Last updated: 1 September 2026
1. What Is a Cookie?
A cookie is a small text file your browser saves on your device when you visit a site. On later requests the site reads that file and recognises your browser — for instance, it remembers a preference you stated earlier.
By origin, cookies are either first party (set by the site itself) or third party (set by another service the site uses). By lifetime, they are either session cookies, deleted when the browser closes, or persistent cookies, deleted after a set period.
2. Why We Use Cookies
We deliberately kept cookie use on this site narrow. We use cookies for two things: to remember your cookie choice and — only if you consent — to measure in aggregate statistics how the site is used.
Every cookie apart from the essential one depends on your consent. If you withhold consent, the site keeps working in full across all its pages; the only difference is that we do not see the visit statistics.
3. Cookie Categories
The cookie panel offers four categories:
- Essential cookies: required for the site to work and for your consent to be stored. They are not subject to consent and cannot be switched off.
- Performance cookies: used by Google Analytics for aggregate measurements such as page views and visit counts.
- Functional cookies: reserved for additional features that remember your preferences.
- Targeting and advertising cookies: reserved for advertising measurement and personalisation.
As of today the essential cookies are always active; the performance category is used for Google Analytics, and the functional category for the Google Maps frame on the Contact page. No cookie is used in the targeting category at present; if we start using one, we will update this policy and the table below.
The contact page contains an embedded Google Maps frame showing the location of our office. It loads only once you consent to functional cookies; without that consent you see an information card in its place and no request reaches Google. Once loaded, the frame's content comes directly from Google and is subject to Google's own cookie and privacy policies.
4. Cookies Used on This Site
The table below lists the cookies used on the site with their name, category, purpose, technical lifetime and party. We keep the table up to date as our cookie use changes.
| Cookie | Category | Purpose | Duration | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mv_consent | Essential | Stores your cookie preferences. | 1 year | First party |
| _ga | Performance | Google Analytics tells one visitor apart from another. | 2 years | Google — only with your consent |
| _ga_<measurement-id> | Performance | Google Analytics keeps session state. | 2 years | Google — only with your consent |
5. Deleting Cookies From Your Browser
You can also manage cookies from your browser settings. Every current browser, Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge included, lets you see stored cookies, delete them one by one or all at once, and block new ones. The relevant settings usually sit under a privacy or site data heading.
Deleting only the mv_consent cookie lets you start over with your choices: the cookie panel opens again on your next visit. If you block all cookies at browser level, mv_consent cannot be written either, so the panel appears on every visit.
6. Managing Your Preferences
The cookie panel opens on your first visit and asks for your choice on non-essential cookies. No optional cookie is written before you decide; the categories start switched off and become active only when you turn them on.
You can change the consent you gave at any time, or withdraw it entirely. When you remove performance consent, Google Analytics is disabled and any Google Analytics cookies already written are deleted.
To update your choices, press the Manage My Preferences button on this page.