Last updated 12 May 2023
What are cookies?
Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device and to target the content displayed to the user’s interests.
Types of cookies
There are two broad types of cookies – ‘first party cookies’ and ‘third party cookies’:
First party cookies are cookies that are served directly by the website operator to your computer and are often used to recognise your computer when it revisits that site and to remember your preferences as you browse the site. Basically, these are our cookies.
Third party cookies are served by a service provider on behalf of the website operator and can be used by the service provider to recognise your computer when you visit other web sites. Third party cookies are most commonly used for web site analytics or advertising purposes.
In addition, cookies may be either ‘session cookies’ or ‘persistent cookies’. Your computer automatically removes session cookies once you close your browser. Persistent cookies will survive on your computer until an expiry date specified in the cookie itself, is reached. We use both session and persistent cookies.
How we use cookies
We may use cookies to:
- Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package: Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
- Test content on our website: For example, 50% of our users might see one piece of content, the other 50% a different piece of content.
- Store information about your preferences: The website can then present you with information you will find more relevant and interesting.
- To recognise when you return to our website: We may show your relevant content, or provide functionality you used previously.
Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.
What information do we collect using cookies?
We may collect some, or all, of the information available from cookies when you visit our website, depending on how you use it. We monitor how people use our website so we can improve it. We collect this information anonymously.
However, you can choose to use our website anonymously without giving us any information. Please see ‘Changing your cookie preferences’ below.
If you visit our website, we may use cookies to record information about: the areas of the website you visit; the amount of time you spend on the site; whether you are new to the site, or have visited it before; the country, region, city and/or borough associated with your IP address or device; how you came to our website – for example, through an email link or a search engine; the type of device and browser you use; how you use the website and the quality of your experience – for example we may track your bandwidth when viewing videos; how you interact with our donation and sign up forms – for example what you select as your communication preferences; and any error messages that you receive on the site.
We use cookies to track how visitors come to our site. For example, we use marketing or referring tracking codes in internet addresses (URLs) to show us whether a visitor has come to our site via a link on a referring website or in a specific piece of marketing and to give us insight into the effectiveness of our marketing. Some of this information may be used by third party cookies to target you with relevant advertising (see below).
Although not through cookies, we do measure the success of the emails we send – so we know what subject lines and stories people liked the most. We receive this information anonymously, we don’t share this information.
Website statistics analytics, testing and personalisation
Our website currently uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google. Google Analytics uses cookies to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. For more details please read Google’s Analytics overview.
You can always opt-out of Google Analytics cookies by Google’s opt-out tool.
Other third party cookies
You may notice some other cookies that are not related to UKHIH’s website whilst visiting www.ukhih.org. Some of our pages may contain embedded content such as YouTube or Vimeo videos and a Twitter feed, and you may receive cookies delivered from these websites.
UKHIH does not govern the publication of third-party cookies. To understand more about their cookies and privacy statements, please visit the relevant sites.
Changing your cookie preferences
The “Help” menu in the toolbar of most web browsers will tell you how to change your browser’s cookie settings, including how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable cookies altogether.
If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer and you wish to block UKHIH’s website cookies, you can perform the following:
- On your browser tools menu, select ‘Internet Options’
- Click on the ‘Privacy’ tab and then on the ‘Sites’ button
- Type into the ‘Address of website’ field: www.ukhih.org
- Click on the ‘Block’ button
- Click on the OK button