Cookies are text files containing small amounts of data which are downloaded to your computer, or other device, when you visit a website. They are useful because they allow us to recognise your computer and improve your experience on our websites. Some cookies are also needed for the operation of our websites.
Last updated: 5th October 2020
The table below lists the cookies we use and explains why we use them.
| Cookie | Cookie name | Expiry | Purpose | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | _cfduid | 1 year | Used by Cloudflare (the content network) to identify trusted web traffic, and protect our website against malicious activity. This does not contain any user identification information. | Necessary |
| Universal Analytics (Google) | _dc_gtm_UA-# | Session | These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our website. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone, including the number of visitors to the website, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited. | Analytics |
| _ga | 2 years | Analytics | ||
| _gid | Session | Analytics | ||
| _gat | Session | Analytics | ||
| gwcc | 3 months | Analytics | ||
| collect | Session | Analytics | ||
| Hotjar session analytics | _hjid | 1 year | Analytics | |
| _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress | 1 year | Analytics | ||
| _hjIncludedInSample | 1 year | Analytics | ||
| Hotjar website polls | _hjDonePolls | 1 year | This cookie is used to record if you've completed a poll on our website to make sure you're not asked to complete it again. | Analytics - and only used if you complete a poll |
| _hjMinimizedPolls | 1 year | This cookie remember that you minimised a poll to keep it minimised when you next visit. | Analytics - and only used if you minimise a poll | |
| Website search | SECFOSSESSID | Session | Used by the website to store an anonymous session ID. This enables our search and content filters to function, and isn't used for analytics purposes. | Necessary |
| Cookies message | cookies_accepted | 1 year | Used to store acceptance of necessary cookies. | Necessary |
| analytics_accepted | 1 year | Used to store acceptance of analytics cookies. | Used if you accept analytics cookies | |
| Email newsletter | LP-725GFD9D | 30 days | Used on our email newsletter subscription form to store a unique ID. This means we'll know whether you've signed up before, and can make sure any preferences you've set are reflected in the form. | Used if you sign up to our email newsletter |
| Website story banner | hide_featured_story_%s | 90 days | Used to store preferences around showing and hiding featured story banners. | Used if you dismiss a featured story banner |
| YouTube | GPS | 1 day | Registers a unique ID on mobile devices to enable tracking based on geographical GPS location. | Used if you watch a YouTube video on our site |
| YSC | Session | Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen. | Used if you watch a YouTube video on our site | |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 179 days | Tries to estimate the users' bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos. | Used if you watch a YouTube video on our site | |
| PREF | 8 months | Registers a unique ID that is used by Google to keep statistics of how the visitor uses YouTube videos across different websites. | Used if you watch a YouTube video on our site |