Cookie Policy

1. Introduction

Mills AS ("we", "us", "our") operates this website to provide forest education programs and nature awareness learning for participants across Canada. This Cookie Policy describes how we use cookies and similar tracking technologies when you visit our website.

By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read this Cookie Policy. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the "Manage cookie preferences" link in the website footer or by adjusting your browser settings.

This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

2. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device (computer, tablet, or smartphone) when you visit a website. They allow the website to recognize your device and remember information about your visit, such as your preferred language, login status, or other settings.

Cookies can be "first-party" cookies, set directly by the website you are visiting, or "third-party" cookies, set by a domain other than the one you are visiting. Third-party cookies enable features or functionality to be provided on or through the website, such as analytics, advertising, and interactive content.

Cookies may be "session" cookies (which expire when you close your browser) or "persistent" cookies (which remain on your device for a set period or until you delete them).

3. How We Use Cookies

We use cookies for the following general purposes:

• To provide core website functionality and ensure security
• To remember your cookie consent preferences
• To understand how visitors interact with our website so we can improve the user experience
• To measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns
• To deliver relevant advertisements on third-party platforms to previous visitors

4. Cookie Categories

We divide cookies used on this website into three categories. Each category is described in detail below.

5. Your Consent

When you first visit our website, a cookie consent banner appears at the bottom of the screen. The banner offers three options:

• Accept All: Activates essential, analytics, and marketing cookies.
• Reject Non-Essential: Activates only essential cookies. Analytics and marketing cookies remain inactive.
• Manage Preferences: Opens a panel where you can toggle analytics and marketing cookies independently. Essential cookies remain always active.

By clicking "Accept All Cookies", you consent to the storing of cookies on your device for analytics and advertising purposes, including personalized advertising delivered by Google and Meta. You may withdraw consent at any time through the cookie preferences panel without affecting the lawfulness of processing that occurred before withdrawal.

Your consent choice is stored in your browser's local storage for 12 months. After this period, the consent banner will appear again so you can update your preferences.

If you dismiss the banner without making a selection, only essential cookies will remain active.

6. Users in the European Economic Area and United Kingdom

Users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom receive the consent notice in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR. Marketing and analytics cookies are activated solely after explicit, informed, freely given consent under GDPR Article 6(1)(a). Consent is recorded with a timestamp and may be audited upon request.

As Mills AS is registered in Norway, which is part of the European Economic Area, we apply GDPR standards to all website visitors regardless of location.

7. Withdrawing Your Consent

You may withdraw consent at any time by clicking "Manage cookie preferences" in the website footer, or by clearing cookies via your browser settings. Withdrawal does not affect processing that occurred while consent was valid.

After withdrawal, analytics and marketing cookies will no longer be activated on subsequent page loads. Any cookies already stored on your device from these categories can be deleted through your browser settings.

8. Opting Out of Personalized Advertising

You may opt out of personalized advertising at any time through the following tools and platforms:

• Google Ads Settings: https://adssettings.google.com
• Your Online Choices (EU): https://www.youronlinechoices.eu
• Network Advertising Initiative: https://optout.networkadvertising.org
• Digital Advertising Alliance: https://optout.aboutads.info
• Meta Ad Preferences: https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/

Opting out does not remove ads entirely. You will continue to see non-personalized advertisements.

9. Managing Cookies in Your Browser

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can typically find these settings in the "Options", "Settings", or "Preferences" menu of your browser. The following links provide instructions for managing cookies in common browsers:

• Google Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and Other Site Data
• Mozilla Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
• Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data
• Microsoft Edge: Settings > Cookies and Site Permissions > Cookies and Site Data

Please be aware that disabling all cookies may affect the functionality of our website and your ability to access certain features. Essential cookies cannot be disabled through our cookie preferences panel because they are required for the website to function.

10. Data Sharing with Advertising Partners

We share certain data with advertising partners for campaign delivery and measurement. Recipients and the data categories shared include:

• Google LLC: Cookie identifiers, conversion events, anonymized behavioral data, remarketing lists. Governed by Google's Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• Meta Platforms, Inc.: Pixel events, conversion data, custom audiences. Governed by Meta's Data Policy: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy

We do not sell personal data. All transfers to Google and Meta operate under Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable. Data is processed for ad targeting and campaign measurement only and is not resold to unaffiliated third parties.

Google and Meta may use this data across their own platforms in accordance with their respective policies. We encourage users to review those policies directly.

11. Google Services and Advertising

This website uses the following Google services:

• Google Analytics 4: Collects anonymized usage data, device info, and behavioral signals. IP anonymization is enabled. Data retention is set to 14 months.
• Google Ads Conversion Tracking: Records when a user completes a defined action (form submission, inquiry) after clicking one of our ads. This data is used solely for measuring ad campaign performance.
• Google Remarketing: Allows us to show ads to previous visitors across Google's network. Remarketing lists are not created from sensitive data categories (health, finance, religion, sexual orientation).
• Google Tag Manager: Deploys tracking tags on our behalf. No personal data is collected by GTM itself; it acts as a container for the tags listed above.

Google's advertising products are governed by: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads

12. Meta Advertising Services

This website uses the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram. The pixel may record:

• Page views and time on site
• Specific conversion events (form submissions, inquiries)
• Custom audience membership for retargeting purposes

We do not use the Meta Pixel to collect sensitive personal data, nor to target users based on health status, financial situation, religion, political views, sexual orientation, or any other special-category attribute prohibited under Meta's advertising policies.

Meta acts as an independent data controller for data collected via its Pixel and processed within its own platform. Refer to Meta's Data Policy: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy

To manage your ad preferences on Meta platforms, visit: https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/

13. Other Tracking Technologies

In addition to cookies, we may use similar technologies such as web beacons (also known as "tracking pixels" or "clear GIFs"). These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier, enabling us to recognize when someone has visited our website or opened an email that we have sent.

These technologies are subject to the same consent requirements as cookies. They are only activated for analytics and marketing purposes after you have provided consent through the cookie banner or preferences panel.

14. Cookie Preference Management

You can review and update your cookie preferences at any time using the following methods:

• Click the Manage cookie preferences link to open the cookie consent panel
• Adjust cookie settings directly in your browser
• Use the opt-out tools provided by Google and Meta (listed above)

Essential cookies cannot be disabled as they are necessary for the basic operation of the website.

15. International Data Transfers

Data collected through cookies on this website may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the European Economic Area, including the United States, where Google LLC and Meta Platforms, Inc. are based.

These transfers are conducted under Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, which provide appropriate safeguards for personal data. A copy of the applicable SCCs can be requested by contacting us directly.

16. Children's Privacy

This website is not directed at individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly use cookies to collect personal data from minors. If we discover that cookie data has been collected from a person under 16 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete it promptly. Contact us at the email address below if you believe cookie data has been collected from a minor.

17. Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, regulation, or our business practices. When changes are made, the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page will be revised.

Significant changes will be communicated via a homepage banner a minimum of 14 days before the updated policy takes effect. We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies.

18. Relationship with Our Privacy Policy

This Cookie Policy forms part of our broader Privacy Policy. For detailed information about how we collect, store, and process personal data (including data collected via cookies), your rights under GDPR, and how to exercise those rights, please read our full Privacy Policy.

Our Terms of Use also apply to your use of this website.

19. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Cookie Policy, our use of cookies, or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact us:

20. Supervisory Authority

If you are not satisfied with our response to a concern about cookies or data processing, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority:

• Norway: Datatilsynet (Norwegian Data Protection Authority) - https://www.datatilsynet.no
• EU users: https://edpb.europa.eu
• UK users: https://ico.org.uk