Cookies Policy

English > Practical information > Cookies Policy

Last modified: 13/07/2026

Who am I?

My name is Jan Vanhellemont. I live at Horengang No. 5 in 3000 Leuven, Belgium. I launched this website in its current form as a non-profit project on November 6, 2006. The website is intended as a tribute to the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov and his renowned novel The Master and Margarita, and at the same time as a source of information about this novel, its characters, the places described in it, and the political, social, economic, and cultural context in which it was written between 1928 and 1940.


What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website places on your computer, smartphone, or tablet when you visit the site. It remembers data about your browsing behavior, such as your language preference or the contents of your shopping cart, so that the website recognizes you immediately on a subsequent visit.

Broadly speaking, cookies can be divided into three groups, according to the purpose for which they are used.

• Essential cookies - These cookies are necessary for the proper functioning of a website and cannot be disabled. For example, they help remember your privacy preferences when you browse through the pages of the website.

• Analytical cookies - These cookies collect statistics about how visitors use a website. They measure the number of visitors and record the pages viewed and the time spent on the website. This data is used to improve website performance and user experiences.

• Tracking cookies - These cookies track visitors' browsing behavior across different websites to create personal profiles and display targeted advertisements. Because tracking cookies infringe on your privacy, a website is always required to explicitly ask for your consent. If you do not give consent, the website is required to block these cookies.

Can you find cookies on this website?

I was previously unaware that my website contained numerous sources for cookies: after all, my links to websites such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Bing, Statcounter, and others activated tracking cookies from those companies. I removed all of those links when the hosting of this website moved from the servers of the American company Network Solutions to the Belgian company Combell in June 2026.

To protect visitors to this website from potential exposure to collectors of privacy-sensitive data, and to give them the opportunity to customize our cookie policy to their own personal preferences, I have installed the Silktide Consent Manager, about which you can read more below.


Essential cookies

The Silktide Consent Manager stores an essential cookie in your browser under the name consent.essential cookie.

• Function - This cookie stores your cookie preferences in the browser's local memory.

• Duration - The data is stored indefinitely and your choice is remembered until you clear your browser data or change your preferences via the website's cookie settings. As a result, you will not see the consent banner every time you navigate to a new page, so that essential security functions can continue to work as long as you continue browsing this website.

Analytical cookies

Combell, my hosting company, uses AWStats technology to compile visitor statistics. This is a log analyzer, a tool that functions by reading the so-called 'server logs' from the web server, and which does not place tracking cookies in the visitor's browser. Nevertheless, to be sure, I offer you the choice to reject potential analytical cookies. You can choose to accept or reject them using the cookie button at the bottom of every page. The setting you choose applies to the entire website during your visit, unless you change it again.

Tracking cookies

I do not use this type of cookie, and I avoid the potential placement of these by performing checks when I publish new links to external websites, and by performing a general check monthly. You can choose to accept or reject such cookies using the cookie button at the bottom of every page. The default choice is set to reject. The setting you choose applies to the entire website during your visit, unless you change it again.


The Sliktide Content Manager

The Silktide Consent Manager that I have installed displays a cookie banner during the loading of the website (analytical cookies) on your first visit. With this banner, you can indicate your cookie preferences.

The Silktide Consent Manager is so-called open source software, and I made this choice for the following reasons:

• No database - The tool runs entirely in the visitor's browser and stores the preferences locally in your browser. Therefore, no database or server is used to store the consents.

• No external dependency - Because the code is placed in the HTML pages of the website itself, I am not dependent on an external server from a commercial party.

• Maximum loading speed - Commercial cookie banners often load heavy external scripts that slow down the website. The Silktide code is very light, which is ideal for the performance of a hand-built website like this one.

• Google Consent Mode V2 - The Silktide Consent Manager supports the Google Consent Mode V2 protocol. This is a protocol that allows your chosen preferences to be automatically passed on to analytics and advertising services such as Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads. This protocol is mandatory to comply with strict European privacy legislation (GDPR).

By using this website, you agree to this website's cookie policy. You can change your cookie preferences on any page by using the cookie button at the bottom of every page. From then on, your changes will apply to the entire website for the duration of your visit, unless you change them again.


Login data for members of the Bulgakov Circle

Upon joining, new members of the Bulgakov Circle receive a login and a password to log in to the members-only zone of this website.

No cookies are used during the login process. Instead, the server creates an .htaccess and .htpasswd file in the background. With this specific method, the login details are not stored in a traditional cookie but are processed via HTTP Basic Authentication, a built-in mechanism of the web server and the web browser itself.


How is the data stored then?

• On the server - The user's password is stored securely encrypted (hashed) in the invisible .htpasswd file of the website's hosting package. The hosting company Combell never knows or stores the password in readable text.

• In the visitor's browser session memory - As soon as the visitor enters the correct username and password in the browser's pop-up, the browser temporarily stores this data in its internal session memory (volatile RAM).

• During the page visit - The browser automatically sends these login credentials along in the encrypted HTTP header with every subsequent page request within the secure zone. The server checks every page change directly in the .htpasswd file.


How long does the visitor remain logged in?

Because no cookies with an expiration date are used, the visitor remains logged in until the browser is completely closed. As soon as the browser closes, it clears the temporary session memory, and the visitor must log in again on a subsequent visit.


Changes to this cookie policy

Any changes to this cookie policy will be published on this page.


Contact me

If you have questions about this cookies policy, you can contact me via the channels below.

Jan Vanhellemont
Horengang 5
3000 Leuven
Belgium

jan@vanhellemont.be

+32 475 260793