When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.
These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:
- Enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
- Recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
- Measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fas
- You can manage these small files yourself and learn more about them through Internet browser cookies - what they are and how to manage them.
Google Analytics sets cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of visitors to the website and volumes of usage, e.g. website statistics. This to ensure that the service is available when you want it and fast.
Name: _utma
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: 2 years
Name: _utmb
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: 30 minutes
Name: _utmc
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: when user exits browser
Name: _utmz
Typical content: randomly generated number + info on how the site was reached (e.g. directly or via a link, organic search or paid search)
Expires: 6 months
For further details on the cookies set by Google Analytics, please refer to the Google Code website.
Name: cc_cookie_accept
Typical Content: Plain text which stores that you have clicked the accept cookies banner on the website. So it is not shown on every page.
Expires: 1 year
Name: asp.net_sessionid
Typical Content: Randomly generated string
Expires: On browser close (session cookie)
Name: DBANON
Typical Content: Randomly generated string
Expires: 1 month