What cookies and local storage are
A cookie is a small file a website stores in your browser. Local storage works similarly but is not sent with every request. In law both count as storing or accessing information on your device, so the same consent rules apply.
Functional — always on
This storage is strictly necessary to run the site and does not require consent.
- Language preference: remembers which language you browse in.
- Market selection: remembers which countries you picked in the selector and calculator.
- Consent choice: records whether you accepted analytics, so we do not ask again.
- Session and security storage: only active if you sign in to a restricted part of the site.
Analytics — only after consent
With Google Analytics 4 we measure page views and conversion events such as a started or completed request. That shows us which pages help and which do not.
Until you consent, Google Consent Mode v2 stays denied: no analytics cookies are set and no events are sent. If you decline, it stays that way.
- _ga: distinguishes visitors, retention up to 24 months.
- _ga_<measurement-id>: stores session state, retention up to 24 months.
ePrivacy and consent: how it works legally
The ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC), as implemented in national law across the EU and EEA, requires prior consent before a website stores or reads information on your device. That applies whether or not the information is personal data. Only strictly necessary storage is exempt.
Our consent meets the GDPR standard: freely given, specific, informed and by clear affirmative action. Nothing is pre-ticked, declining takes exactly as much effort as accepting, and there is no cookie wall — the site works fully without consent.
Until you choose, or if you decline, every non-essential signal stays denied (Google Consent Mode v2: analytics_storage, ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization all denied). Only after you accept do we set analytics_storage to granted; advertising signals remain denied at all times.
Where a measurement service processes data outside the EU, that happens under the European Commission's standard contractual clauses and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and only after your consent.
Measurement options we may use
For completeness, this is everything we can use to measure on this website and the consent regime that applies to each.
- Google Analytics 4 (gtag.js) — analytics, only after consent. With IP anonymisation and Consent Mode v2.
- GA4 Measurement Protocol (server-side conversions) — only after consent; events are deduplicated against browser measurement so a conversion counts once.
- Internal 404 and click statistics in our own EU database — cookieless and aggregated (URL, language, country), with no profiling or identification.
- Hosting server logs — necessary for security and troubleshooting, no consent required, kept briefly.
- Advertising, retargeting and social media pixels — not used. There is no Google Ads tag, Meta pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag or tag manager on this site.
Advertising and tracking cookies
We do not place advertising or retargeting cookies on this website and we do not share visitor profiles with advertisers.
Note: affiliate tracking we set up for clients runs on the client's own website, not here. That tracking falls under the cookie policy of that shop.
Changing or withdrawing your choice
You can withdraw consent at any time by deleting this site's cookies in your browser; we will ask again on your next visit. You can also block cookies entirely in your browser settings. The site keeps working, we simply measure nothing.
Relation to the privacy policy
Which personal data we process, how long we keep it and what rights you have is described in our privacy policy. This cookie policy only covers what is stored on your device.