Cookies – what they are and how we use them

Cookies are small text files that our website and sometimes emails place in your computer to ensure that your experience of our offerings is as effective as possible. They remember any options you have chosen for example and your password or particular interests.

They also enable us to track visitors’ usage of our site so that we can continuously improve it. There’s nothing mysterious about them and they do not collect personal data.

Like pretty much all website owners we have always operated cookies and visitors have had the benefit of using them. EU regulations now require us to inform you of what they are and give you the option to prohibit them if you wish.

We’re using the word cookies here to include things like web beacons and Flash cookies which serve similar functions. Your computer includes anything connected to the internet including laptops, office machines, tablets, mobile phones and so on.

Now, or in the future, we may use cookies in the following categories:

Necessary – without these our website will not function correctly.

Helpful – to us and to you. We monitor visitor activity on our website (without collecting any data on you) so that we can improve the site structure, page routing options and processing systems to help all visitors. These cookies also help us to guide you to pages likely to be of most interest to you.

Personal – for your benefit. These cookies remember your password and other preferences and can allow you to link onwards to watch a video or join in an online conversation.

Third party adverts – They do not know who you are and we don’t tell them. But they may be included on our site to invite you to follow an interest.

There’s more details on these at www.youronlinechoices.eu for EU consumers and at www.aboutads.info/choices for those in the USA.

On emails – We may use web beacons to check whether our emails are actually opened and whether any links in them are clicked on. That way we learn not to send you junk. If you choose plain text to download instead of HTML the web beacon is eliminated. And all our emails also give you a total opt-out procedure.

E-commerce Applications

Cookies are also used by online shopping sites to keep track of ordered items during the ordering process prior to checkout and disabling cookies could affect your ability to shop and purchase items online.

Guarantee and Assurances

No information is collected for any other purpose other than that outlined above all of which present no danger to you or your computer.

Your personal details are only ever used during purchase or during the checkout process (where applicable) and are never retained for any purpose at all.

Log Files

As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as BT, AOL or VirginMedia), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Your browser settings

Rather than listing data on all the cookies we use or may use in the future you will almost certainly find it quicker and easier to set your web browser to control cookie usage on all the sites you visit.

You can choose to disable or selectively turn off cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs in Internet Security and firewall applications.

However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our and other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

If you have a very old browser you may need to bring it up to date to use effective cookie controls.

In continuing to use our website you are agreeing to our use of cookies as outlined above.