General information
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website’s computer and stored on your computer or mobile device.
Each website can send its own cookies to your browser if your browser’s preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.
Many sites save cookies whenever a user visits their website in order to:
- Provide website personalisation (for example: saving preferences such as font size, accessibility features, template versions etc.)
- Save data or user’s decisions (for example: removing the need to enter login and password on every website, remembering a login during for the next visit, keeping information on products added to a shopping cart)
- Provide social media integration (for example: displaying your friends, fans or post publishing on Facebook directly from the website)
- Adjust adverts that are displayed on the website and make the ‘more relevant’ to the person viewing them
- Create website and flow statistics between different websites to track online traffic flows
Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these, of course, means that certain personalised services cannot then be provided and you may not be able to take full advantage of all of the features of websites. Each browser is different, so check the “Help” menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.
In the UK, website users must be given the option to agree to accept the use of cookies. This is normally achieved through their internet browser settings and by making it clear in policy statements that cookies are used, giving users the opportunity change their internet browser settings, or even avoid websites if they don’t want to have certain cookies stored on their computers.
You can clear cookies stored by your browser e.g. by using one of its menu options or a third party add-in. For further information, please refer to your browser’s ‘Help’ documentation.
Our use of cookies
During the course of any visit to our websites, the pages you see are downloaded to your computer. In addition we may download cookies.
Information supplied by cookies can help us to provide you with a better online user experience and assist us to analyse the profile of our visitors. For example: you need to allow the session cookie to be able to send us a message via the contact form or login to a client account (if you have one).
Advertising
We do not use cookies for advertising or marketing purposes, but third party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve advertisements based on users’ prior visits to websites, including our websites.
Google’s use of cookies and other technologies enables it and its partners to serve advertisements to you based on your visit(s) to our websites via their search engine and/or other sites on the Internet. You can learn more about Google’s advertising practices within the Advertising section of their Privacy Policy.
You can learn more and possibly opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Consumer Opt-Out page.