Cookie information
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored in your browser that help the websites work and improve your experience on a site.
Most websites require some cookies in order to operate, most of these are what is called 'Session' cookies - meaning that they are deleted the moment that you close your browser.
EU law
Some companies (like Google), use persistent cookies to track users and extract information about the sites they visit, what they search for, etc. in order to target those users with custom advertiments etc. The EU believed that users should consent to the storage of this information, which certainly seems fair and correct in cases where websites are tracking or profiling users.
Unfortunately the legislation that was delivered treats ALL sites and cookies the same regardless of how they are using cookies or whether they are storing identifiable information about users.
What this means in practice is that instead of 'fixing' the problem (i.e. stopping data-mining companies from collecting identifiable information without consent), what actually happens is that ALL EU based websites that use cookies must seek consent, regardless of the type of information they store or how long the cookie exist, even if they store no identifiable information at all.
Cookies on this site:
We only use cookies that are required for our site to operate and ensure security. Ironically, the only persistent cookie used for this site is there to help us comply with the cookie law. The remaining cookies we use (those that are actually required to run our site) are session cookies.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IC_SESS_... | Session (expires as soon as you close your browser | Simply a unique ID (random string) that identifies your current session. This enables the code running our website to detect that a request comes from your 'session'. |
| ic_ses_blc_... | Session (expires as soon as you close your browser | This allows the site to keep track of some basic preferences for the current session, (such as what language you want pages in). This cookie may also be used within interactive pages and forms (e.g. pages for logged in admin staff) to increase security by ensuring that the request really comes from the browser the form/screen was delivered to and not someone trying to hijack a session. |
| __cfduid | Persistent | The code for our cookie consent prompt this is supplied by a third party Silktide.com which we use to help comply with the cookie law. This cookie is used to remember that you accept cookies and so avoids you having annoying cookie pop-ups displayed every page load. |
Further information
ICO information on cookie law that applies to this site can be found at ico.org.uk