What are cookies?

A cookie is a short text file that is sent to your browser by the websites you visit. It allows websites to remember information about your visit, such as your preferred language or other settings. This can make your next visit to our website easier and more beneficial to you than your first visit, e.g. you do not have to choose your preferred language again. Cookies are therefore important, without them browsing the site would be more difficult.

What cookies do we process?

A website visitor who has cookies enabled in his/her web browser accepts the way cookies are handled on a particular website. Cookies cannot examine your computer or other devices or read the data stored in them.

Temporary cookies: session cookies are activated whenever you visit a website and are automatically deleted when you stop browsing.

Persistent cookies: long term cookies remain stored on your computer or other device after you have finished browsing the website.

What do we use cookies for?

We use cookies for a number of purposes. For example, we use them to store your secure search preferences, track the number of visitors to the site, make it easier for you to register for our services, protect your data, or remember your settings. Cookies are generally divided into 3 categories according to their purpose:

• Essential
• Functional
• Analytical

Strictly necessary cookies – allow you to use the website in general and to use basic features such as secure areas, shopping baskets and online payments. These cookies do not collect any information about you that could be used for marketing purposes, nor do they remember your internet browsing history. We cannot guarantee the full functionality of our site without their use.

Functional cookies – used to provide services or to remember settings to ensure maximum comfort when using the website. With the help of functional cookies:

• we remember what settings you have chosen, for example your preferred language
• we remember whether you have already given any consent or disagreement, e.g. confirmed the Cookies Policy (and we don’t need to bother you with this question a second time)
• pre-populate your data in the forms, etc.

Analytical cookies – they collect information about how you use our website, e.g. which pages you visit, whether you have encountered any errors, for example in forms. These cookies do not collect any information that could identify you – all the data collected is anonymous and is used to let us know how much traffic we get to the site, to analyse visitor behaviour and to find out what content and information is of interest to our visitors. Any analytics information stored is anonymous and is used solely for our own technical and marketing purposes.

Advertising cookies – used to tailor relevant advertisements. These cookies also help us track the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. The information stored in these cookies may also be used by third-party ad providers to serve ads on other websites and in your browser.

How do you check your cookie settings?

You can control and/or delete cookies at your discretion – see allaboutcookies.org for details. You can delete all cookies stored on your computer. You can set most browsers to prevent them from being stored. However, if you do this, you may have to manually adjust some settings each time you visit the website and some services and functionality will not work.

How do I set cookies in my browser?

Each internet browser allows you to manage your cookie settings. Please consult the “Help” function of your internet browser or its manufacturer for instructions on how to prevent and delete cookies.