About cookies

A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

 Cookies that we use

We use cookies for the following purposes:

(a) authentication – we use cookies to identify you when you visit our website and as you navigate our website;

(b) status – we use cookies to help us to determine if you are logged into our website;

(c) personalisation – we use cookies to store information about your preferences and to personalise the website for you;

(e) advertising – we use cookies to help us to display advertisements that will be relevant to you;

(f) analysis – we use cookies to help us to analyse the use and performance of our website and services;

(g) cookie consent – we use cookies to store your preferences in relation to the use of cookies more generally. 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 to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

We publish interest-based software on our website to determine your interests and in turn we may track your behavior on our website.

 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?hl=en (Chrome);

(b) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences (Firefox);

(c) http://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/security/cookies/ (Opera);

(d) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);

(e) https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411 (Safari); and

(f) https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10-microsoft-edge-and-privacy (Edge).

Blocking all cookies can 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.