On this page you will find more information about exactly what cookies are, which cookies are used by us and how you can influence cookies. A cookie is a piece of text that is given by a web server to a visiting browser, in the hope and expectation that the browser will return it on a subsequent visit.

The cookie is an addition to the HTTP specification. The HyperText Transfer Protocol is used by anyone visiting a Web site: it controls communication between a Web server and a browser. However, it is not designed to see successive page visits as a single entity. As a result, it is not automatically possible to retrieve data or settings on a subsequent visit.

How do cookies work?
Contrary to what politicians sometimes claim, cookies themselves are neither programs nor files and technically speaking nothing is stored by the web server on the computer of the visitor. The latter is entirely up to the browser. Ultimately, cookies are often stored as a file, but a web server cannot force a browser to actually store cookies or return them on a later visit.

A cookie is always bound to a specific domain or subdomain. So cookies are only sent back to the same domain they came from. You can therefore be sure that only the servers of this website receive the cookies that were previously obtained from the current website. Also, through Javascript, only this domain can access the cookies that have been placed.

An important point about cookies is that they can be received with every HTTP request, and that all known, relevant cookies are sent with every request. This also applies to requests for images, JavaScript and CSS files for a web page. Of course, the domain check is also applied then.

First-party cookies
Cookies that you receive for the same domain that you visit are called first-party cookies. So when you view this page, the cookies from this domain are first-party cookies.

Third-party cookies
It is also possible that a website contains elements from third-parties. Well-known examples are embedded videos, advertisements and social media buttons. If these elements send cookies from their own servers, they are called third-party cookies. It is therefore possible that when you visit this website you will receive third-party cookies for Facebook.com, Youtube.com and other third-party websites. Because of the way HTTP works and the security surrounding cookies, it is not possible for the first party in question to influence the sending of third-party cookies.

What are cookies used for on this website?
Cookies make it possible, during subsequent visits to this website, to retrieve information from previous visits. In practice, this is used to keep track of the fact that you are logged in, that you have adjusted certain settings and that you have seen certain site elements before. Cookies that adjust the functioning of the site to your wishes are called functional cookies.

In addition, cookies can also be used to let the website know that a visitor has been on the site before. In this way statistical data on the use of the website can be collected. A well-known program that collects this data is Google Analytics. This program only works with anonymized statistical information that is used by us to analyze and improve the functioning of the site. This website currently uses Google Analytics to collect statistics. Information about your visiting behavior can also be used to tailor advertisements to your interests. We use only anonymized information about pages you have previously visited on this domain.

The visitor profiles that this domain itself creates using first-party cookies will never be shared with third parties and are only used to improve the quality and relevance of the website.