We’d like to put your mind at rest about cookies. If you are uncertain about what a cookie is have a look at our simple guide to find out how we use them on our website.
What is a cookie?
Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie.
Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently remembering your preferences, and generally improve your web site experience. They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests.
We can split cookies into 4 main categories:
- Category 1: strictly necessary cookies
- Category 2: performance cookies
- Category 3: functionality cookies
- Category 4: targeting cookies or advertising cookies
Category 1 – Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies services you have asked for, like register for job alerts, cannot be provided.
- Please be aware our site uses this type of cookie
Category 2 – Performance cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.
- By using our website and online services, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.
Category 3 – Functionality cookies
These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name and password) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymous and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
- By using our website and online services, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.
Category 4 – targeting cookies or advertising cookies
These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organisations.
- We do have links to other web sites and once you access another site through a link that we have provided it is the responsibility of that site to provide information as to how they use cookies on the respective site. We use the following social media channels that may put category 4 cookies on your device:
- YouTube
- Google+
We use cookies to enable the following;
Using features on our websites
We use a session cookie called SESSION_COOKIE. We do not store private data in it and the cookie is automatically removed when the users session ends.
Cookie name: SESSION_COOKIE
Category: 1 – Strictly necessary cookie
Purpose: To retain settings about the current visit to one of websites.
For measuring web traffic
We use a program called Google Analytics, which in turn uses cookies to help us find out how many people visit our website, which pages and parts are most popular, how long people spend in each area and what information people are searching for. All this insight helps us to understand how we can improve our websites.
Cookie name: _utma
Category: 2 – Performance cookie
Purpose: Saves information about total number of visits to the site, the time of the first visit, previous visit and current visit. This is a persistent cookie with a lifespan of 2 years.
Cookie name: _utmb
Category: 2 – Performance cookie
Purpose: Used to record information about what happened during the current visit or session, including the ability to tell when a session ends.
Cookie name: _utmc
Category: 1 – Strictly necessary cookie, 2 – Performance cookie
Purpose: Session cookie that expires at the end of the current session/visit.
Cookie name: _utmz
Category: 2 – Performance cookie
Purpose: Saves info relating to how a user arrived at a site, the channel though which they came, date/time info and what keywords they used if they arrived via a search engine.
You can find out more about Google cookies here http://www.google.co.uk/policies/privacy/
You can find more information about cookies by:
visiting www.allaboutcookies.org or www.youronlinechoices.eu. Google also have a brief video which explains the use of cookies.