When we provide services, we want to make them easy to use, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device (for example, your computer or mobile phone). These include small text files known as cookies.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a piece of data sent to your device from a website. This means the website can recognise your device if you return to the same website. A cookie often includes a unique identifier, which is an anonymous number (randomly generated) and is stored on your device. Some expire at the end of your website session; others remain on your device for longer.
These pieces of information are used to improve our services for you by, for example:
- enabling our services to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task (for example, by filling out a web form or a web survey);
- recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page;
- measuring how many people are using our services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast; or
- analysing anonymised data to help us understand how people interact with the different aspects of our online services so we can make them better.
For more information about cookies, or if you would like to learn how to remove cookies set on your device, please visit: http://www.aboutcookies.org.
Cookies used on this website
This website uses both first and third-party cookies. All the cookies on our site are identified below and categorised according to whether they are first or third-party.
First party cookies
On our website, first-party cookies are those set by the “asa.org.uk” domain.
Purpose: Session management. These are “session-based” cookies used in order to ensure the smooth running of users’ sessions. This classification includes remembering your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using our services.
Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using the services on our site. To make it easier to log in again if you choose ‘Remember me’.
| Name | Type | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| JSESSIONID | Functional/Necessary | Remembers logged in users and user preferences. | When the user closes their browser. |
| cftoken | Functional/Necessary | Determines the device being used to ensure the website displays correctly. | When the user closes their browser. |
| cfID | Functional/Necessary | Determines the browser being used so the website displays correctly. | When the user closes their browser. |
| VID | Functional/Necessary | Remembers logged-in users and user permissions. | After 364 days. |
| DEFAULTLOCALE | Functional/Necessary | Cookie for determining language preferences. | When the user closes their browser. |
| _PRESIDE_LANGUAGE | Functional/Necessary | Works in conjunction with DEFAULTLOCALE Cookie to determining language preferences. | When the user closes their browser. |
| CookieControl | Functional/Necessary | Remembers a user's cookie preferences. | After 364 days. |
Third party cookies
We use a number of suppliers who may also set cookies on their websites.
Google Analytics: web analytics/metrics. This category comprises cookies used to evaluate site performance in terms of number of visits, unique visitors, drop-off rate for transactions etc. We measure numbers and volumes of visitors to different parts of our site and this helps us ensure our services are fast and available when you want them. It also helps us ensure that different pages on our site are useful and easy to find.
Purpose: web analytics/metrics. This category comprises cookies used to evaluate site performance by measuring number of visits, unique visitors, drop-off rate for transactions etc.
Benefit: To ensure our services are available when you want them and that they work quickly.
Google analytics cookie information: http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.html
We also deploy two necessary cookies from Google. One that enables the reCAPTCHA anti-spam technology on our forms, and another that allows Google Maps to function to show where our office is based.
| Name | Type | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| rc::c | Functional/Essential | Used by Google's reCAPTCHA to filter out spam and bot traffic. | When the user closes their browser. |
| OGPC | Functional/Essential | Used by Google Maps to function. | After 31 days. |
| _dc_gtm_UA-# | Analytics/Non-essential | Used by Google Tag Manager to load Analytics scripts. | After one day. |
| _ga | Analytics/Non-essential | Registers a unique ID for Google Analytics purposes. | After two years. |
| _gid | Analytics/Non-essential | Works in conjunction with _ga (above) to track user interactions with the website. | After one day. |
| collect | Analytics/Non-essential | Sends data back to Google for analytics purposes. | When the user closes their browser. |
SagePay: Secure and flexible credit card payment gateway service used to complete ecommerce transactions.
Purpose: Session management. These are “session-based” cookies used in order to ensure the smooth running of users’ sessions. This classification includes cookies used in completing a task, to enable you to complete the task without re-entering information already given (e.g. so the website can ‘remember’ that you’ve already filled in fields in a payment form).
Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using our services. To remember customer information used to complete secure e-commerce transactions through the SagePay online payment gateway service.
SagePay cookie information: http://www.sagepay.com/privacy_policy
| Name | Type | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| JSESSIONID | Functional/Necessary | Used by SagePay to remember customer information used to complete e-commerce transactions. | When a user closes their browser. |
| NSC_wjq-tbhfqbz-dpn | Functional/Necessary | Used by SagePay to remember customer information used to complete e-commerce transactions. | When a user closes their browser. |
YouTube: for video-hosting and playback
Purpose: We use videos hosted on YouTube to offer training, news and insight on the work of the ASA and CAP. Pressing a play button on any of our YouTube videos will deliver some cookies from YouTube directly, in order to allow the video to play correctly on your browser or device.
You will not receive cookies from YouTube if you do not opt to watch any videos on our website. As Google owns and operates YouTube, for more information on the cookies that YouTube sets, please see its cookie policy.
| Name | Type | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| test_cookie | Functional/Non-essential | Used by YouTube to determine whether a user's browser accepts cookies. | After one day. |
| GPS | Analytics/Non-essential | Gives Google/YouTube location data when a user watches a video. | After one day. |
| PREF | Analytics/Non-essential | Gives Google/YouTube information on how people use YouTube. | After eight months. |
Soundcloud: for audio hosting and playback
Purpose: We have a series of podcasts available to listen to via the ASA website, each of which is hosted by Soundcloud. Pressing the play button on any of our Soundcloud files will set some cookies from Soundcloud directly, in order to allow the files to play properly and to report anonymous listener data to Soundcloud.
You will not receive any cookies from Soundcloud if you do not opt to listen to any of our audio files on our website. As Soundcloud is not operated by the ASA, please see its cookie policy for more information.
| Name | Type | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| sc_anonymous_id | Analytics/Non-essential | Sends usage data to Soundcloud. | After 10 years |
| _utma | Analytic/Non-essential | SagePay's own implementation of Google tracking capabilities to determine who is listening to a track. | After two years. |
How to control and delete cookies
We will not use cookies to collect your personal data.
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the ‘C’ icon. If you have different accessibility needs, you can also hold the 'alt' key and press ‘C’ key on your keyboard.
You can then adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’, then clicking ‘Save and close’. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
Alternatively, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘Help’ function within your browser should tell you how. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of our website; for example, you will not be able to submit a complaint via our online form if you block all first-party cookies.
If you wish to view a cookie’s code, just open your cookie file in your browser and click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.
For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
To opt out of third parties collecting any data about your interaction on our website, please refer to their websites for further information.