Cookie settings
Cookies
For this site to work efficiently, we sometimes install small data files called ‘cookies’ on your device. Most large sites do the same.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that websites store on your computer or mobile device when you visit them. Cookies allow the site to remember your actions and preferences (e.g. login, language, font size and other display settings) so that you don’t have to re-enter them when you return to the site or navigate from one page to another.
How do we use cookies?
On some pages we use cookies to remember:
- your viewing preferences, e.g. your contrast settings or font size
- whether you have already responded to a pop-up survey on the usefulness of the content found, to avoid repeating it
- whether you have authorised the use of cookies on the site.
In addition, some videos placed on our pages use a cookie to anonymously gather statistics about how you arrived at the page and which videos you watched.
It is not necessary to enable cookies for the site to work, but it does improve navigation. It is possible to delete or block cookies, but in this case some functions of the site may not work properly.
Information about cookies is not used to identify users e and browsing data remains under our control at all times. These cookies serve exclusively for the purposes described here.
Do we use other cookies?
Some pages or certain sub-sites may also use cookies other than those already described. In this case, the relevant information will be provided on a specific page. You may be asked to authorise the installation of these cookies.
| Category of use | Example |
|---|---|
| Preferences | These cookies allow our websites to store information that changes the behaviour or appearance of the websites, such as your preferred language or the geographic area in which you are located. By storing your region, for example, a website may be able to offer you local weather forecasts or local traffic news. Cookies can also help you change the size of text, fonts and other customisable parts of web pages.The loss of information stored in a preference cookie may make the website experience less functional but should not affect its operation.Most Google users have a preference cookie called ‘PREF’ in their browsers. A browser sends this cookie with requests to Google sites. The PREF cookie may store your preferences and other information, in particular your preferred language (e.g. English), the number of search results you wish to display per page (e.g. 10 or 20) and your preference to activate Google’s SafeSearch filter. |
| Security | We use security cookies to authenticate users, prevent fraudulent use of login credentials, and protect user data from unauthorized parties. For example, we use cookies called “SID” and “HSID” that contain digitally signed and encrypted records for a user’s Google Account ID and most recent login date. The combination of these two cookies allows us to block many types of attacks, such as attempts to steal the contents of forms you complete on web pages. |
| Process | Process cookies help websites function and provide the services that visitors expect to find there, for example the ability to navigate between pages or access secure areas of the site. Without these cookies, the site cannot function properly.For example, we use a cookie called ‘lbcs’ which enables Google Docs to open many documents in a single browser. Blocking this cookie may prevent Google Docs from working properly. |
| Advertising | We use cookies to make advertising more engaging for users and more useful for publishers and advertisers. Some common uses of cookies include selecting advertising based on what’s relevant to a user, improving campaign performance reports, and avoiding displaying ads that the user has already seen.Google uses cookies, such as the PREF, NID, and SID cookies, to help personalize ads on Google properties, such as Google Search. For example, we use them to store your most recent searches, your previous interactions with an advertiser’s ads or search results, and your visits to an advertiser’s website. We also use cookies for the advertising we serve across the web. Our main cookie for advertising on non-Google sites is called ‘id’ and is stored in your browser under the doubleclick.net domain. We also use others with names such as _drt_, FLC and exchange_uid.Sometimes, a cookie may be set on the domain of the site you are visiting. In the case of our DoubleClick product, a cookie called “__gads” may be set on the domain of the site you’re visiting.Other Google properties, such as YouTube, may also use DoubleClick cookies to show more relevant ads. Learn more about ads and YouTube.Google also uses conversion cookies whose primary purpose is to allow advertisers to determine how many people who click on their ads end up buying their products. These cookies allow Google and the advertiser to determine that you clicked on the ad and then visited the advertiser’s site. Conversion cookies are not displayed by Google for interest-based ad targeting and persist for a limited period of time. These cookies are typically set in the googleadservices.com or google.com/ads domain. Conversion cookie data may also be used in conjunction with your Google account to link conversion events across the various devices you use. Only anonymous conversion data collected through these cookies is shared with advertisers. Some of the other cookies may also be used to measure conversion events. For example, DoubleClick and Google Analytics cookies may also be used for this purpose and set on the domain you are visiting. |
| Session state | Websites often collect information about how users interact with them. This may include which pages users visit most often and whether users receive error messages from certain pages. We use these “session state cookies” to improve our services and our users’ browsing experience. Blocking or deleting these cookies will not render the website unusable.These cookies may also be used to measure the effectiveness of Pay Per Click (PPC) and affiliate advertising.For example, we use a cookie called “recently_watched_video_id_list” to allow YouTube to record the most recently watched videos from a particular browser. |
| Analytics | Google Analytics is an analytics tool from Google that helps website and app owners understand how visitors interact with the content they own. A set of cookies may be used to collect information and generate website usage statistics without personal identification of individual visitors by Google.In addition to generating website usage statistics reports, the Google Analytics pixel tag may be used, along with certain advertising cookies described above, to enable us to show more relevant results on Google properties (such as Google Search) and across the web.Read more about Analytics cookies and privacy.. |
Learn more about third-party cookies:
Google Analytics (Google)
“Google Analytics” is a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google uses the Personal Data collected in order to track and examine the use of this Application, compile reports and share them with other services developed by Google.
Google may use the Personal Data to contextualise and personalise the advertisements of its advertising network.
Personal Data collected: Cookie and Usage Data.
Place of processing : USA – Privacy Policy – Opt Out
Interaction with social networks and external platforms
How to control cookies?
You can control and/or audit cookies as you wish – to find out more, go to aboutcookies.org. You can delete cookies already on your computer and set most browsers to block the installation of cookies. If you choose this option, however, you will have to manually change some preferences each time you visit the site and some services or features may not be available.
Managing preferences
Most browsers allow you to manage your cookie preferences. You can set your browser to refuse cookies or to delete only some cookies. In the same way that you disable the use of cookies, you can disable other similar technologies. The following links show you how you can set your preferences on the browsers you use most commonly:
Please remember that if you choose to block the receipt of cookies, this may affect or prevent the proper functioning of the Service.
Other information
For more information on the use of cookies and how to block them, you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org, www.youronlinechoices.eu for Europe or www.aboutads.info/choices/ for the United States.
