Cookie Policy
1) General: The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (hereafter referred to as “ESHRE”) primarily uses cookies to improve your browsing experience on the online Atlas of Human Embryology (hereinafter the "Site"). All data ESHRE obtains from these cookies are anonymous and will only be used to understand the visitor’s experience on the Site with the aim to improve the performance and usability of this Site.
Any change in the current cookie policy will be announced on the Site and/or via e-mail and the new cookie policy will enter into force thirty (30) days after the announcement. This statement was last amended on 29/04/2016.
2) What is a cookie?: A cookie, also known as a HTTP cookie, a web cookie or a browser cookie, is usually a small text file sent from a website and stored in the user's web browser while a user is browsing on a website. When the user in the future surfs on the same site, the data stored in that cookie can be retrieved by the website in order to notify the website of the last activity of that user. Cookies were designed as a reliable mechanism for websites to remember the status of the website or the previous user activity of a certain user. They help us to optimize your visit to the Site, to remember technical choices (e.g. language, newsletter, etc.) and to show more relevant services and offers. If you wish to consult the Site, ESHRE encourages you to enable cookies. However, if you choose to not do this, you are always free to disable the cookies.
Cookies may include: clicking on certain buttons, logging-in or a record of the pages which were visited by the user, even months or years ago. Although cookies cannot contain viruses and cannot install malware on the host computer, tracking cookies, and especially third-party tracking cookies are often used as ways to establish long-term data from the browser history of individuals together. This implies major privacy concerns that gave rise for European and US lawmakers to take action in 2011. This cookie statement is in accordance with current Belgian law (Law of 07.10.2012 laying down rules on electronic communications, BS 09/20/2012).
This Site uses different types of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies: As the name suggests, these cookies are strictly necessary to enable you to surf the Site or to provide certain functions you requested.
- Functionality cookies: These cookies improve the functionality of the Site by remembering your preferences. For example, you can set up your profile on the homepage.
- Tracking Cookies: These cookies will survive user sessions. When the Max-Age of a permanent cookie is set at one year, then, within that year, the initial value – stored in that cookie – shall be sent back to the server each time the user visits the server. This is done to save a vital piece of information, such as how the user initially came to the Site. For this reason they are also called tracking cookies. For example, once you have chosen your preferred language, the Site will record your preference in a persistent cookie and save it in your browser. When you visit the Site again, it will use that persistent cookie to ensure that the content is delivered in the desired language.
- Performance Cookies: These cookies help to improve the performance of the site, so as to provide a better user experience. ESHRE uses Google Analytics, a popular web analytics service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help analyze how users use the Site. It records the number of visitors and it provides ESHRE with information on their overall behavior - such as the typical duration of a visit to the Site or the number of pages a user views on average.
- Third party cookies: In order to support its communications, ESHRE has anchored its content in social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and ESHRE makes use of the sharing features on social networks. The channels that ESHRE uses may contain cookies of these websites, but ESHRE does not verify this. You should consult the relevant website of these third parties to learn more about these cookies.
3) List of the cookies the Site uses: The table below lists the cookies that ESHRE, where appropriate, collects and the information such cookies save.
4) Enabling cookies:
A number of options are available to prevent the storage of cookies. Please visit the websites of the different browsers to learn how you can block the storage of cookies. In addition to avoiding storage, it is also possible at any time to remove the current installed cookies on your computer.
- Apple Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/3.0/en/9277.html
- Google Chrome: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=95647
- Microsoft Internet Explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.mspx
- Mozilla Firefox: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Enabling%20and%20disabling%20cookies
It is important to realize that if you decide to remove all your cookies you will most likely have to re-enter all your usernames and passwords for all websites you visit, something of which you previously did not even have to think about. As already mentioned, cookies can be a real asset to your browsing experience on the Web.
To learn more about cookies, please visit the website www.allaboutcookies.org. This website provides more information on cookies, explains in detail how to remove the cookies you find, and shows you how to enable trusted sites to store cookies on your computer.
