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title: 'SurgeryTrips Legal Terms and Policies - Cookie Policy'

Cookie Policy
Last Updated: April 26, 2025

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies and similar technologies are, how SurgeryTrips uses them on our website, and your choices regarding their use. We strive to comply with the Danish Cookiebekendtgørelse (Executive Order on cookies) and the EU ePrivacy Directive/GDPR requirements for cookies, which mandate informed consent for non-essential cookies. By using our Site, you can choose which cookies you consent to. You can always change your preferences or withdraw consent through our cookie management tools or your browser settings.

1. What Are Cookies?
   Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, smartphone, etc.) when you visit a website. They allow the website to recognize your device and store certain information about your preferences or past actions. Cookies can be “first-party” (set by our domain) or “third-party” (set by another domain through our site, as when we embed content or scripts from external services). Cookies can also be “session” cookies (which expire when you close your browser) or “persistent” cookies (which remain on your device for a set period or until you delete them). We also use similar technologies like web beacons/pixels (tiny images or scripts that track if you’ve opened an email or visited a page) and local storage (which stores data in your browser memory). In this policy, we use “cookies” to refer broadly to all these technologies. Cookies serve several functions: enabling site functionality, remembering preferences, analyzing usage, and providing personalized content or ads.

2. How We Use Cookies
   SurgeryTrips uses cookies for the following purposes:

Essential Cookies (Strictly Necessary): These cookies are required for our website to function properly. They enable core features such as security, network management, and accessibility. For example, if you log in, an authentication cookie keeps you logged in as you navigate between pages. If you set preferences (like language selection or cookie consent choices), we may use a cookie to remember those. Without these cookies, services you have asked for (like viewing secure areas or submitting forms) cannot be provided. Consent is not required for strictly necessary cookies under law, and our cookie banner will indicate that these are always active.

Preference/Functional Cookies: These cookies remember your preferences and settings to enhance your experience. For instance, if our site offers a language option or if you select specific Clinics as favorites (if such a feature exists), we might use cookies to recall those choices so you don’t have to reset them each visit. Currently, SurgeryTrips is primarily in English/Danish and does not heavily use preference cookies beyond basics, but if we do (like dark mode toggle, etc.), it’s to make the site more user-friendly. These may be treated as essential from a consent standpoint if they are strictly for user-requested features.

Analytics Cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website (which pages are visited, how long spent on site, if errors occurred, etc.). We use this data to improve site performance, features, and content. Specifically:

• We use Amplitude analytics cookies to gather insights on user behavior. For example, an amplitude cookie might assign an ID to your browser so we can see that the same user (anonymously) browsed page A and then page B. This helps us analyze user journeys. The information collected includes data like pages visited, time of day, browser type, and general location (country/city level based on IP) – but we do not try to identify you personally through analytics cookies. We have configured Amplitude to respect Do Not Track when possible and not to use cookies unless consent is given (in jurisdictions where required).
• Analytics cookies will not be set without your consent, as they are not strictly necessary. If you decline analytics cookies, your site experience won’t be affected, but our ability to improve our services may be hampered because we’ll have less data on usage patterns.

Advertising (Marketing) Cookies: SurgeryTrips displays advertisements through Google AdSense to help fund our site (e.g., banners you may see on pages). Google and its partners use cookies and similar tracking to deliver ads that are more relevant to you, and to avoid showing the same ads too many times. These cookies can log your visit to our site and others, and build a profile of your interests. For instance, if you’ve been searching for dental implants, you might see related ads. These are third-party cookies set by Google (and possibly by advertisers via Google). Examples include the DoubleClick cookie (used by Google for ad serving) which helps with ad performance measurement and personalization.

• We require your opt-in consent for marketing cookies. On your first visit, our cookie banner will ask if you accept marketing cookies (which include AdSense cookies). If you accept, we will allow these cookies to be set. If you decline, we will not load personalized ads. You might still see ads, but they would be non-personalized (contextual). Non-personalized ads still use cookies in a limited way (for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, and to combat fraud/abuse), but they are not based on your past behavior.
• Data collected via advertising cookies may be combined by Google with information from other sites you visit that also use Google’s advertising services. SurgeryTrips itself does not see your personal advertising profile; we just see aggregated reports like how many users clicked an ad.

Security and Performance Cookies: We may use certain cookies or similar technologies to ensure the security of our site (for example, a cookie to help detect if a series of failed login attempts is from the same client, to apply a CAPTCHA or block access) or to load our site efficiently (for instance, a load balancing cookie that distributes requests). These would typically fall under essential cookies as they are needed to maintain the integrity and availability of our service.

