What is a cookie and why are they used?
Cookies are used for the best possible use and presentation of the website. Cookies are small data packets that are sent to the visitor’s browser and stored there when they visit a website. This information can be sent back to the web server each time you visit the website.
Cookies are used to store personal page settings, as websites do not have their own data storage. They can also be used to identify users and record their usage behavior. Cookies fulfill a wide variety of purposes and are therefore differentiated according to function, lifespan and source. For example, there are temporary and permanent cookies. Temporary cookies are either deleted automatically after a time defined in the cookie or at the end of the browser session. Permanent cookies are stored permanently in the browser.
Deleting and blocking cookies
All common web browsers offer functions to prevent the general storage of cookies or the storage of cookies from third-party providers (e.g. advertising partners) and to delete cookies at any time. Information and instructions on how to manage cookies are available on the following links from the browser manufacturers:
Internet Explorer from version 7
Internet Explorer Cookies
Google Chrome
Google Chrome cookies
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox Cookies
Opera
Opera Cookies
Apple Safari
Apple Safari Cookies
Please note that blocking cookies may restrict the use of the website.
Cookies from third-party providers
Third-party cookies (including Google) are also used to display ads based on a user’s previous visits to the website. No personal information such as names, e-mail addresses, postal addresses or telephone numbers are collected by these advertising partners. Users of the website can deactivate the use of cookies by Google by accessing the page Interest-based advertising on websites outside of Google and deactivating the function there. In addition, users can deactivate the use of cookies by third-party providers by visiting the deactivation page of the “Network Advertising Initiative ” http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ and http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ and making the appropriate settings for the opt-out procedure there. These settings ensure that no interest-based advertising is displayed, but do not prevent the display of advertising in general.
The following types of cookies are used on the website
Technical cookies
In order to display a modern and user-friendly website, the use of technical cookies is absolutely necessary. Without these cookies, data entered during a visit to the website cannot be temporarily stored and processed (typical examples are products in a shopping cart or previous selections of products/services when going back during a session)
Functional cookies
Functional cookies can be used to make the website as user-friendly as possible. These are not absolutely necessary for the function of the website, but significantly improve usability during the visit to the website. These are used when settings such as preferred language or interests are to be saved so that they do not have to be re-entered each time you visit the site.
Analytical cookies
Analytical cookies are used to gain an insight into how visitors use the website, which topics brought them to the website, which topics or contributions are particularly interesting and relevant in order to continuously improve the service provided. In addition to pages visited, referring pages and bounce pages, data such as dwell time and click activities can also be stored.
Commercial cookies
Cookies can also be used during marketing campaigns to display advertisements on other websites. For this purpose, cookies and retargeting tags are used for interest-based advertising from online advertising providers on our own website.
Social network cookies
In order to be able to like and share elements such as pages, images and videos in social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., social plug-ins are integrated on the website. Cookies that are set by these platforms cannot be influenced, as they, including their content, are managed exclusively by the third-party providers. To prevent the website visit from being assigned to personal profiles, the visitor must be logged out of these third-party providers at the time of the visit.
