COOKIES POLICY THE COUCH

Effective Date as of 10-07-2023

Cookies Policy
This is the Cookie Policy (“Policy”) of The Couch (hereafter referred to as "The Couch," "we," "us" or "our") which explains how we use cookies and similar technologies when you visit our website located at https://thecouch.hethem.nl/.

The Couch is operated by Stichting Het HEM, a company located in Zaandam, the Netherlands. Het HEM is responsible for the processing of your personal data in connection with the Website as described in this Cookies Policy.

Our name and address details:

Stichting Het HEM
Warmperserij 1
1505 RL Zaandam
The Netherlands

Registered in the Netherlands Trade Register under number: KVK 72997664.

To exercise your rights or for any questions regarding this Policy, please contact us via: info@thecouch.hethem.nl
We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our Website.

What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user's device (such as a computer, smartphone, or tablet) by a website when the user visits it. Some cookies are used to ensure that a website functions properly or to provide a service that the user has explicitly requested. Cookies are used to track user activity on a website, remember user preferences, provide a personalized browsing experience. Cookies can be either temporary (session cookies) or permanent (persistent cookies). Session cookies are stored only for the duration of a user's visit to a website, while persistent cookies remain on a user's device even after they have left the website. Cookies can also be classified as first-party cookies, which are set by the website that the user is visiting, or third-party cookies, which are set by a different website than the one the user is visiting (such as an advertising network or an analytics service).

Types of cookies used
We use strictly necessary cookies and similar technologies to operate this Website, to provide you with a requested service and to detect and prevent fraudulent activities (“essential cookies”). We also use cookies to provide a personalized browsing experience. We use [third-party] analytics tools to collect information about how the Website is used and to help us measure and analyse traffic and usage trends. We use third-party advertising tools to collect information about a user's interests, browsing history, and online behaviour, to serve personalized advertisements [to user’s that are interested in our services].

We will not place cookies collecting personal information that are not strictly necessary for the provision of our Website and services unless you have given us your consent when you first visit our Website. You do not have to allow us to use the Cookies. It's important to note that blocking or restricting cookies may impact your browsing experience. Additionally, some functionalities may not function properly if you choose not to accept cookies, as some cookies are used to remember user preferences and settings.

This Cookies Policy is part of our Privacy Policy. For more information about how we protect personal data, please see our Privacy Policy.

Managing your cookie settings
You can easily manage our cookies through the cookie management tool made available on our Website. This tool allows you to withdraw previously given consent for performance or marketing cookies or to consent to cookies you have previously refused.

You can also control the use of cookies through your browser settings. Most web browsers offer settings that allow you to block or restrict cookies, delete existing cookies, or receive notifications when a website wants to set a cookie.

Here are the steps to control cookies in some popular web browsers:

Google Chrome:
Open Chrome and click the three dots in the top-right corner of the window.
Click "Settings" and then "Privacy and security."
Click "Cookies and other site data."
Choose your preferred cookie settings.

Safari:
Open Safari and click "Safari" in the top menu bar.
Click "Preferences" and then "Privacy."
Choose your preferred cookie settings.

Mozilla Firefox:
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner of the window.
Click "Options" and then "Privacy & Security."
Under "Cookies and Site Data," choose your preferred cookie settings.

Microsoft Edge:
Open Edge and click the three dots in the top-right corner of the window.
Click "Settings" and then "Privacy, search, and services."
Click "Cookies and site permissions."
Choose your preferred cookie settings.

Essential cookies
We use essential cookies to allow our Website to function properly, to create an account and to save information you have already entered such as login information, usernames, languages choices, and your location where necessary for the operation of the website. We also use essential cookies to help us identify suspicious behaviour on our Website in order to prevent fraud. Because essential cookies are necessary for the use of our Website, they may be placed without permission.

We use the following essential cookies;

1.
Who placed the Cookies: The Couch
Name Cookies: Security
Retention Period: 2 years
Purpose: The cookie is necessary for secure log-in and the detection of any spam or abuse of the website.
Need Cookie Consent?: No

Functional cookies
Functional cookies are cookies that are used to provide a better user experience by remembering your user preferences and settings for a next visit. They may also be used to provide personalized content or to remember choices that you have made, such as whether to show or hide certain features on a website. While functional cookies are not essential for the basic functionality of a website, they can improve the user experience and make the website more user-friendly.

Analytics cookies
We use analytics cookies (sometimes also referred to as “performance cookies”) to analyse how visitors use our Website. With this information we can improve the performance, as well as the quality, effectiveness, and user-friendliness of our Website and services. With these cookies we may collect a range of information, such as the number of visitors to our Website, the pages that are visited, the time spent on each page, the type of device used to access the website, and the browser used to access the Website. This information is often aggregated and anonymous, meaning that it cannot be used to identify individual users. In case your personal data is collected we will first ask your consent before storing those cookies on your device.

We use the following analytics cookies;

1.
Who placed the Cookies: Google Analytics
Name Cookies: User Activity
Retention Period: 2 Years
Purpose: Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

2.
Who placed the Cookies: Google Analytics
Name Cookies: Unique Visits
Retention Period: 2 Years
Purpose: Used by Google Analytics to collect data on the number of times the user has visited the web site as well as dates for the first and most recent visit.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

3.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: Unique Visits
Retention Period: 1 Day
Purpose: This cookie is used to count how many times a website has been visited by different visitors - this is done by assigning the visitor an ID, so the visitor does not get registered twice.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

4.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: User behaviour
Retention Period: Session
Purpose: Collects data on the user’s navigation and behaviour on the web site. This is used to compile statistical reports and heatmaps for the website owner.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

5.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: User ID
Retention Period: Session
Purpose: Sets a unique ID for the session. This allows the website to obtain data on visitor behaviour for statistical purposes.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

6.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: Unique visit HJ
Retention Period: 1 Day
Purpose: Collects statistics on the visitor’s visits to the web site, such as the number of visits, average time spent on the website and what pages have been read.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

7.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: Unique visit anonymous user-specific HJ
Retention Period: 1 Year
Purpose: Collects statistics on the visitor's visits to the web site, such as the number of visits, average time spent on the website and what pages have been read.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

8.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: Internal Analytics
Retention Period: Session
Purpose: Registers statistical data on users' behaviour on the website. Used for intern analytics by the website operator.
Need Cookie consent: Yes

9.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: Session timeline
Retention Period: Persistent
Purpose: This cookie contains an ID string on the current session. This contains non-personal information on what subpages the visitor enters – this information is used to optimize the visitor's experience.
Need Cookie consent|: Yes

10.
Who placed the Cookies: HotJar
Name Cookies: Image accuracy
Retention Period: Session
Purpose: Saves user screen size in order to adjust the images size on the website
Need Cookie consent: Yes

Changes to this policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. However, you will always find the most recent version on this page. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the top of this Cookie Policy indicates when it was last updated.