Cookie Policy
Whenever you use websites – on your computer, mobile phone, iPad or other devices such as Playstations or Xboxes, information may be collected through the use of cookies and similar technologies.
By using our website you are agreeing to our use of cookies as described in this cookie policy.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files which are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website or application. Your web browser (such as Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox or Chrome) then sends these cookies back to the website or application on each subsequent visit so that they can recognise you and remember things like whether you are logged into a members only area or other preferences.
As well as helping the website to function by allowing for members only areas, shopping carts, etc, there are other functions that cookies perform – such as to make advertising more relevant to your interests and to help the site owners track who is visiting their site – e.g. where the user is from, which browser the user accesses the site with, which site referred the user to them and so on. This information can then be used to improve the web browsing experience for all users of the site.
Cookies in themselves are not dangerous and despite what you may have heard or seen, they are just small text files that cannot contain executable code that could be used to infect your computer with a virus.
There are different types of cookies commonly referred to as session or persistent cookies, depending on how long they are used:
- Session cookies only last for the duration of your online session and disappear from your computer or device when you close your browser.
- Persistent cookies stay on your computer or device after the browser has been closed and last for the period of time specified in the cookie.
Persistent cookies are activated each time you visit the site that the cookie was generated by. These are generally cookies that advertising companies or analytic tools such as Google and Facebook use. They use persistent cookies to let site owners know how much traffic is coming to their sites, what type of visitors they are and also to target advertising to you. These cookies are also known as third-party cookies as they are not set by the website you are viewing, but by third-party code such as Google Analytics or Facebook Like buttons.
What Cookies does this site use?
If you are a registered member then when you login you will have a cookie set for the length of time you are logged into the site (a session cookie). This will be removed once you log out of the site. We need this cookie so that we know whether you are a registered member and have the correct access to the site.
We may also make use of social media code such as Google+, Facebook “like” buttons and other social media options that allow you to share the site or a page on the site with your own followers on Facebook or Google. We may also use third-party analytics software to rack traffic on the site. These cookies are third-party cookies and may stay for a set length of time on your computer even if it is turned off. These cookies are not generated or controlled by this site.
How do I know exactly which cookies are being set on a website?
Understandably, some people don’t like the idea of advertising and social media companies tracking them as they move around the web and as nearly every website in the world makes use of cookies, it is very hard to do away with them altogether. However, you should know how to de-activate them or see which cookies are being set on your computer by the site you are on.
Tools are available that allow you to see which cookies are set on your computer. We have compiled a list of the more common tools below. However, installation and use of any of these tools is completely at your discretion and we can not be held liable for any issues arising from their installation or use and nor can we provide help/support for them.
Ghostery is a small add-on that can be used in most browsers and will display a list of cookies being used on the site you are visiting. You can control the types of cookies you want to allow on a per site basis and block certain applications from setting cookies altogether. You can find out more about this application from http://www.ghostery.com/.
The Web Developer Toolbar for Firefox allows you to disable cookies on a per site basis, view cookies being set and delete those you don’t want. You can find out more about this application from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/web-developer/.
There are many other plugins and add-ons that will do a similar job. Please be advised that disabling cookies may cause issues when using this site or other sites.
How do I disable cookies in my browser?
All modern browsers will let you:
- See what cookies have been set and delete them on an individual basis.
- Block third party cookies.
- Block cookies from particular sites.
- Block all cookies from being set.
- Delete all cookies when you close your browser.
You should be aware that if you delete cookies you could lose preferences that make your browsing experience easier, including sites where you have chosen to opt-out of using cookies as this requires a cookie to be set to tell the site NOT to set any more cookies!
If you block cookies completely a lot of websites won’t work at all and others will only have partial functionality.
If you only want to block third-party cookies generated by advertisers, trackers, etc, you can turn these off without affecting the cookies that make websites work.
The links below take you to the ‘Help/Support’ sections for each of the major browsers so that you can find out more about how to manage your cookies. Any browsers you install and any changes you make to your browser settings are completely at your discretion and we can not be held liable for any issues arising from them.
Managing Flash cookies
The most common types of cookies are those discussed above – HTTP cookies and you can control their use through the browser settings or plugins and similar tools.
However, as well as standard HTTP cookies there are cookies that can be set by ‘Flash’ objects. These are objects used by sites to play movies, sounds, etc, and they have their own storage system to log user settings.These are called Flash Local Stored Objects (LSOs).
To control these Flash cookies you should read the following document available on the Adobe website: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager06.html
What am I agreeing to by using this site?
Hopefully this document has helped you to understand what cookies are, how this site uses them and why they are used by the majority of websites.
By using this website you are agreeing to allow this site and any widget, script or third-party service used by the site, to set and use any type of cookie on your computer. You assume all responsibility for controlling which cookies are used through the mechanisms described above or by other processes you may opt to use.
If you choose to disable or delete cookies generated or used by this site, it is at your own risk and you accept that it may result in impaired functionality for which we can not be held liable.