Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device (computer, smartphone, or tablet) when you visit them. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently, enhance user experiences, and gather data on user behavior.
What Are Cookies Used For?
- Functionality: Cookies help websites remember your actions and preferences (such as login details, language, or region) so you don't have to re-enter them each time you visit. This makes the browsing experience smoother and more personalized.
- Analytics: Cookies allow websites to track visitor behavior, such as which pages are visited most often, how long users stay on the site, and where they navigate from. This data helps improve website performance and user experience.
- Advertising: Some cookies are used to track browsing activity across different websites to display relevant ads. These are often referred to as "targeting" or "advertising" cookies and are employed by third-party advertisers to provide personalized ads.
- Security: Cookies can be used to enhance the security of a website by detecting fraudulent activity, such as unauthorized logins or repeated failed login attempts.
- Session Management: Some cookies are essential for managing user sessions, keeping you logged in as you navigate between pages, or maintaining items in your shopping cart while you browse an online store.
Types of Cookies
- Session Cookies: These are temporary and are deleted once you close your browser. They help with functionalities like logging in.
- Persistent Cookies: These remain on your device for a set period or until manually deleted. They are used to remember login details or preferences for future visits.
- Third-Party Cookies: These are placed by external services (like advertisers or analytics tools) and track your online behavior across different sites.
Cookies are essential for enhancing usability and optimizing website services but can also raise privacy concerns, which is why many websites ask for user consent before placing cookies.
Cookies that we use
We use cookies for the following purposes:
(a) authentication and status - we use cookies to identify you when you visit our website and as you navigate our website, and to determine if you are logged into the website;
(b) personalisation - we use cookies to store information about your preferences and to personalise the website for you;
(c) security - we use cookies as an element of the security measures used to protect user accounts, including preventing fraudulent use of login credentials, and to protect our website and services generally;
(d) advertising - we use cookies to help us to display advertisements that will be relevant to you;
(e) analysis - we use cookies to help us to analyse the use and performance of our website and services; and
(f) cookie consent - we use cookies to store your preferences in relation to the use of cookies more generally.
13. Cookies used by our service providers
Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.
We use Google Analytics. Google Analytics gathers information about the use of our website by means of cookies. The information gathered is used to create reports about the use of our website. You can find out more about Google's use of information by visiting https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ and you can review Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
We publish Google AdSense advertisements on our website. The advertisements may be personalised to reflect your interests. To help determine your interests Google and its partners use cookies. The cookies are used to track your previous visits to our website and your visits to other websites. You can opt out of Google's personalised advertising by visiting https://www.google.com/settings/ads and you can opt out of third party cookies use for personalised advertising by visiting http://www.aboutads.info. You can review Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
Managing cookies
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:
(a) https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647 (Chrome);
(b) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop (Firefox);
(c) https://help.opera.com/en/latest/security-and-privacy/ (Opera);
(d) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);
(e) https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/safari/manage-cookies-and-website-data-sfri11471/mac (Safari); and
(f) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4468242/microsoft-edge-browsing-data-and-privacy (Edge).
Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.
If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.