A cookie is a small file that stores internet settings. Almost every website uses the cookie technology. It is downloaded by your internet browser upon your first visit of a website. When you next visit this website with the same end device the cookie and the information stored within it are either sent back to the website that created it (first party cookie) or to another website to which it belongs (third party cookie). This allows the website to recognise that it has been visited with this browser before and, in some cases, varies the displayed content. Several cookies are very useful as they can improve the user experience when returning to a website that they have already visited on numerous occasions. Assuming you use the same end device and the same browser as before, cookies can, for example, remember your preferences, tell you how to use a page and adapt the offers displayed to be more relevant to your personal interests and needs. Depending on their function and purpose cookies can be divided into four categories:
Essential cookies (type 1): these cookies are essential for websites and their functions to work correctly. Without these cookies certain services cannot be made available.
Functional cookies (type 2): these cookies allow the comfort and performance of websites to be improved and for various functions to be made available.
Performance cookies (type 3): these cookies collect information about how you use websites. For example, performance cookies help us to identify particularly popular areas of our internet offering. This allows us to better adapt the content of our websites to your needs and therefore improve our offer to you. The information that is collected with these cookies is not personal.
Third-party cookies (type 4): these cookies are used by third parties, such as social networks. They are primarily used to integrate social media content such as social plugins.