and to understand how visitors use our website. Google Analytics uses cookies (as described in the table above) to collect information about your use of our website. This data is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers that may be located outside of Hong Kong. Google may use this data to contextualise and personalise the ads of its own advertising network.

You can learn more about how Google uses data by visiting Google’s Privacy & Terms page. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, which is available for most major browsers.

5.2 EmailJS

Our website uses EmailJS to process submissions from our contact form. EmailJS may set cookies or use local storage to facilitate the sending of form data. These are limited to the functionality of the contact form and are not used for tracking or profiling purposes. For more information, please refer to the EmailJS privacy documentation.

5.3 Google Fonts

We use Google Fonts to display custom typefaces on our website. When you visit a page that uses Google Fonts, your browser may connect to Google’s servers to download the font files. During this process, Google may receive your IP address and data about the request. Google Fonts does not set cookies on your device, but the connection to Google servers is subject to Google’s privacy policy.

6. How to Manage Cookies

You have the right to decide whether to accept or refuse cookies. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies or to alert you when a cookie is being placed on your device.

Please note that the methods for managing cookies vary between browsers. Below are general instructions for the most commonly used browsers:

6.1 Google Chrome

• Open Chrome and click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner.
• Select Settings, then navigate to Privacy and security.
• Click Third-party cookies (or Cookies and other site data in older versions).
• From here you can block third-party cookies, block all cookies, or clear cookies for specific sites.
• You can also manage site-specific permissions under See all site data and permissions.

6.2 Mozilla Firefox

• Open Firefox and click the three-line menu icon in the top-right corner.
• Select Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the left sidebar.
• Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose your preferred level: Standard, Strict, or Custom.
• In Custom mode, you can choose to block cookies from specific categories (e.g., cross-site tracking cookies, all third-party cookies, or all cookies).
• To delete existing cookies, scroll down to Cookies and Site Data and click Manage Data.

6.3 Apple Safari

• Open Safari and click Safari in the top menu bar, then select Settings (or Preferences).
• Click the Privacy tab.
• Under Cookies and website data, select your preferred option (e.g., block all cookies or prevent cross-site tracking).
• To remove stored cookies, click Manage Website Data and remove cookies individually or all at once.

6.4 Microsoft Edge

• Open Edge and click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner.
• Select Settings, then click Cookies and site permissions in the left sidebar.
• Click Manage and delete cookies and site data.
• From here you can block third-party cookies, block all cookies, or manage cookies for specific sites.
• You can also clear existing cookies under Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data.

For other browsers, please consult the browser’s help documentation or settings menu for information on how to manage cookies.

7. Impact of Disabling Cookies

If you choose to disable or refuse cookies, please be aware that some parts of our website may not function as intended. Specifically:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Disabling these may prevent you from using certain features, such as submitting the contact form or maintaining a browsing session.
• Analytics Cookies: Disabling these will not affect your browsing experience, but it will prevent us from collecting anonymous usage data that helps us improve the website.
• Functionality Cookies: Disabling these means the website may not remember your preferences (such as language settings), and you may need to reconfigure these each time you visit.

We encourage you to keep cookies enabled for the best experience on our website. However, we fully respect your right to manage cookies according to your own preferences.

8. Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO)

Smart Tech Media is based in Hong Kong and operates in compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) (“PDPO”). While the PDPO does not contain specific provisions governing the use of cookies, we recognise that cookies may collect information that constitutes “personal data” as defined under the Ordinance where such information can be used to identify an individual.

In accordance with the data protection principles set out in the PDPO, we ensure that:

• Personal data collected through cookies is collected for lawful purposes directly related to the functioning and improvement of our website.
• The data collected is adequate but not excessive in relation to its purpose.
• We take reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal data collected through cookies.
• We are transparent about the data we collect and how it is used, as detailed in this Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy.
• Personal data is retained only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected.

For further information about the PDPO, you may visit the website of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong.

9. Do Not Track Signals

“Do Not Track” (DNT) is a privacy preference that you can set in your web browser to indicate that you do not wish to be tracked across websites. There is currently no universally accepted standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals.

At this time, our website does not alter its data collection or use practices in response to DNT signals from your browser. Should a uniform standard for responding to DNT signals be adopted in the future, we will review and update our practices accordingly.

We encourage you to use the cookie management options described in Section 6 above to control your cookie preferences directly.

10. Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, legislation, our business operations, or our use of cookies. When we make changes, we will revise the “Effective Date” at the top of this page.

We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies. If we make material changes that significantly affect how we use cookies or process your data, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you, such as by displaying a prominent notice on our website.

Your continued use of our website after any changes to this Cookie Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies, please do not hesitate to contact us through the contact form on our website:

• Website: smarttechmedia.net
• Address: Unit 11/11F, Peninsula Centre, No. 67 Mody Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

We will respond to your enquiry as promptly as possible.