Our Cookie Policy

We collect data about how you interact with our website through the use of cookies and other similar technology. Updated 13/07/23

What is a cookie?

Cookies are small text files containing small amounts of information that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you access our website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies are useful because they allow our website to:

  • recognise your device
  • work our website, or work more efficiently,
  • to store information about your preferences or past actions, such as your cookie preferences.

You can find out more information about cookies at www. allaboutcookies.org.

We also use cookies to enhance and improve your online experience (for example, by remembering your language and/or preferences) and to understand better how our website is used.

Cookies may tell us, for example, whether you have visited our Websites before or whether you are a new visitor. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

What types of cookies do we use and how?

We use the following types of cookies:

  • ‘session cookies’: these are allocated to your device only for the duration of your visit to our website – they are deleted automatically once you close your browser;
  • ‘permanent cookies’: these survive after your browser is closed and can remain on your device for a period of time – they can be used by our website to recognise your computer or mobile device when you open your browser and browse the internet again. These cookies may be served directly by us to your computer or mobile device (so-called ‘first-party cookies’) or by one of our service providers (so-called ‘third-party cookies’). A first-party cookie is only used by us to recognise your computer or mobile device when you revisit, or access content via, our website. Third-party cookies can be used to recognise your computer or mobile device across different websites (and are most often used for analytical and advertising purposes).

What purposes do we use cookies for?

We use cookies for the purposes stated below:

  1. Essential cookies: these are essential to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of their features, such as access to secure areas – without these, providing core functionality, such as transactional pages and secure login accounts, would not be possible,
  2. Analytics cookies: these are used to collect information about how you and others use our website – the information gathered does not identify you and is aggregated – this includes:
    1. the number of visitors to our website,
    2. the website or other applications that referred them to our website
    3. the pages that they visited on our website – we use this information to help operate our website more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information and to monitor the level of activity on our websites.
  3. Functionality cookies: these allow our website to remember choices you make (such as your cookie choices) and provide enhanced, more personal features. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on another website.
    1. What is reCAPTCHA?
      reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google® that protects websites from spam software and abuse by non-human visitors. This service is most commonly used when you fill out forms on the Internet. A captcha service is an automatic Turing test designed to ensure that an action on the internet is made by a human rather than a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after the computer scientist Alan Turing), a person determines the distinction between bot and human. For captchas, this is also done by the computer or a software program. In the Invisible reCAPTCHA (or reCAPTCHA version 3 we use) a JavaScript element is integrated into the source code and then the tool runs in the background and analyzes your user behaviour. From these user actions, the software calculates a so-called captcha score. Google® calculates this score before captcha input how high the probability is that you are human. ReCAPTCHA or captchas, in general, are used whenever bots could manipulate or misuse certain actions (such as registrations, surveys, etc.).
    2. Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?
      We use Google® reCAPTCHA, so as to ensure we keep bots away. Using reCAPTCHA transmits data to Google® that Google® uses to determine if you are truly human. Thus, reCAPTCHA serves the security of our website and consequently also your safety. For example, without reCAPTCHA use in the registration process, a bot could easily register users’ email addresses. With reCAPTCHA we can avoid such bot attacks and therefore protect internet users in general.
    3. Which data are stored by reCAPTCHA?
      ReCAPTCHA by Google® service collects information that can be used by Google® to identify a visitor so as to determine if the actions on our site are actually human. So, the visitor’s IP address and other data that Google® needs for the reCAPTCHA service can be sent to Google. IP addresses within the member states of the EU or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area are almost always truncated before the data ends up on a server in the United States. The IP address will not be combined with any other Google data unless you are logged in with your Google Account while using a reCAPTCHA service. First, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks if your browser already has Google cookies from other Google services (Youtube, Gmail, etc.) and then reCAPTCHA sets an additional cookie through your browser to capture a snapshot of your browser window. Cookies created by the reCAPTCHA service are third party cookies. In our effort to understand and record the information they collect we have created the following list of browser and user data. In any case, this list is not exhaustive and as this is a third-party cookie widely used on the internet nowadays, we cannot guarantee that his Google® process is GDPR compliant.
      • Referrer URL (the address of the page from which the visitor comes)
      • Internet IP address (e.g., 256.123.123.1)
      • Information about the operating system (the software that enables you to operate your computer, known operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X or Linux)
      • Cookies (small text files that store data in your browser)
      • Mouse and keyboard behaviour (any action you perform with the mouse or keyboard is saved)
      • Date and language settings (which language or which date you have preset on your PC)
      • All JavaScript objects (JavaScript is a programming language that allows websites to adapt to the user. JavaScript objects can collect all sorts of data under one name)
      • Screen resolution (shows how many pixels the displayed image on your screen is made of)It is indisputable that Google uses and analyzes this data before you click on the checkmark “I am not a robot”. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you do not even tick the box anymore and the entire recognition process runs in the background. How much and what data Google® stores exactly, cannot be learned from Google® in detail.
    4. How long and where is the data stored?
      By inserting reCAPTCHA your data is transferred to a Google® server. Where exactly this data is stored, even Google, after repeated inquiries, does not make it clear. Without having received a confirmation from Google®, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interaction, time spent on the website or language settings are stored on the European or American Google® Servers. The IP address your browser sends to Google® will generally not be merged with other Google data from other Google® services. However, if you’re signed in to your Google Account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in, the data will be merged. For this, the deviating data protection regulations of Google® apply. Accepting these cookies is a condition for using the website, therefore if you prevent them, we cannot guarantee how our website will perform.
  4. Performance cookies: these collect information about how you and others use our website, for example, which pages are most visited, if error messages come up. They are only used to help us improve how our Website works and to ensure ease and speed of use.
  5. Marketing cookies: these facilitate online advertising – our website, for instance, uses remarketing with Google – third-party vendors, including Google, using these cookies to tailor adverts based on someone’s past visits to our Websites and serve these across the web – you can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ads Settings.
  6. Social media cookies: these are used when you share information using a social media sharing button or “like” button on our website or you link your account or engage with our content on or through a social networking site such as Facebook, or Twitter. The social network will then record that you have done this and the information may be linked to advertising activities such as targeted banners.