3. Cookies in Use – Categories and Third Parties
   Below is an overview of the main cookies and third-party tools we use on SurgeryTrips:

• SurgeryTrips Session Cookie (Essential): Name might be something like sid or similar. Purpose: to maintain your session (e.g., keep you logged in or remember items in a multi-step form). Lifespan: session (deleted when you close your browser).
• Clerk Authentication Cookies (Essential): Clerk, our auth provider, uses cookies such as __session or clerk_session_id to manage user sessions. Purpose: Identify your session securely to keep you logged in and allow account-related features. Lifespan: Typically session or a short persistent duration for “remember me” functionality.
• Cookie Consent Cookie (Essential): Once you make a choice on our cookie banner, we set a cookie to save your preferences (e.g., cookie_consent with values like “essential only” or “analytics+ads accepted”). Purpose: to remember your consent decision so we don’t show the banner every time and to enforce your preferences. Lifespan: about 6-12 months. Owner: first-party (our site).
• Amplitude Analytics Cookies (Analytics – requires consent): Names might include amplitude_id_[someID]. Purpose: Collect analytics data as described. Lifespan: Persistent (Amplitude cookies often last multiple months or even years).
• Google AdSense Cookies (Marketing – requires consent): Names include IDE, DSID, NID, etc. Purpose: Ad personalization and reporting. Lifespan: Varies. Owner: third-party (set via Google’s doubleclick.net and google.com domains). If you opt out of personalized ads, Google might still set some of these but use them only for limited purposes like fraud prevention and aggregate reporting rather than personalization.

We may also use Firebase / Infrastructure Cookies for load balancing or routing, and other third-party tools if embedded content is used. Names and specifics can vary. We will update this policy if new cookies are introduced.

4. Your Cookie Choices
   Consent Banner: On your first visit to SurgeryTrips (and periodically thereafter, as required by law or when we change cookies), you will see a cookie consent banner. This banner allows you to:

• Accept all non-essential cookies
• Decline or manage preferences

If you simply close or ignore the banner without making a choice, by default we will not load non-essential cookies (we interpret no action as a decline for optional cookies). Essential cookies will be set regardless, as the site cannot run without them.

Changing Preferences: You can adjust your preferences at any time:

• Cookie Settings Link: There is a “Cookie Settings” or “Privacy Settings” link on our site (likely in the footer) that brings back the consent management tool.
• Banner Re-display: Clearing our site’s cookies will typically cause the consent banner to reappear on your next visit, allowing you to choose again.

Browser Controls: You can also manage cookies via your web browser settings (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Safari). This includes blocking or deleting cookies, though doing so may affect site functionality.

Opt-Out Mechanisms: For analytics, some providers offer opt-out plugins. For advertising, you can often opt out of personalized ads from many providers via industry opt-out pages like YourOnlineChoices in the EU or the NAI in the U.S.

Do Not Track: We honor DNT signals to the best of our ability by not setting analytics or marketing cookies unless consent is explicitly given. However, some third-party providers may not fully respect DNT in all contexts.

5. Cookiebekendtgørelse and GDPR Compliance
   We follow Danish and EU rules on cookies, including:

• Prior Informed Consent: We do not set non-essential cookies until you have given explicit consent.
• Active Choice: No pre-ticked boxes. Our banner offers clear “Accept” or “Reject” options.
• Purpose Granularity: We group cookies by category (Analytics, Marketing, etc.).
• Documentation: We keep records of user consents for audit purposes.
• Withdrawal: You can withdraw or modify consent at any time.

Where cookies involve personal data, our legal basis under GDPR is consent (Article 6(1)(a)).

6. Changes to this Cookie Policy
   We may update our Cookie Policy to reflect changes in the cookies we use or legal requirements. Any updates will be posted on this page with a new “Last Updated” date, and we may prompt you to review or re-accept cookie settings if significant changes occur.

7. Contact Information
   If you have any questions or concerns about our use of cookies or your choices, feel free to contact us:
   Email: privacy@surgerytrips.com
   Postal: SurgeryTrips – Yonas V. M. Kristensen, Callisensvej 20, 1. th., 2900 Hellerup, Denmark.

By using the SurgeryTrips website, you acknowledge that you have read this Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy, and that you understand how we use cookies in accordance with your chosen preferences.