Cookie Policy

We collect information when you visit our website to ensure necessary and optimal performance. These methods of collection may include:

• Cookies on our websites which allow us to track your browsing behaviour and your device types. They also allow us to collect data (including analytics) about how you use and interact with our websites. We may use this information to analyse and improve the performance of our websites. We may also collect Internet Protocol (IP) address. For additional information, please see the How we use Cookies section below.
• Data about Usage of Services is automatically collected when you visit our website/s. We collect this information in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting any of our websites. We will not associate any data gathered from this site with any personally identifying information from any source. The data collected may include metadata, log files, cookie/device IDs, and location information. This information can include specific data about pages you visit, links you click, dates and times, the browser used and your interactions with the website. Some of the data collected might be capable of and be used to approximate your location.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences. In particular this applies for registered users of the website to provide easy return log-in facilities.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to users’ needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website and some functions may not work. If you do not know what cookies are, or how to control or delete them, then we recommend you visit http://www.aboutcookies.org for detailed guidance.

On your first visit to our website/s we provide a notice about our use of cookies with an acceptance mechanism whereby you can signify your agreement, which means that by visiting this site and navigating beyond the opening page, we assume you are happy with this usage. If you are not happy, then you should either not use this site in future, delete any cookies having visited the site, or you could browse the site using your browser’s anonymous usage setting (called “Incognito” in Chrome, “InPrivate” for Internet Explorer, “Private Browsing” in Firefox and Safari etc.)

The table below explains the cookies we use, or may use, and why.

*To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Social Media Website Cookies

In common with many other websites we may include sharing buttons on our website/s relating to popular Social Media Websites like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc so you can easily “Like” or share our content through these services. The privacy implications vary depending on the policies of these social media sites and will depend to some extent on the privacy settings you have chosen on these networks. It should be noted that Facebook do use ‘Like’ buttons to record your visits to any website containing them, whether or not you click on these and irrespective of whether you are currently logged in on Facebook. There are software applications available, such Abine’s Do Not Track Me plug-ins for popular web browsers, which can be installed on web browsers to automatically prevent tracking by social Media and many hundreds of other advertising tracking-type cookies.

External Web Services

We may, at times, use external web services on our website, mainly to display content within our web pages. For example, to display images we may occasionally use Flickr or similar photo storage sites; to show videos we may use YouTube. This is not an exhaustive or complete list of the services we use, or might use in the future when embedding content, but these are the most common types. We cannot prevent these sites, or external domains, from collecting information on your usage of any embedded content. If you are not logged into these external services then they will not be able to identify you but they are likely to gather anonymous usage information e.g. in the case of YouTube the number of views, plays, loads, etc. To find out more please visit YouTube’s embedding videos information page.