What exactly is a cookie and what do we use them for?

Web browser cookies

When you visit a website the website’s server will send your computer or mobile device a small amount of data that is stored on your web browser – a cookie. A cookie contains some anonymous information such as a unique identifier, the website name and some digits and numbers. It is used to record your online behaviour and preferences.

Different types of cookies:

• First party cookie: set by the website you are visiting, and can only be read by that website.
• Third party cookie: set by other companies who provide services to the website you are visiting, for example analytics companies or advertising networks.
• Session cookie: set for the duration of your visit to the website, and will be deleted from your device when your browsing session ends.
• Persistent cookie: set for a fixed period of time if the website you are visiting needs to remember you over multiple sessions (for example, if you have asked the website to remember your location or username).

Local storage

Local or HTML5 storage is like a browser cookie as the data is stored in your browser. Unlike cookies, however, the storage limit is greater and data is not transferred to the website server. This allows usage and preference data (alongside the unique ID usually stored in a cookie) to be stored locally in your browser rather than on other systems and servers.

Tracking technologies: web beacons, GIFs, page tags, script

These terms describe a type of technology used in emails, on web pages and mobile apps to better understand how you interact with an email, website or application. Usually this is in the form of a small transparent image file or a line of code which records, for example, when you’ve opened an email, which web pages you visited or elements of a page you viewed, when and for how long, and whether you viewed and/or clicked on an ad.

They may also be used to target advertising on the web page you are viewing. These tracking technologies are often used in conjunction with cookies.

In this policy, we refer to all these types of cookies and other technologies as “cookies”, except where otherwise stated.

What cookies do

Cookies record your online identity and remember your online behaviour and preferences. For example, cookies may capture the following information:

• Browser information: browser type, language, and history;
• Device information: IP address, device make, device model, device operating system/version, and data connection type;
• Internet service provider information; and
• Interaction information: domain name, referring website address, date/time of website visit, page view data, search keywords, referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, geolocation data, click data, types of ads viewed.

Cookies are used for a variety of purposes: to keep you logged in, to remember what is in your online shopping basket, to deliver you location specific information such as news and weather, to tailor advertising to your interests, and so on. This improves your experience of a website.