1. What are cookies?
Cookies and similar technologies (such as local storage in your browser) are small files or data stored on or read from your device. We use them only where necessary, and for everything else we ask for your consent.
2. How we handle your choice
2.1 Without your consent we place or load only strictly necessary storage. Nothing else loads before you choose.
2.2 On your first visit you see a banner with three equally clear choices: Accept all, Reject all and Preferences. Rejecting is as easy and as prominent as accepting. Scrolling or continuing to browse is not consent.
2.3 In Preferences you can choose per category: Necessary (always on), Statistics (Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and recording where a visitor came from) and Chat (Tawk.to). Statistics and Chat are off by default.
2.4 You can change or withdraw your choice at any time via "Cookie settings" in the footer. Withdrawing is as easy as giving. After withdrawal we stop loading the relevant services; cookies already placed can be deleted via your browser (we delete our own cookies where technically possible).
2.5 We remember your choice for 6 months (in our own necessary cookie cookie_consent) and then ask again. If something material changes in the services we use, we ask again sooner.
2.6 If you reject, the site remains fully usable. The contact form and the request form also work without consent. The chat loads only if you accept the Chat category or choose to open the chat yourself after a short notice.
3. Overview of what the site sets or loads
A. Necessary (strictly necessary, no consent needed)
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session cookie | IT bugsolutions (first party) | recognises your session for forms, error messages and security | session, or up to 2 hours of inactivity |
XSRF-TOKEN |
IT bugsolutions (first party) | protection against forged form requests (CSRF) | session, or up to 2 hours of inactivity |
cookie_consent |
IT bugsolutions (first party) | remembers your cookie choice and its time and version | 6 months |
B. Statistics (only after consent)
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
Script gtm.js (Google Tag Manager, container GTM-PQL4P6PH) |
manages the statistics tags; loaded only after consent | script, see the tags below | |
_ga |
Google Analytics | distinguishes visitors (pseudonymous) | up to about 2 years |
_ga_<ID> |
Google Analytics 4 | keeps session state | up to about 2 years |
_clck, _clsk and similar |
Microsoft Clarity | recognises a visitor and a session to create session recordings and heatmaps (input fields are masked) | see Microsoft's information; we set a short lifetime where possible |
| Recording where a visitor came from (channel, source, campaign, click ID, referring site, landing page) | IT bugsolutions | know where requests come from | held in your server session; stored with a request for up to 12 months |
Through Google Tag Manager we load statistics tags only: Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity. Clarity creates anonymised session recordings and heatmaps to see where visitors get stuck; text you type into form fields is masked. We pass your consent choice to Clarity (a consent signal for visitors from the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland), and if you refuse, Clarity is not loaded. Should we ever add advertising or remarketing tags, we will first introduce a separate "Marketing" category with its own consent. Google sets the lifetimes of its cookies; see Google's own cookie information.
C. Chat (only after consent or your own click on "Chat")
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
Script embed.tawk.to and related cookies and local storage set by Tawk.to |
Tawk.to | live chat, recognising returning visitors in the chat | determined by Tawk.to; see their cookie information |
D. Not used
- Google reCAPTCHA is not used. Spam protection on the forms uses a hidden field, a timing check and rate limiting on our own server.
- Google Fonts are self-hosted: your browser does not contact Google for fonts.
- We do not load embedded third-party content (such as videos) without your consent or click.
4. Third parties
Google and Tawk.to are third parties that may process data outside the EEA. See our privacy policy for recipients and transfers. Their own cookie and privacy statements also apply.
5. Your choices in the browser
You can always block or delete cookies through your browser. If you block strictly necessary cookies, forms may not work.
6. Contact and changes
Questions: contact@itbugsolutions.com. We may update this policy; the version and date are at the top.