EU Cookie Directive

Implementation of the EU-Directive 2009/136/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy
in the electronic communications sector, also known as Cookie- or ePrivacy directive.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small file that is saved on your computer by a website you access. Cookies save small pieces of information such as your preferred language or other user-individual settings of a webpage. If you access the same webpage again, your web browser will transmit the information stored in the cookies to the website. Thus, the website can display information that is tailored to your individual profile.

If you use default settings for your cookies, these activities will take place in the background without you noticing when and what your browser saves from or transmits to websites via the use of cookies. You may, however, configure your browser in such a way as to receive a notification that requires your consent every time it tries to create a cookie. In this way it is also possible to limit the lifespan of all cookies to a single browsing session.

What are the different types of cookies?

A cookie can be classified by its lifespan and the domain to which it belongs.
By lifespan, a cookies are categorized in the following way:

session cookie which is erased when the user closes the browser or
persistent cookie which remains on the user’s computer/device for a pre-defined period of time.

According to the domain to which they belong, there are:

first-party cookies which are set by the web server of the visited page and share the same domain
third-party cookies stored by a different domain to the visited page’s domain. This can happen when the webpage references a file, such as JavaScript, located outside its domain.

Why do we use cookies?

We use our own, as well as third party cookies (Google Analytics) in order to provide the best possible browsing experience for our visitors. Many functions, such as language and region settings, would hardly be possible without the use of cookies.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service offered by Google Inc. (Google) Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files that are stored on your computer and that enable an analysis of your use of the website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website (including your IP address) is transferred to a Google server in the United States and stored there. Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website in order to compile reports about the website activities for the website operator and in order to render further services associated with using the website and the Internet. If necessary, Google may also transfer this information to third parties, provided that this is legally mandated or to the extent that third parties process these data on behalf of Google. Google will never connect your IP address with other data of Google Inc. You can prohibit the installation of cookies by adjusting the corresponding setting in your browser software; however, we would like to point out that in this case it may not be possible to fully utilize all of the functions of this website. By using this website you agree to the processing of data collected about you by Google in the manner described above and for the purpose stated above. Google also offers a disabling option for the most common browsers, thus providing you with greater control over the data which is collected and processed by Google. If you enable this option, no information regarding your website visit is transmitted to Google Analytics. However, the activation does not prevent the transmission of information to us or to any other web analytics services we may use. For more information about the disabling option provided by Google, and how to enable this option, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

How can I deny the use of cookies?

As a user you have full control over whether you would like to accept or deny cookies or even accept only the cookies of certain websites, offers or services. These individual settings can be configured in your web browser. The deactivation of cookies may, however, lead to certain websites not being fully functional.

This is how you find the respective browser settings in the three most popular web browsers:

Internet Explorer:
1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Choose “Tools” and then “Internet Options”.
3. Click the “Privacy” tab and move the slider to choose your settings.

Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Mozilla Firefox.
2. Click the menu button and then select “Options”.
3. Select “Privacy”.
4. Under “Firefox will” you have to choose “Use custom settings for history”.

Google Chrome:
1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the menu button and navigate to “Options”.
3. Select “Under the Bonnet” and locate the “Privacy” section.
4. Click the “Content settings” button and adjust your preferred settings.

Sources:
mozilla.org, ec.europa.eu