Cookies policy
What are cookies?
Cookies are pieces of information that include a unique reference code that a website transfers to your device to store and sometimes track information about you. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently.
A few of the cookies we use last only for the duration of your web session (these are called session cookies) and expire when you close your browser. Other cookies (called persistent cookies) will last for longer, as they are used to remember you when you return to the site.
Many computers and some mobile web browsers will automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can change your browser settings to prevent them from accepting on your behalf, or to notify you each time a cookie is set. Please note, however, that by blocking or deleting cookies, you may not be able to take full advantage of the site.
How do we use cookies?
We use first-party and third-party cookies for several purposes. First-party cookies are mostly used to ensure the website functions correctly, and they do not collect any of your personally identifiable data.
The third-party cookies we use allow us to provide you with an improved user experience. These cookies improve our understanding of how the website performs, how you interact with our website, keep our services secure, and provide adverts that are relevant to you.
Manage your cookie preferences
Third-party cookies we use:
Further details about the main suppliers we use and links to their privacy information can be found below:
We use Google’s Advertising Platform cookies to measure the impact of our digital advertising campaigns.
We use Google Analytics cookies to help us measure how visitors use our websites. This helps us to improve users' experience of using our site and measure the effectiveness of our digital advertising campaigns.
Microsoft/Bing
We use Microsoft’s Marketing Platform cookies so that we can measure the impact of our digital advertising campaigns on Microsoft products, including bing.com.
Read Microsoft’s privacy policy
Hotjar
We use Hotjar to see how users interact with our site, this helps us to identify areas we can improve our user experience.
To find out more about cookies, including details of cookies that have been set and how to manage and delete them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
How do we categorise cookies on our site?
Strictly necessary
Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
Advertising cookies
Advertising cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.
Analytical cookies
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Personalisation cookies
Personalisation cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
Site Cookies
Strictly necessary
| Cookie Name | Placed by | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| _cflb | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to distribute our incoming traffic across our servers to optimise our website’s performance for users. | 1 day |
| CookieAcceptanceGDPR | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to remember that you have accepted the use of cookies on the Site so that we don't show you the cookie banner again. | 1 year |
| adclick | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to determine if you arrived on the site from an advert and to save this information if you perform specific actions on the site. | 1 year |
| PHPSESSID | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to identify user sessions on the site. | Session |
| cf_clearance | counselling-directory.org.uk | Clearance Cookie stores the proof of challenge passed. It is required to reach the origin server. | 30 minutes |
| welcome_name | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to display a members name on the sign-in page, Members’ Area and main site. | 1 month |
| auth_guard_user | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to remember members who have logged into Members’ Area. | 1 year |
| auth_guard_user_remember | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to save whether a member clicked “Remember me” when they logged in. | 1 year |
All other cookies
| Cookie Name | Placed by | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | counselling-directory.org.uk | Takes information in ad clicks so that conversions can be attributed outside the landing page. | 3 months |
| _ga | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to collect Google Analytics data. | 2 years |
| _gid | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to collect information about how visitors use our website. | 1 day |
| _gat | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. | 1 day |
| _gaexp | counselling-directory.org.uk | Determines a user's inclusion in an experiment and the expiry of experiments a user has been included in. | 3 months |
| NID | google.com | Used to show Google ads in Google services for signed-out use. | 6 months |
| HSID | google.com | Used to identify you, track activity and store preferences. | 1 year |
| SID | google.com | Used to identify you, track activity and store preferences. | 1 year |
| 1P_JAR | google.com | Remembers your preferences and other information such as website statistics and tracks conversion rates. | 30 days |
| MUID | bing.com | Enables user tracking by synchronising the ID across many Microsoft domains. | 1 year |
| _uetsid | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used by Microsoft Bing Ads to store and track visits across websites. | 1 day |
| _uetvid | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to track visitors on multiple websites, to present relevant ads based on your preferences. | 1 year |
| _hjSessionUser_{site_id} | counselling-directory.org.uk | Set when a user first lands on a page to store a unique user ID. | 1 year |
| _hjid | counselling-directory.org.uk | Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID. | 1 year |
| _hjFirstSeen | counselling-directory.org.uk | Used to determine if the visitor has visited the website before, or if it is a new visitor on the website. | Session |
| _hjSession_{site_id} | counselling-directory.org.uk | Holds current session data. Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session. | 30 minutes |
| _hjIncludedInPageviewSample | counselling-directory.org.uk | Determines if a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. | 30 minutes |
| _hjIncludedInSessionSample | counselling-directory.org.uk | Detects whether the user navigation and interactions are included in the website’s data analytics. | 30 minutes |
| _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress | hotjar.com | Used to detect the first pageview session of a user. | 30 minutes |
How to manage cookies
Most browsers allow you to control how your computer handles cookies, including blocking all or certain types. However, each browser is different, and how you manage your cookie preferences will vary per device and browser.
Details of how to manage cookie preferences for common browsers can be found below.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us on:
- Email: privacy@counselling-directory.org.uk
- Address: Building B, Riverside Way, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3YL
Changes to our policy
This cookie policy is valid from 21st October 2022. We reserve the right to make changes to and/or update this policy.
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