IP addresses and cookies

1. We may collect information about your computer, including your IP address, operating system and browser type, for system administration, and to report aggregate information to our advertisers. These are statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns, and do not identify any individual.

2. For the same reason, we may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a cookie file. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They therefore contain information that is transferred to your device, such as computer hard disk or mobile phone.

3. Cookies help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. They enable us:

  • To estimate our audience size and usage pattern
  • To store information about your preferences, and so allow us to customise our site according to your individual interests
  • To increase the speed of your searches
  • To recognise you when you return to our site.

4. You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of cookies. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you log on to our site.

5. Our advertisers may also use cookies, over which we have no control.

6. We use several different types of cookies to help the website work.  These are listed as follows:

Name of cookie

Purpose

__utma Google analytics – Used to identify unique visitors (see http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/
docs/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.html
)
__utmb Google analytics – Used to identify visitor session (see http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/
docs/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.html
)
__utmc Google analytics – Used to identify visitor session – deprecated (see http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/
docs/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.html
)
__utmz Used multiple times – Including being used in the standard site and also by embedded “Storify” and “slideshare” widgets on some news pages. Google analytics – Used to store site visit referral information (see http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/
docs/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.html
)
__utmv Google analytics – Used to store custom information (see http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/
docs/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.html
)
ns_cookietest Used to confirm browser is able to accept cookies.
ns_session Used to identify user session.
ASP.NET_SessionID Standard ASP.NET cookie, used to track identity of user’s session
mp_super_properties Used by Storify – Used to track identity of user’s session
reg_fb_gate Used by Facebook when recommending a page (see http://dataprotection.ie/documents/facebook%20report/final%20report/Appendices.pdf)
reg_fb_ref Used by Facebook when recommending a page (see http://dataprotection.ie/documents/facebook%20report/final%20report/Appendices.pdf)
YWP_VOLUME Used by Yahoo webplayer on “Audio information” pages to store volume level
ywadp”¦ Two of these with different IDs are used by Yahoo webplayer on “Audio information” pages
fpc”¦ Two of these with different IDs are used by Yahoo webplayer on “Audio information” pages
FormCookie EPiServer cookie. Records “Your free will guide” and other xform entry IDs (see http://world.episerver.com/Documentation/Items/
Tech-Notes/EPiServer-CMS-5/EPiServer-CMS-5-R2-SP1/Developing-with-XForms/
)
.EPiServerLogin Standard EPiServer cookie. Used to track login.
.ASPXROLES Standard ASP.NET cookie, used to track identity of user’s session
_atuvc Used by “AddThis” social sharing function on news pages (see http://www.addthis.com/privacy)
COOKIE_JOIN_CACHE_ID Bespoke cookie used for sign up process
fc_layout Bespoke cookie used to alter stylesheet on “Kids” page depending on screen resolution
PromptSet Used by QuickAddress lookup functionality to store which prompt set is selected.
PicklistMoniker Used by QuickAddress lookup functionality to recreate the picklist
RefineMoniker Used by QuickAddress lookup functionality to refine picklist
ErrorInfo Used by QuickAddress lookup functionality to store error message info
ns_order_id_… Used to track most recent online shop order number.

Cookies which are necessary to run the site

7. Our sites produce some cookies which are essential to keep the site working and provide the services you need. These include:

  • Cookies that enable you to stay logged in for an entire visit to the site
  • Cookies which enable you to add things to a shopping basket and keep them there until you decide to check out.

Cookies which help us improve the site

8. Some cookies help us to see how people are using our sites.  These are known as analytics cookies or tracking cookies.  They let us know what areas of website are popular and how people are using the site.  This information is anonymous – we do not collect anything that would identify a user.   We combine this data with the rest of the visitor data and examine it as a whole to build up a picture of how the site is performing. These cookies work only on our site and are not shared.

9. We also place tiny tags (also known as tracking pixels or web beacons) on some of the emails we send out.  These do not collect any personal information either, but they let us know how many people are opening and reading our emails so that we can choose more popular content.

10. We use cookies to test and improve the quality of our website service. For instance, when we are testing new website content we ask some of our visitors to answer a brief survey.  To make sure that we do not ask the same people repeatedly and interfere with their browsing too much, we set a cookie which remembers if they have been asked to participate and what their answers were.

11 .On occasion, we also run multiple versions of a page.  Some of our visitors will be shown one version of a page and we then use our analytics to see if this has helped people access more information or experience a better user journey with us.  To prevent confusion we set a cookie to make sure that our visitors always see the same version of a page instead of all the different ones.

Cookies which help us get value for money from advertising

12. We occasionally use other cookies to track how our advertisements perform.  As with all our analytics cookies, all the information we collect is anonymous.  These cookies are used solely to let us know which site a visitor clicked on for our advertisement, that they have come through to our site and completed whatever action we wished to see promoted – such downloading a leaflet or ordering an information pack.

Can I decline to accept cookies?

13. You are not obliged to accept a cookie that we (or any other web server) send to you.  Most browsers accept cookies automatically but you can modify the settings in your browser to turn off this feature.  However, cookies are integral to some areas of the website and to certain online services offered by Diabetes Centre, so if you choose not to accept cookies from us, you may not be able to utilise some areas of the website and we may not be able to provide certain online services to you.