Knowledge Base

On this page you will find more information about what cookies are, which cookies TruQu uses and how you can influence cookies.

What are cookies?

A cookie is a piece of text that is given to a visiting browser by a web server, in the hope and expectation that the browser will return that during a follow-up visit.

The cookie is a supplement to the HTTP specification. The HyperText Transfer Protocol is used by anyone who visits a website: it controls the communication between a web server and a browser. However, it is not designed to see consecutive page visits as a whole. As a result, it is not immediately possible to retrieve data or settings during a follow-up visit.

In order to make this possible, the cookie and set-cookie headers for HTTP were introduced in 1997. This specification was last updated in April 2011 and is currently going through life as RFC 6265 HTTP State Management Mechanism.

How do cookies work?

Contrary to what politicians sometimes claim, cookies are not programs themselves and no files, and technically nothing is stored by the web server on the visitor’s computer. The last thing can completely be decided by the browser itself. Eventually cookies are often saved as a file, but a web server can’t force a browser to actually store cookies or return them at a later visit.

A cookie is always bound to a specific domain or subdomain. Cookies are therefore only returned to the same domain, as where they came from. You can be sure that only the TruQu servers receive the cookies that were previously obtained through TruQu. Also via javascript, only TruQu can access the cookies that TruQu has placed.

An important point of cookies is that they can be received with every http request and that all known, relevant cookies are included with every request. This is also for requests that request images, javascript and css files for a web page. Of course, the domain control is also applied.

First-party cookies

Cookies that you receive for the same domain as you visit are called first-party cookies. When viewing this page, TruQu cookies are therefore first-party cookies.

Third-party cookies

It is also possible that a website contains elements from third parties. Well-known examples are embedded videos, advertisements and social media buttons. If cookies are sent with these elements from their own servers, they are called third-party cookies. It is therefore possible that when you visit TruQu, you get third-party cookies for Facebook.com, Youtube.com and other third-party websites.

Due to the operation of HTTP and the protection of cookies, it is not possible for the relevant first party – in our example TruQu – to influence the sending of third-party cookies.

What are cookies used on TruQu for?

With cookies it is possible to retrieve information from previous visits during follow-up visits. This is used in practice to keep track of the fact that you are logged in, that you have made certain settings and that you have seen certain site elements before. Cookies that adapt the functioning of the site to your wishes are called functional cookies.

In addition, cookies can also be used to let the site know that a visitor has been to the site before. In this way, statistics on the use of the website can be collected. A well-known example of this is Google Analytics. This only uses anonymized statistical information that is used by us to analyze and improve the operation of the site. Information about your visit behavior can also be used to match advertisements to your interests. TruQu only uses anonymized information about pages that you have previously visited on TruQu.

The visitor profiles that TruQu compiles using first-party cookies will never be shared with third parties and will only be used to improve the quality and relevance of TruQu.

Which cookies can be placed by others when visiting TruQu?

TruQu sometimes places third-party content. This is for example with the various social media buttons that make it possible to share messages on TruQu via Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Cookies are also used when serving advertisements. These cookies are used to measure how often an advertisement is shown and what interactions are done on or with the advertisement, such as clicking on a banner. By placing such cookies we can also use a so-called frequency cap; this ensures that you come into contact with a particular advertisement a maximum of an x ​​number of times and thus, for example, not seeing the same video ad repeatedly for starting a video.

Furthermore, advertisers often use a media agency to deliver the campaign for them. In these cases, the media agency also places cookies to measure and optimize campaigns. TruQu also grants limited permission to advertisers and media agencies to recognize you as a visitor on TruQu and on other websites and to display more relevant advertisements on that basis. Because a lot of parties work together in the advertising world, it is unfortunately not possible to give a complete list of possible domains.

How can I refuse cookies?

Without cookies it is almost impossible for us to give you the best experience when visiting the site. This has to do with analyzing the web statistics to determine how the site should look and navigate, but also to determine which content is popular and what is actually not read by our visitors.

How can I delete cookies?

Delete cookies in Internet Explorer

1. Go to the Tools menu> Internet Options> General tab. Under browse history, click Delete.
   2. You may not want to delete everything. Make sure that in any case Cookies is checked and click on Delete.

Delete cookies in Firefox

1. Go to Tools> Options> Privacy tab. Click Clear your recent history.
   2. Under Details you can indicate exactly what you want to delete. Check in any case Cookies. You can also indicate how old the cookies should be. Select All here.

Delete cookies in Chrome

1. Click on the three lines at the top right. Click Options> Advanced Options tab. Under Privacy, click Clear browsing data …
   2. Make sure in any case that Delete cookies and other site data is checked. You can also indicate how old the cookies should be. Select All here.