Cookie policy

Cookie Policy

Cookies are small data files which are downloaded to your device when you visit our website. Cookies may gather information about your use of the website or may enable us to recognize you as an existing customer when you return to our website at a later date. Cookies allow us to recognize your device. You can find more information about cookies at http://www.allaboutcookies.org and http://www.youronlinechoices.eu.

  • 1. About cookies

    You do not have to accept (all of) our cookies. However, if cookies are disabled or removed, not all features of our website will operate as intended. For example, you may not be able to use all of the features we offer, you may not be able to store your preferences and some of our pages may not display properly. You can find more information on how to disable and/or delete cookies in section 4 below.

  • 2. What types of cookies are used?

    We use both session and persistent cookies on our website.

    Also, we use first party cookies and third party cookies. First party cookies are Elia’s cookies. Third party cookies are cookies that are set by websites that belong to a domain that is different from the domain that is displayed in the browser address bar when you visit an Elia website.

    In addition, we also make use of third-party requests which are calls that are made on outside servers in order to display content coming from other applications or websites (ex. Twitter widget). Even though those applications do not install any cookie, they may still collect information on the visitor via parameters.

    We use the following cookies:

    • strictly necessary cookies - cookies that are essential in order to enable you to move around our website and use its features;
    • analytical / performance cookies – cookies that collect information about how you use our website, for example which webpages/features you go to most often. These cookies allow us to improve how the website works;
    • functionality cookies – cookies that allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal or customized features;
    • targeting cookies – cookies that are used to deliver content that are more relevant to you and your interests, based on an analysis of your browsing.
  • 3. List of cookies used on this website
    3.1. General information 

    We use both session cookies and persistent cookies on our website. 

    We also use first-party and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are Elia's cookies, while third party cookies are set by websites that belong to a domain differing to that displayed in the address bar when you visit an Elia website.

    We also make use of third-party requests, which are requests made to external servers to display content from other applications or websites (e.g. Twitter widgets). Even though these applications do not install any cookies, they may still collect information about visitors via settings.

    We use the following types of cookie on our website:

    A. Strictly necessary cookies are essential for allowing visitors to browse our website and use its functions. As they are a technical necessity, these cookies are installed once you access the website and cannot be rejected.
    B. Analytical/performance cookies collect information about how you use our website (e.g. the web pages/functions you visit/use most often). They help us improve the operation of the website and can be rejected.
    C. Functionality cookies allow the website to provide enhanced functions and customisation. They can be set by us and/or third-party suppliers whose services we have added to our pages. 
    D. Targeting/advertising cookies are used to deliver content that is more relevant to your profile and interests based on an analysis of your browsing. These cookies can be rejected.

    3.2. Cookies used on this website

    This section categorises and describes the various cookies used on this website based on their purpose, type and supplier, where applicable.

    A. Strictly necessary cookies

    • SXA_SITE ([ASP.NET TS, ASP.NET_SessionId, website#lang])
      Purpose: to collect information about how visitors use this website, which we use to enhance the operation of our websites and remember user preferences (e.g. language preferences).
      Cookie owner: www.elia.be, www.eliagroup.eu
      Further information: supplied by Sitecore
      Legal basis for processing: legitimate interest ( Article 6(1)(f)) General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’)
      Duration: session
    • Elia site#lang
      Purpose: to remember users' language preferences.
      Cookie owner: www.elia.be, www.eliagroup.eu
      Further information: supplied by Sitecore
      Legal basis for processing: legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
      Duration: session
    • TS01690ff8, TS0101abd0
      Purpose: the BIG-IP ASM system uses ASM cookie names to enforce security policies. The BIG-IP ASM system validates the cookies returned by customers to ensure that they are not modified.
      Cookie owner: www.elia.be, www.eliagroup.eu
      Further information: supplied by BIG-IP ASM (https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K6850)
      Legal basis for processing: legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
      Duration: session


