Cookie Policy
WHAT IS A COOKIE
We use various technologies on our site to collect information that helps us improve your online experience. We refer to these technologies which include cookies, collectively as “cookies”. This Cookie Policy explains the different types of cookies used on our site and how you can control them.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your device. Cookies are widely used throughout the Internet in order to make sites or other online services work or to be better or more efficient. They can do this because sites and other online services can read and write to the cookies stored on your device, enabling them to recognise you and remember important information that will make your use of them more convenient, for example, by remembering your preferences, username, or showing you pages that you seemed to have a particular interest in.
If you consent to us storing cookies on your computer or another electronic device then you agree that we can store and access cookies as described in this policy.
HOW YOU CONSENT TO US PLACING COOKIES
When you visit our site you should see a pop-up at the bottom of your screen directing you to this Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy.
By clicking or selecting the “Accept” button that appears in the pop-up then you are demonstrating to us that you are freely giving us informed and specific consent for us to place cookies on your device for the purposes specified in this Cookie Policy and you are accepting and consenting to the practices described.
If you do not click or select the “Accept” button that appears in the pop-up then we will not place cookies on your device.
The duration of each cookie that we may place on your computer can be found in our Retention Policy.
If you do not see a pop-up at the bottom of your screen then you may have already accepted our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. You may also be using a pop-up blocker or similar tools that may prevent this policy from being brought to your attention. Please ensure that any pop-up blockers are disabled when you use our site. If you’re unsure then scroll down to the bottom of this page where we explain how you can manage your cookies.
WHAT DO YOU USE COOKIES FOR?
Our site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our site and to save and retain certain parameters about you and your usage of our site. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our site and also allows us to improve our site.
There are two different categories of cookies that we may use on our site:
Essential cookies: These are cookies that are essential for the operation of our site and managing your current visit. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our site or make use of e-billing services. We also use cookies to prevent fraudulent use of your login credentials. These cookies are essential for using our site and, therefore, if disabled can severely affect your use of our site.
Analytical/performance cookies: Performance cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our site when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our site works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. These cookies also allow us to see overall patterns of usage on our site and help us record any difficulties you may have with our site.
If you would like more information about cookies and how you can manage the settings on your computer, you can visit All About Cookies.
COOKIES WE USE
You can find more information about the individual cookies we use on our site and the purposes for which we use them in the table below:
Cookie Name
Purpose and Content
site_session
Type:Analytics/performance cookie
Purpose: To distinguish users/sessions they connect to our site
Content: Randomly generated number
Provider: Google Analytics
_utma / _utmb / _utmc / _utmz
Type: Analytics/performance cookie
Purpose: Used to determine new sessions/visits
Content: Randomly generated number
Provider: Google Analytics
You can read more about Google’s overview of privacy and safeguarding your data here.
THIRD PARTIES
Please note that third parties (including, for example, web traffic analysis services such as Google Analytics) may also use cookies, over which we have no control.
HOW DO I CONTROL COOKIES?
You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site. You may also delete any cookies stored on your computer at any time. You can find out more about changing cookie settings on your computer by visiting http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies
HOW LONG IS COOKIE INFORMATION STORED?
Different cookies may be stored for different periods of time. In many cases, these cookies are updated automatically each time you visit our site or may expire and be deleted by your computer automatically. It is important to understand that when a cookie is placed on your computer it will reside on your hard drive until it expires and is deleted or it may reside on your hard drive until you manually delete it – this entirely depends on your individual browser settings and we do not have control over this.
The duration of each cookie that we may place on your computer can be found in the table above and in our Retention Policy below.
Please remember that you can delete or change the way in which you store cookies on your computer at any time.
CHANGES TO OUR COOKIE POLICY
We may need to change this Cookie Policy if it’s necessary for legal reasons or to reflect changes to our services or the purpose for which we use cookies. In any case, the provisions of this Cookie Policy may be changed without prejudice to your rights. When we change our Cookie Policy we will make the updated Cookie Policy available on our site and we will also update the “Last Updated” date at the bottom of this page.
August 2022