Cookie Policy

Last updated: April 2025

1. Introduction

The website https://www.medics-care.pt (hereinafter "the Site") is operated by Sana Vivo Brands, Limitada, headquartered in Porto, Portugal (hereinafter "we", "us" or "Data Controller").

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, what types of cookies we use, for what purposes, and how you can manage your preferences. It should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy, available on the Site.

1.1 What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that a website places on your device (computer, tablet or mobile phone) when you visit it. They allow the Site to recognise your device on future visits, remember your preferences and, in some cases, collect information about how you browse our pages.

There are session cookies, which are automatically deleted when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which remain on your device for a defined period or until they are deleted manually.

1.2 Why do we use cookies?

We use cookies to:

  • Ensure the essential technical functioning of the Site and the online store;
  • Remember your preferences (language, account settings, shopping basket);
  • Analyse traffic and browsing behaviour, in an anonymous and aggregated manner, in order to continuously improve the user experience;
  • Present relevant marketing communications, based on your history of interaction with the Site and our advertisements.

Strictly necessary cookies are activated automatically, as without them the Site does not function correctly. For all others, we request your prior consent via the cookie banner that appears on your first visit, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR — EU Regulation 2016/679) and the ePrivacy Directive (transposed by Law No. 41/2004 of 18 August, and its subsequent amendments).

2. Categories of Cookies We Use

2.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for the Site to function correctly. They ensure basic functionality such as navigating between pages, accessing secure areas, managing the shopping basket and maintaining the user session. They do not require your consent and cannot be disabled without compromising the functioning of the Site. They do not collect personal information usable for marketing purposes.

Cookie Name Provider Purpose Duration
PHPSESSID medics-care.pt Identifies the user's PHP session on the server, maintaining continuity between HTTP requests throughout the same visit. Session (deleted when the browser is closed)
woocommerce_cart_hash medics-care.pt (WooCommerce) Stores an encrypted representation of the shopping basket contents, allowing the system to check whether the basket has been modified without needing to reload the page. Session
woocommerce_items_in_cart medics-care.pt (WooCommerce) Indicates whether the shopping basket contains items, enabling or disabling the basket widget in the shop header in an efficient manner. Session
wp_woocommerce_session_XXX medics-care.pt (WooCommerce) Associates the shopping session with the user (registered or guest), preserving basket data, delivery address and checkout progress even if the user navigates to other pages of the Site. 2 days
wordpress_logged_in_XXX medics-care.pt (WordPress) Confirms that the user is authenticated in their WordPress/WooCommerce account, allowing access to the personal area, order history and account settings. Session / up to 14 days (if the "keep me logged in" option is active)
wp-settings / wp-settings-time medics-care.pt (WordPress) Saves the interface preferences of the authenticated user in the WordPress administration dashboard (e.g.: menu layout, editing mode). 1 year

2.2 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies allow the Site to remember your preferences and personalise your browsing experience. Although they are not strictly essential for the operation of the Site, disabling them may impair some convenience features. Their use requires your consent.

Cookie Name Provider Purpose Duration
preferred_lang medics-care.pt Saves the language preference selected by the user (e.g.: Portuguese or English), 1 year
woodmart_settings medics-care.pt (WoodMart Theme) Stores the theme display preferences chosen by the user (e.g.: light/dark mode, product grid layout), ensuring a consistent and personalised browsing experience. 1 year

2.3 Analytical Cookies

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4), an analytics service provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors interact with the Site — for example, which pages are most visited, how long users remain on the Site, and from which sources they arrive. This information allows us to continuously improve the content and navigation.

Important: the data collected is anonymous and aggregated. We enable IP address anonymisation (a native GA4 feature), meaning no complete IP address is stored by Google. Data is processed under standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission (see section 5). The use of these cookies requires your consent.

Cookie Name Provider Purpose Duration
_ga Google LLC (Google Analytics 4) Generates and stores a unique, anonymous identifier to distinguish users, allowing the calculation of aggregated metrics such as the number of unique visitors and sessions. It does not contain any personally identifiable information. 2 years
_ga_XXXXXXXX Google LLC (Google Analytics 4) Used by GA4 to persist the user's session state (e.g.: session start and duration, pages visited per session), associated with the unique identifier generated by the _ga cookie. The suffix corresponds to the GA4 property ID of the Site. 2 years
_gid Google LLC (Google Analytics 4) Distinguishes users over a 24-hour period, complementing the _ga cookie for behavioural analysis in more recent sessions and the calculation of daily session metrics. 24 hours

2.4 Marketing Cookies

Marketing cookies are used to display relevant advertisements based on your interests and to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. They may be placed by third parties (Meta Platforms and Google) on our Sites. The use of these cookies requires your explicit consent. Refusing them does not affect your ability to browse the Site, but you may see less relevant adverts on other platforms.