    B. Analytical/performance cookies

    • YouTube ([_gps, _pref, _ysc, _visitor_info1_live])
      Purpose:
      see the table below
      Further information: the website uses YouTube to display and store video content. YouTube sets these cookies to track the use of its services. YouTube cookies are only installed once you press Play.
      Cookie owner: YouTube (Google)
      Legal basis for processing: consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)

       Name  Purpose  Duration
      _gps  Records a unique ID used by Google to produce statistics about the videos watched by the user on different websites  24 hours
       _pref  Records a unique ID used by Google to produce statistics about the videos watched by the user on different websites  8 months
       _ysc  Records a unique ID to produce viewing statistics regarding YouTube videos   Session
       _visitor_info1_live  Estimates user bandwidth based on the web page in which the video is embedded  179 days

      More information: https://policies.google.com/privacy
    • Google Analytics ([_ga, _gat, _utma, _utmt, _utmb, _utmc, _utmz and _utmv]) and Google Tag Manager ([_dc_gtm_])
      Purpose: to collect information about how visitors use this website. We use the information to compile reports and help us improve this website. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the website, the page that directed visitors to this website and the pages they visited.
      Cookie owner: Google
      Further information: the information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Consult the Google Privacy Policy to learn more about Google cookies. You can prevent Google from collecting and using your data (cookies and IP address) by downloading and installing the browser add-on available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
      Legal basis for processing: consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).
      Duration: 2 years

      The following cookies are used to this end.
     Name  Purpose  Duration
     _ga  Used to distinguish between users
     24 months
     _gid  Used to distinguish between users  24 hours
     _gat  This cookie is used to throttle the rate of requests sent to Google Analytics to increase the efficiency of network calls. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is called _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.  1 minute
     _utma  Used to distinguish between users and sessions. This cookie is created when the JavaScript library is running and when there is no existing _utma cookie. This cookie is updated every time data are sent to Google Analytics.  2 years
     _utmt  Used to throttle the request rate  10 minutes
     _utmb  Used to determine new sessions/visits. This cookie is created when the JavaScript library is running and when there is no existing _utmb cookie. This cookie is updated every time data are sent to Google Analytics.  30 minutes
     _utmc  This cookie was typically used together with the _utmb cookie to determine whether a user was in a new session/visit.  Session
     _utmz  Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how a user reached your site. This cookie is created when the JavaScript library is running and is updated every time data are sent to Google Analytics
     6 months
     _utmv  Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor-level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. This cookie is updated every time data are sent to Google Analytics.  2 years

    More information: 

    https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage#analyticsjs
    https://policies.google.com/privacy

    • Matomo Analytics ([_pk_id, _pk_ses, _pk_ref, _pk_cvar, _pk_hsr]) and Matomo Tag Manager ([_mtm]) 
      Purpose: to collect information about how visitors use this website. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the website, which page directed the visitors to this website, and the pages they visited. 
      Cookie owner: Matomo 
      Further information: the information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored on servers located in Germany, within the European Union, ensuring compliance with GDPR. For more details on Matomo cookies and privacy, please consult the Matomo Privacy Policy. You can opt-out of Matomo’s data collection by following the instructions provided at: Matomo Opt-out
      Legal basis for processing: consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). 
      Duration: 13 months

      The following cookies are used to this end.

      Name

      Purpose

      Duration

      _pk_id

      Used to store a few details about the user such as the unique visitor ID

      13 months1

      _pk_ref

      Used to store the attribution information, the referrer initially used to visit the website

      6 months1

      _pk_ses, _pk_cvar, _pk_hsr

      Short lived cookies used to temporarily store data for the visit

      30 minutes1

      mtm_consent (or mtm_consent_removed)

      Created to remember that consent was given (or removed) by the user

      30 years1

      mtm_cookie_consent

      Created to remember that consent for storing and using cookies was given by the user

      30 years1

      matomo_ignore

      Used when you exclude yourself from being tracked (opt-out)

      30 years1

      matomo_sessid

      Used for the opt-out feature (nonce to help prevent CSRF security issues)

      14 days1


      More information: 

      For more detailed information about Matomo cookies and their usage, you can refer to the Matomo FAQ1.



