A “cookie” is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit. Cookies can also be used to analyse traffic and for advertising and marketing purposes.
Cookies are used by nearly all websites and do not harm your system.
If you want to check or change what types of cookies you accept, this can usually be altered within your browser settings. You can block cookies at any time 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.
How do we use cookies?
We use cookies to track your use of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website as well as products and / or services in response to what you might need or want.
Cookies are either:
– Session cookies: these are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or
– Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics
Cookies can also be categorised as follows:
– Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, such as when buying a product and / or service, and therefore cannot be turned off. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.
– Performance cookies: These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.
– Functionality cookies: These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, we may be able to provide you with news or updates relevant to the services you use. They may also be used to provide services you have requested such as viewing a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised.
– Targeting cookies.These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
Please note that some 3rd party sites (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies
We may also use analytics tools provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”) or other similar providers. Analytics tools serve cookies through our products or website and collects aggregated data on an anonymized basis about users and visitors’ use of the product or website. The data collected enables us to understand aggregated user or visitor activity and how we may improve our product or website offering. This data is collected and used on an anonymized, aggregated basis only and does not enable any user or visitor to be personally identified.
We have implemented Remarketing through Google Analytics, Google Adwords and Facebook. These and other third party vendors may use cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from our website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads.
In addition, we may also use marketing automation tools (specific Company information can be given upon request). These companies serve cookies to profile users or visitors’ interests and activity. We use data collected through these cookies to serve users or visitors with information, new articles and advertising tailored to their specific needs and requirements. This data is collected on an anonymized basis, except where users or visitors have previously registered to receive marketing communications from us or subsequently choose to do so. Where this is the case, cookies set may enable us to identify the user or visitor. Where visitors have registered to receive marketing communications from us, we use the tools provided by these companies to send targeted e-mail marketing and track the effectiveness of our e-mail campaigns including through the use of clear gif images.
You have the right to refuse or disable cookies served through our products or website although, if you choose to do so, certain functionality may become unavailable to you. As the means by which you may do this vary from browser to browser, we recommend that you visit your browser’s help menu for further information.
Users can opt-out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting:
Opt out from Facebook Ads – http://www.aboutads.info/choices and http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/
Opting out of Google Ads http://www.google.com/settings/ads
Opt out of Google Analytics tracking https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/
Opt out of Hotjar website tracking https://www.hotjar.com/opt-out
Opt out of HubSpot Cookies – Use the instructions here to find, remove and block the HubSpot cookies listed here
To learn how to delete the cookies and all information gathered, and otherwise change your cookie settings within your browser please click the following link.
Our email and promotional communications may also include “Clear Image” gifs to track results of an email campaign. To turn off gifs you can do so in the email itself, or visit your email client’s help menu.
December 2018