WHAT ARE COOKIES?

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that is downloaded on to your computer when you visit a website. Cookies are used by many websites and can do a number of things eg remembering your preferences, recording what you have put in your shopping basket, and counting the number of people looking at a website.

The rules on cookies are covered by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The Regulations also cover similar technologies for storing information, eg Google Analytics cookies. The Regulations were revised in 2011, and the ICO is responsible for enforcing these new rules.

WHAT DO THE NEW RULES MEAN?

The rules require in most cases that websites wanting to use cookies get your consent.

HOW WILL THESE NEW RULES IMPACT ON ME WHEN I USE THE INTERNET?

As organisations start to comply with these rules you are likely to start to see more information about cookies on sites and be given more choices about these cookies. This might include, for example, being asked to agree to a cookie being used for a particular service, such as remembering your preferences on a site.

Organisations will need to decide on the best way to provide clear information about cookies and to give people using their websites the right choices. They will also want to make sure that these changes do not adversely affect the experience of people using the internet. This should ensure they find a solution which meets the requirements in a way that works well for their site and meets the needs of people using it.

HOW CAN I CONTROL MY COOKIES?

Browser controls You can use your web browser (eg Internet Explorer) to:

delete all cookies block all cookies allow all cookies block third-party cookies clear all cookies when you close the browser open a ‘private browsing’ session install add-ons and plug-ins to extend broswer functionality Where to find information about controlling cookies

Click on the links below to find out about each specific browser and it’s information on cookies.

Internet Explorer
Google Chrome
Firefox
Safari
Opera

USE OF COOKIES

CookieDomainType DescriptionDuration
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE.youtube.comAdvertisementThis cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.5 months 27 days
test_cookie.doubleclick.netAdvertisementThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user’s browser supports cookies.15 minutes
IDE.doubleclick.netAdvertisementUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.1 year 24 days
_ga.hrcentral.co.ukAnalyticsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site’s analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.2 years
_gid.hrcentral.co.ukAnalyticsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.1 day
_gat_gtag_UA_8826507_1.hrcentral.co.ukOtherNo description1 minute
CONSENT.youtube.comOtherNo description16 years 10 months 3 days 9 hours 25 minutes
YSC.youtube.comPerformanceThis cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.session

USEFUL INFORMATION

A number of websites provide detailed information on cookies, including AllAboutCookies.org and AllAboutCookies.org.uk.

The Internet Advertising Bureau website Your Online Choices allows you to install opt-out cookies across different advertising networks.

Google has developed a browser add-on to allow users to opt-out of Google Analytics across all websites which use this popular analytics product.

New technologies such as Mozilla’s Do Not Track allow you to tell websites not to track you.

Internet Explorer has a feature called Tracking Protection Lists which allows you to import a list of websites you want to block.