Cookie Name Provider Purpose Duration
_fbp Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook/Instagram Pixel) Placed by the Meta Pixel, it identifies browsers for the purposes of retargeting and measuring the performance of advertising on Meta products (Facebook, Instagram). It allows us to know whether a user who saw one of our adverts subsequently took an action on the Site (e.g.: purchase, registration). 90 days
_fbc Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook/Instagram Pixel) Records the click parameter originating from a Facebook/Instagram advert (fbclid), associating visits to the Site with specific Meta advertising campaigns for conversion measurement purposes. Session / up to 90 days if the user gives consent on Facebook
_gads Google LLC (Google Ads) Used by Google Ads to record user interaction with adverts and associate visits to the Site with Google advertising campaigns, enabling the measurement and optimisation of conversions generated by adverts. 13 months
_gac_XXX Google LLC (Google Ads / Google Analytics) Contains information about the Google Ads campaign that originated the visit to the Site. It is shared between Google Analytics and Google Ads to correlate browsing data with advertising campaign performance and to optimise automated bidding. 90 days

3. How to Manage Your Cookie Preferences

You have the right to decide which categories of cookies you accept, with the exception of strictly necessary cookies. You have the following ways to manage your preferences:

3.1 Consent Banner

On your first visit to the Site, a cookie banner is displayed which allows you to accept all categories of cookies, refuse non-essential categories, or customise your

You may change your preferences at any time by clicking on the «Cookie Preferences» option available in the footer of the Site. Your consent may be withdrawn at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent previously given.

3.2 Your Browser Settings

You may also manage, block or delete cookies directly through your browser settings. Please note that blocking all cookies, including strictly necessary ones, may prevent the Site and the online shop from functioning correctly. Please consult the specific instructions for your browser:

3.3 Withdrawing Consent

You may withdraw your consent at any time, at no cost and without any negative consequence to you:

  • By clicking on «Cookie Preferences» in the footer of the Site and adjusting your choices;
  • By deleting existing cookies through your browser settings (see point 3.2);
  • By using the specific opt-out tools described in point 4.

The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out on the basis of consent prior to its withdrawal, pursuant to Art. 7(3) of the GDPR.

4. How to Refuse Analytical and Marketing Cookies

In addition to the options described in point 3, you may use the specific tools made available by each provider to refuse or limit the collection of data for analytical and marketing purposes:

4.1 Google Analytics

You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting data about your browsing by installing the add-on

  • Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
    (Available for all major desktop browsers. Once installed, your browser will send a signal so that your visit data is not included in Google Analytics statistics.)

4.2 Meta / Facebook Pixel

To limit the use of your data by Meta Platforms for advertising purposes, you may:

4.3 Google Ads

You can manage your Google personalised ad preferences and disable conversion tracking via the Google Ads settings dashboard:

5. International Data Transfers

Some of the cookie providers identified in this Policy are established outside the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), namely in the United States of America (USA). International transfers of personal data to those countries are carried out with the safeguards required by the GDPR, in particular through the legal instruments described below.

Supplier Destination Country Associated Cookies Transfer Mechanism
Google LLC United States of America _ga, _ga_XXXXXXXX, _gid, _gads, _gac_XXX Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission pursuant to Art. 46(2)(c) of the GDPR. Google LLC is also certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, recognised by the European Commission's Adequacy Decision of July 2023.
Meta Platforms, Inc. United States of America _fbp, _fbc Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission pursuant to Art. 46(2)(c) of the GDPR. Meta Platforms, Inc. is also certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, recognised by the European Commission's Adequacy Decision of July 2023.

For further information about the safeguards applicable to international transfers, or to request a copy of the applicable standard contractual clauses, please contact us at the address indicated in point 8.

6. Legal Basis for Processing

The processing of personal data through cookies is carried out on the basis of the following legal grounds, in accordance with the GDPR:

  • Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR) and technical necessity: for strictly necessary cookies, the activation of which is indispensable for the provision of the service requested by the user and the technical operation of the Site. These cookies do not require prior consent, pursuant to Art. 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC, as amended by 2009/136/EC), transposed by Law No. 41/2004 of 18 August;
  • Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR): for functional, analytical and marketing cookies. Consent is collected freely, specifically, informedly and unambiguously through the cookie banner displayed on the first visit. It may be withdrawn at any time, without any detriment to the user, as described in point 3.3.