Last Updated: 2024-10-07 12:32:38
Cookies and Privacy
To make our website more attractive and to enable certain functions, we use cookies. These serve to protect our legitimate interests in an optimized presentation of our offerings in accordance with Article 6(1) sentence 1 lit. f GDPR.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are automatically stored on your device. There are session cookies, which are deleted after closing the browser, and persistent cookies, which recognize your browser during a later visit. You can find the duration of storage in your browser's cookie settings.
Cookie Management
You can configure your browser to be informed about cookies and to decide individually on their acceptance. The management of cookie settings is described in the help menus of each browser. Useful links to the settings can be found here:
- Internet Explorer: Microsoft Support
- Safari: Apple Support
- Chrome: Google Support
- Firefox: Mozilla Support
- Opera: Opera Help
GDPR and Cookies
The EU law on the handling of personal data, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), represents the most significant initiative on data protection in 20 years. Its purpose is to protect "natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data."
Cookies are mentioned once in the 88-page long regulation, but these few lines have a significant impact on cookie compliance:
"Natural persons may be associated with online identifiers [...] such as internet protocol addresses, cookie identifiers or other identifiers [...] This may leave traces which, in particular when combined with unique identifiers and other information received by the servers, may be used to create profiles of the natural persons and identify them."
This means: When cookies can identify an individual, they are considered personal data.
What’s the Deal with Cookies?
Cookies are small files that are automatically stored on your computer while you browse the web. They are harmless text snippets that can be easily viewed and deleted. However, they can provide insight into your behavior and preferences and can be used to identify you without your explicit consent.
This situation represents a significant legal breach, and as data technologies become more sophisticated, your privacy as a user is increasingly compromised. Often, cookies do not even originate from the website you are visiting but from third parties tracking you for marketing purposes.
Not all cookies are used to identify users, but the majority of useful cookies for website owners do, and therefore they are subject to the GDPR. Cookies for analytics, advertising, and functional services, such as surveys and chat tools, are examples of cookies that can identify users.
The issues with cookies revolve around both privacy—what is being recorded?—and transparency—who is tracking you, for what purpose, where does the data go, and how long does it stay