What are cookies?

A cookie is a data file that websites store on your computer so they can recognise the computer the next time you visit the website. Cookies are sent back and forth between your browser and a web server, and they contain information about things such as:

• user settings
• shopping cart contents
• whether a user is logged in
• how the website is used

Cookies are passive files and cannot spread a computer virus or malicious software (malware). They most often help analyse how the website is used, so the web editor can improve the user experience. In a number of instances, cookies can be necessary to provide a particular service.

Cookies are most often automatically deleted from the browser when it quits (so-called session cookies). However, cookies can be set with a date/time of expiry, so the data may exist for a shorter or longer period (persistent cookies). Persistent cookies are typically saved on the hard drive.

In addition, a distinction is normally made between first-party and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are allocated by the page visited by the user. Third-party cookies are allocated by a third party that has elements embedded in the page visited by the user.

Cookies at au.dk

At au.dk, we mainly use cookies for web analysis with a view to optimising the user experience of the website. Cookies are placed to detect glitches on the website, such as dead links and accessibility errors, as well as analysing user activity on the site.

Cookie from Google Analytics

At au.dk, we use Google Analytics to analyse user activity on our website. The information collected by the cookie about your use (traffic data, including your IP address) is sent to Google’s servers in the USA, where it is stored. Google uses this information to evaluate your use of the website, draw up reports about the website activity, and provide other services relating to activity on the website and use of the Internet. Google can also disclose the information to a third party if required by law, or if a third party processes the information on behalf of Google.

Google Analytics places two types of cookies:

• A persistent cookie that shows whether the user is returning, where the user comes from, which search engine the user uses, keywords, etc.
• Sessions cookies that are used to show when and how long a user is on the website. Session cookies expire after each session, i.e. when you close your tab or browser. Google does not correlate your IP address with any other data it holds.

Read more about how Google Analytics uses cookies.

How you reject the use of cookies

You can reject the use of cookies on your computer by selecting the relevant settings in your browser. Please note that you may not be able to use all the site features without cookies. Because cookies are stored on your computer, it is always possible for you as the client to view, change or delete these cookies. We hope you will allow the cookies we place, because they help us improve the website.

If you do not wish to receive cookies from au.dk, most new browsers allow you to select advanced cookie settings under Internet preferences, and add this domain to the list of websites where you wish to block cookies.

Here you can also delete individual cookies or all cookies your browser has saved.

If you set your browser to refuse cookies, you should be aware that certain features will not work on some websites.

If you do not want your visit to be registered by Google Analytics, you can use Google’s Opt-Out Browser Add-on. Please note that if you install this browser plug-in, your visits to other sites that use Google Analytics will not be registered either.

For more information, see these guidelines from the most common browsers:

How to delete cookies in Microsoft Internet Explorer
How to delete cookies in Mozilla Firefox
How to delete cookies in Google Chrome
How to delete cookies in Opera
How to delete Flash cookies (in all browsers)

Why is Aarhus University providing this information?

Cookies are used to collect information about the behaviour of Internet users. Even though this mostly occurs to provide the user with a better experience, or is a technical requirement for using a particular service, the user should be informed that it takes place, and be given the opportunity to prevent it happening in future.

All Danish websites are obliged to provide information about which cookies are being placed on a user’s equipment. This information must be in accordance with the Executive Order on Information and Consent Required in Case of Storing and Accessing Information in End-user Terminal Equipment, which is part of an EU directive on the protection of privacy in electronic communication.