What's a cookie?
A "cookie" is a piece of information that is stored on your computer's hard drive and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit. Cookies can also be used to analyse traffic and for advertising and marketing purposes.
Cookies are used by nearly all websites and do not harm your system.
If you want to check or change what types of cookies you accept, this can usually be altered within your browser settings. You can block cookies at any time by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.
For further details please consult the help menu in your browser or find further information on Cookies and their use at the aboutcookies.org.uk website or to find out about the rules on the use of Cookies visit the Information Commissioner's Office website.
Consent to the use of cookies.
For our website to function properly, we use cookies. To obtain your valid consent for the use and storage of cookies in the browser you use to access our website and to properly document this we use a consent management platform: CookieFirst. This technology is provided by Digital Data Solutions BV, Plantage Middenlaan 42a, 1018 DH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Website: https://cookiefirst.com referred to as CookieFirst.
When you access our website, a connection is established with CookieFirst’s server to give us the possibility to obtain valid consent from you to the use of certain cookies. CookieFirst then stores a cookie in your browser in order to be able to activate only those cookies to which you have consented and to properly document this. The data processed is stored until the predefined storage period expires or you request to delete the data. Certain mandatory legal storage periods may apply, notwithstanding the aforementioned.
CookieFirst is used to obtain the legally required consent for the use of cookies. The legal basis for this is article 6(1)(c) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Data processing agreement
We have concluded a data processing agreement with CookieFirst. This is a contract required by data protection law, which ensures that data of our website visitors is only processed in accordance with our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR.
Server log files
Our website and CookieFirst automatically collect and store information in so-called server log files, which your browser automatically transmits to us. The following data is collected:
- Your consent status or the withdrawal of consent
- Your anonymised IP address
- Information about your Browser
- Information about your Device
- The date and time you have visited our website
- The webpage url where you saved or updated your consent preferences
- The approximate location of the user that saved their consent preference
- A universally unique identifier (UUID) of the website visitor that clicked the cookie banner
How do we use cookies?
We use cookies to track your use of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website as well as products and / or services in response to what you might need or want.
Cookies are either:
Session cookies
These are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or
Persistent cookies
A persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics.
Cookies can also be categorised as follows:
Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, such as when buying a product and / or service, and therefore cannot be turned off. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These include those used to access and use the Customer Online Ordering or Reporting Systems. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.
Performance cookies
These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.
Functionality cookies
These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, we may be able to provide you with news or updates relevant to the services you use. They may also be used to provide services you have requested such as viewing a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised.
Some of the visitor tracking services (such as Google Analytics) use a request for a small pixel image from a server sending visitor data in the request.