Cookie Policy
Information about our use of cookies
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive.
We use the following cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website, use a shopping cart or make use of e-billing services.
- Analytical/performance cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
- Functionality cookies. These are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
- Targeting cookies. These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below:
Cookie | Name | Purpose | More information |
Google analytics cookies | _ga | Used to distinguish users | Expires after 2 years |
Google analytics cookies | _gid | Used to distinguish users | Expires after 24 hours |
Google analytics cookies | _gat | Used to throttle request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_<property-id>. | Expires after 1 minute |
Google analytics cookies | AMP_TOKEN | Contains a token that can be used to retrieve a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate opt-out, inflight request or an error retrieving a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. | Expires after 30 seconds to 1 year |
Google analytics cookies | _gac_<property-id> | Contains campaign related information for the user. If you have linked your Google Analytics and AdWords accounts, AdWords website conversion tags will read this cookie unless you opt-out. | Expires after 90 days |
Google analytics cookies | __utma | Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. | Expires after 2 years from set/update |
Google analytics cookies | __utmt | Used to throttle request rate. | Expires after 10 minutes |
Google analytics cookies | __utmb | Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. | Expires after 30 mins from set/update |
Google analytics cookies | __utmc | Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit. | Expires after end of browser session |
Google analytics cookies | __utmz | Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. | Expires after 6 months from set/update |
Google analytics cookies | __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. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. | Expires after 2 years from set/update |
Google analytics cookies | __utmx | Used to determine a user’s inclusion in an experiment. | Expires after 18 months |
Google analytics cookies | __utmxx | Used to determine the expiry of experiments a user has been included in. | Expires after 18 months |
Google analytics cookies | _gaexp | Used to determine a user’s inclusion in an experiment and the expiry of experiments a user has been included in. | Depends on the length of the experiment but typically 90 days. |
Hotjar cookies | _hjClosedSurveyInvites _hjClosedSurveyInvites _hjClosedSurveyInvites _hjClosedSurveyInvites | Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor interacts with a Survey invitation modal popup. It is used to ensure that the same invite does not re-appear if it has already been shown.Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor interacts with a Survey invitation modal popup. It is used to ensure that the same invite does not re-appear if it has already been shown. | Expires after 365 days |
Hotjar cookies | _hjDonePolls | Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor completes a poll using the Feedback Poll widget. It is used to ensure that the same poll does not re-appear if it has already been filled in. | Expires after 365 days |
Hotjar cookies | _hjMinimizedPolls | Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor minimizes a Feedback Poll widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimizes when the visitor navigates through your site. | Expires after 365 days |
Hotjar cookies | _hjDoneTestersWidgets | Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor submits their information in the Recruit User Testers widget. It is used to ensure that the same form does not re-appear if it has already been filled in. | Expires after 365 days |
Hotjar cookies | _hjMinimizedTestersWidgets | Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor minimizes a Recruit User Testers widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimizes when the visitor navigates through your site. | Expires after 365 days |
Hotjar cookies | _hjIncludedInSample | Hotjar cookie. This session cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels. | Expires after 365 days |
Please note that third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies.
If you would like to learn more about cookies you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org for more information.
You block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site. To prevent Google Analytics cookies being set, you may install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On.
The date that cookies will expire is different for each cookie and the expiration periods are explained in the table above.
Version 1 May 18