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    Cookie Policy — SuomiGuide | GA4 & Google Ads

    Last updated: 9 November 2025
     This document explains which cookies and similar technologies the SuomiGuide website uses and how you can manage them. In Finland, the use of cookies and other identifiers on your device is regulated by the Act on Electronic Communications Services (917/2014), Section 205; supervision in this area is carried out by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom / NCSC-FI. Prior consent is required for all non-strictly necessary cookies.
    Important: Decisions of the Helsinki Administrative Court and updated Traficom guidance confirm that consent to non-strictly necessary cookies is interpreted according to GDPR standards (freely given, informed, unambiguous, and obtained before cookies are set).

    1) What are cookies and “similar technologies”

    Cookies are small files that a website stores in your browser. “Similar technologies” include local/session storage, SDKs in applications, pixels and tags – the same consent rules apply to them as to cookies.


    2) Categories of cookies on SuomiGuide

    Strictly necessary – provide basic functions (session, form protection, remembering consent settings). They are enabled without separate consent because they are necessary for the service you requested or for the transmission of a message over a network.
    Analytics (for example, Google Analytics 4) – help us understand traffic and improve content. They are set only with your consent. Note: the data retention period in GA4 reports (on the provider’s side) is configurable and is often 2 or 14 months.
    Marketing (for example, Google Ads) – ad delivery, frequency capping, conversion measurement. They are set only with your consent. For some advertising cookies, Google applies specific retention periods in the EEA (see below).

    3) Managing your consent

    1. On your first visit we display a “Cookie settings” banner where you can:
      “Accept all” / “Reject non-essential” / “Choose categories” (Analytics, Marketing);
    2. Change or withdraw your consent at any time via the permanent “Cookie settings” link.

    We apply consent attribution before enabling any non-essential tags (best practice according to Traficom). Pre-ticked boxes and “continued use of the site” are not considered valid consent.

    4) List of cookies and domains (typical)

    The list below is an example based on the current configuration. The exact set may change when services or browser policies are updated (for example, Chrome limits the lifetime of 1st-party cookies to about 400 days without repeated visits; Safari to about 7 days).

    A. Strictly necessary (always active)

    Strictly necessary cookies (examples)
    Name Domain Purpose Lifetime Type
    sessionid suomiguide.fi Maintains the user session (login/navigation). Session First-party
    csrftoken suomiguide.fi Protects forms against CSRF attacks. up to 1 year First-party
    cookie_consent suomiguide.fi Stores your choices in the cookie-consent banner. 6–12 months First-party

    B. Analytics (included only with consent)

    Analytics cookies (GA4)
    Name Domain Provider Purpose Lifetime Type
    _ga suomiguide.fi Google Analytics 4 Distinguishes visitors. up to 2 years (may be shortened by the browser) First-party
    _ga_<ID> suomiguide.fi Google Analytics 4 Links events to a GA4 property/session. typically up to 2 years First-party

    Event data retention in GA4 reports – up to 14 months (depending on settings).

    C. Marketing (included only with consent)

    Marketing cookies (Google Ads)
    Domain Provider Example cookies Purpose Typical lifetimes Type
    googleads.g.doubleclick.net, *.doubleclick.net Google Ads / DoubleClick _gcl_* Conversion measurement (Conversion Linker). _gcl_* – approx. 90 days 1st / 3rd-party
    *.doubleclick.net Google Ads IDE Serving and measuring ads. IDE – 13 months in the EEA, CH, UK Third-party
    *.google.com Google / Analytics _gac_* Linking campaigns and events. _gac_* – approx. 90 days Third-party / First-party

    Actual lifetimes may differ due to your browser settings and provider updates.

    5) Local storage, pixels and SDKs

    In addition to cookies, some tags use Local Storage (for example, Conversion Linker writes the key _gcl_ls) and pixels. These technologies follow the same consent rules as cookies.

    6) Technical logs (not cookies)

    On the hosting side, only the minimum necessary logs are kept (IP/time/URL/response code) for security and diagnostics. The retention period is usually up to 90 days. These records are not cookies; we disclose them for transparency.

    7) International data transfers

    If, in the context of analytics/marketing, data is processed outside the EEA (for example by Google providers in the USA), we use legal mechanisms for cross-border transfers:

    • for providers participating in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) – the adequacy decision;
    • for others – Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC).

    Google LLC is certified as a DPF participant; the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for the DPF on 10 July 2023.

    8) How to change or withdraw your consent

    You can change your choices in the “Cookie settings” on the website at any time, and you can also delete cookies via your browser settings.

    9) Updates to this document

    We periodically review the list of cookies, retention periods and consent banner settings. A new version is published on this page; the date of the last update is shown at the top.

    10) Contacts

    Questions about cookies and privacy: email: suomiguidefin@gmail.com
    For exercising your data protection rights (access, deletion, objection to marketing, etc.), please use the contact details in our Privacy Policy.