Cookies cannot be used to identify you as an individual
Cookies are used to:
- recognise where you have already given your username and password, so you don’t need to do it for every visit
- recognise your device so you don’t have to give the same information several times during the same online task
- measure how you use the site so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- provide data to help understand how a website and its services are used.
How cookies are used on this site
Measuring how our site is used – Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use this site. We do this to make sure the site is meeting the needs of our users and to help us improve it.
Every time you visit our site, Google Analytics software creates ‘anonymous analytics’ cookies. These cookies are used to tell us:
- how many people are using our site and how long they are using it for
- the different ways people have used to get to our site
| Name | Purpose | Expires | |
|---|---|---|---|
| _utma | Used to determine the number of unique visitors to the site | 2 years | |
| _utmb | This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on our site | 30 minutes | |
| _utmc | This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser |
When you close your browser |
|
| _utmv | This provides information about how you reached our site (eg from another website or a search engine) | 2 years | |
| _utmz | Used to store variable data by visitor | 6 months |
Google Analytics – Advertising Features
This site also uses Google Analytics Advertising Features. These features will not be used for advertising but instead provide the council with more information about who visits our site and what they look at, in order to provide us with information and make improvements to the website. The information collected by these cookies cannot identify individuals.
Within Advertising Features we have implemented Demographics and Interests reports. These allow us to see a breakdown of age groups, gender and interest categories. More information about how Google determines demographic information is available here. More information on how Google determines interest reports is available here.
We retain this Google Analytics data for a period of 50 months.
Facebook Pixel
Facebook Pixel helps us with measuring how effective our Facebook adverts are. We’re then able to use this information to improve our marketing. Using Facebook Pixel does not allow us to identify any individuals. You can read more about Facebook cookies and managing your advert preferences.
Opt out of sharing cookies
To opt out of sharing cookies you can use the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
You can also disable cookies in your browser settings: