What are cookies and how do they work?
“Cookies” are text-only pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual’s hard drive or other website-browsing equipment for record-keeping purposes. Cookies allow the website to remember important information that will make your use of the site more convenient. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the “lifetime” of the cookie, and a randomly generated unique number or other value. Like most websites, we use different categories of cookies for a variety of purposes in order to improve your online experience.
Depending on the purpose, we use session cookies, which are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you leave the site, and persistent cookies, which remain in the cookie file of your browser for 20 years.
What are the categories of cookies?
Cookies can be categorised, following the International Chamber of Commerce guide, as follows:
Strictly necessary cookies
‘Strictly necessary cookies’ tend to be session cookies which are deleted at the end of the browser session.
Accepting these cookies is a condition of using the website, so if you prevent these cookies, we can’t guarantee how our website will perform during your visit.
Performance Cookies
‘Performance cookies’ collect information about how you use our website such as which pages you visit and if you experience any errors. These cookies don’t collect any information that could identify you – all the information is collected on an anonymous aggregate basis and is only used to help us improve how our website works, understand what interests our users and measure the effectiveness of our advertising. They also enable us to track the total number of visitors to our site. Most performance cookies tend to be session cookies which are deleted at the end of the browser session.
In some cases, some of these cookies are managed for us by third parties, but we don’t allow the third party to use the cookies for any purpose other than those listed above. Some of these third-party performance cookies are persistent cookies.
Functionality Cookies
Functionality cookies, by their very nature, are persistent cookies so that we remember your computer when you return to our website.
Some of these cookies are managed for us by third parties – where this is the case, we don’t allow the third party to use the cookies for any purpose other than those listed above.
How can I block and/or delete cookies?
Use the options in your web browser if you do not wish to receive a cookie or if you wish to set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. You can easily delete any cookies that have been installed in the cookie folder of your browser.