The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia (MFA) website https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/ uses specifically customer tailored cookies in order to ensure better content and quality for our website visitors.
Cookies are very small text files that are stored by the web browser (e.g., Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc.) on your computer or a mobile device at the moment you visit a website. Cookies are reliable mechanisms for websites to remember your individual settings (e.g., language, font size and other screen options) you use to view the site.
The main purpose of cookies is to recognise the device by which the user accesses the website, thereby ensuring that the web contents is tailored to each visitor, and to provide statistics for the site with a view to improving its functioning.
Several types of cookies – session cookies and persistent cookies – are used. Depending on functions and purpose, we use technical, or critical, and analytical cookies.
The MFA website https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/ have installed and contain the following cookies:
Cookie name |
Description |
Expiration time |
TS01 |
Website session identification, while the user uses the MFA website. After the website session has been finished, the data are erased. Identifies the language and other options used for browsing. |
After website browsing has been finished |
_gat |
Used to throttle request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_<property-id>. |
1 minute |
_ga |
Used to distinguish users (the user’s data are anonimyzed by setting a randomly chosen identificator.) |
2 years |
_gid |
Used to distinguish unique website users. |
24 hours |
APISID | Security | 2 years |
HSID | Security | 2 years |
SAPISID | Security | 2 years |
SID | Security | 2 years |
SIDCC | Security | 90 days |
SSID | Security | 2 years |
NID | A unique ID used by Google to remember the user’s preferences, such as their preferred language | 180 days |
C | Checks whether the user’s browser accepts cookies | 30 days |
1P_JAR | Used to collect anonymised site use statistics | 30 days |
_utma | Used to collect anonymised website statistics and to improve site performance | 2 years |
_utmb | Used to collect anonymised website statistics and to improve site performance | End of session |
_utmt | Used to collect anonymised website statistics and to improve site performance | End of session |
_utmz | Used to collect anonymised website statistics and to improve site performance | 180 days |
Google Analytics
The website of the MFA uses cookies created by a third person, Google Inc, according to our instructions and the purposes specified, in order to obtain information on the number of unique visitors to the website and duration of an individual session, to determine the sections of the website visited, and for other needs. Analytical cookies only indentify your device without disclosing your identity.
You can read more about the Google Analytics Terms of Service on the http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html website.
If you want the MFA not to obtain information regarding your activities on the MFA website, you should activate the additional Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881). This add-on communicates with Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that you do not need to send data on the relevant visit to Google Analytics. As a result, Google Analytics will not get data regarding your activities.
The data received by the Google Analytics are anonymised, which makes it impossible to identify the specific user of the home page. Your IP address is masked (anonymised) prior to processing within Google Analytics.
Blocking and deleting cookies
If you wish to block or delete cookies, you can change your browser’s cookie settings. Most browsers give users a level of control over cookies. Users can set their browsers to accept or reject all, or certain, cookies. You can delete cookies that are already on your computer any time, but if you do this, some services and functionalities on the website may not work.
You can control and/or delete cookies as you deem necessary – for details, see https://www.aboutcookies.org/.
Further information
Should you have any questions regarding the use of cookies on our website, contact our Data Protection Officer at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.