    What particular cookies do we use?

    We use a number of suppliers who may also set cookies on their website on their behalf. We do not control the use of these cookies, so you should check the third-party website for more information about them.

    How to manage cookies?

    You have the right to choose whether or not to accept cookies. However, if you do not accept our cookies, you may not be able to use the full functionality of our website. You can find more information about how to manage and remove cookies at allaboutcookies.org/ manage-cookies/ or by visiting the websites relevant to the browser you are using. Below we have provided links to some of the most popular browser websites:

    Google Chrome
    Microsoft Edge
    Mozilla Firefox
    Microsoft Internet Explorer
    Apple Safari Opera
    Safari

    Cookies installed on our website

    NamePurposeExpires
    _gat_gtagUsed to collect information about how you use our website. The information collected includes the number of
    visitors, pages visited and time spent on the website. The information is collected by Google Analytics in an aggregated and anonymous form, used to help us make improvements to the website. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
    1 minute
    gidUsed to distinguish individual users on your domain24 hours
    _gaThis helps us count how many people visit the website by tracking if you’ve visited before2 years
    Google reCAPTCHA Cookies
    1P_JARThis cookie collects statistics about website usage and measures conversions.1 month
    ANIDIn the privacy policy of Google®, the cookie is mentioned in connection with “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID”, “TAID”. ANID is stored under the domain google.com9 months
    CONSENTThe cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to use different services from Google®. CONSENT also serves security purposes by verifying users, preventing credential fraud, and protecting user data from unauthorized attacks.19 years
    NIDNID is used by Google®, in order to tailor ads to your Google-search. With the help of cookies, Google® “remembers” your most-typed searches or your earlier interaction with ads. This way you always get customized advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google® uses to collect the user’s personal settings for promotional purposes.6 months
    DVThe cookie is used by Google Analytics for personalized advertising. DV collects information in an anonymous form and is further used to make user distinctions.10 minutes
    _GRECAPTCHAWhen executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis. 1 session
    OGPCGoogle Ads Optimisation1 session
    SNIDGoogle Ads Optimisation, to provide ad delivery or retargetingPersistent