    C. Functionality cookies

    • Cookie level ([1|2|3|4])
      Purpose:
      to remember a visitor's acceptance of the range of EU legislation on cookies
      Cookie owner:
      www.elia.be, www.eliagroup.eu
      Further information:
      supplied by Sitecore
      Legal basis for processing:
      consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)
      Duration:
      session
    • Emergency Ribbons ([closed-emergency-ribbons])
      Purpose: to remember that a visitor has closed the notification banner in the website header 
      Cookie owner: www.elia.be, www.eliagroup.eu 
      Further information: supplied by Sitecore
      Legal basis for processing: consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)
      Duration: session
    • Jotforms (Guest; language; userReferer; PHPSESSID)
      Purpose
      see the table below
      Cookie owner: 
      jotfor.ms, jotform.com, www.jotform.com
      Legal basis for processing: 
      consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)
      Further information: 
      Jotform cookies are described below
     Name  Purpose  Duration
     Guest This cookie registers data on visitors' website-behaviour. This is used for internal analysis and website optimization.  30 days
     language This cookie stores the language code for the visitor in order to handle translations.  30 days
     userReferer This cookie determines how the user accessed the website. This information is used by the website operator in order to measure the efficiency of their marketing.  30 days
     PHPSESSID This cookie is set to preserves user session state across page requests.  Session


    More information:
    https://www.jotform.com/privacy/
    https://www.jotform.com/cookie-policy/cookie-list/

    D. Targeting/advertising cookies 
    • Hotjar (_hjid; ajs_anonymous_id; _hjLocalStorageTest; _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress)
      Purpose:
      see the table below
      Cookie owner:
      Hotjar
      Legal basis for processing:
      consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)
      Further information:
      Hotjar cookies are described below
     Name  Purpose  Duration
     _hjid  Hotjar cookie that is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to retain the Hotjar user ID, which is unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behaviour during subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID.  365 days
     ajs_anonymous_id  These cookies are generally used for analytics and help count the number of people who visit a certain site by tracking whether they have visited it before. This cookie has a duration of one year. 365 days
    _hjLocalStorageTest  This cookie is used to check if the Hotjar Tracking Script can use local storage. If it can, a value of 1 is set in this cookie. The data stored in _hjLocalStorageTest do not have an expiry date but are deleted immediately after being created, so the expected storage time is less than 100 ms. Session
     _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress  This cookie is set so that Hotjar can track the start of a user's journey for a total number of sessions. It does not contain any identifiable information. 30 minutes


    More information: https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/115011789248-Hotjar-Cookies

  • 4. Cookie configuration settings
  • 5. Agreement with our use of cookies – changes to our Cookie Policy

    By continuing to use this website, you acknowledge that you have read the terms of this Cookie Policy and that you agree with our use of cookies as set out above (unless you expressly indicated otherwise).

    We may amend this Cookie Policy from time to time. Any changes we make to our Cookie Policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to the Cookie Policy. Your continued use of this website following the posting of changes to this Cookie Policy will indicate your acceptance of these changes. This Cookie Policy was most recently updated on 15th June 2018.

  • 6. Contact details
    Questions, comments and requests regarding this Cookie Policy must be addressed to privacy@elia.be .
This website uses cookies to provide you with an optimal browsing experience. Some cookies are strictly necessary for the operation of this website and cannot be rejected, while others are used for analytical/functional/targeting purposes and can be rejected. For more information, please consult ourCookie Policy. You can manage/change your cookie preferences at any time. If you do not manage your preferences, only the cookies which are strictly necessary will be accepted.