What are cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored on your computer’s hard drive by your browser. These allow websites to store your details and provide features to make your use of the service easier. Most browsers allow the cookie function to turn off.
Which cookies do we use?
There are several different types of cookies and they can be used in different ways. We use the following:-
- Anonymous analytics cookies – These cookies can tell us whether or not you have visited the site before. This allows us to track how many individual unique users we have, and how often they visit the site. These cookies cannot be used to identify individuals; they are used for statistical purposes only.
- Geotargetting cookies – These cookies are used by software which tries to work out what country you are in from information supplied by your browser when it requests a web page. This cookie is completely anonymous, and is also used for statistical purposes only.
We specifically use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (‘Google’). 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, using the opt out below. 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.
We do not use any advertising cookies to track your visits. Advertising cookies are the ones that are commonly used to record personal preferences, i.e. which ads you have looked at, and which ones you may be interested in seeing in future based on your viewing preferences.
However, as we accept a small amount of advertising from third parties, some of these third parties may use their own anonymous cookies to track how many people have seen a particular ad, or to track how many people have seen it more than once.
The companies that generate these cookies have their own privacy policy and the Brain Injury Group has no access to read or write these cookies. These third party advertising cookies may be used by those third parties to anonymously target advertising to you on other websites, based on your visit to our site
We also do not use any registration cookies on our site. These are the ones that record people’s personal information, and allow them to be targeted on a more personal basis.
How do I turn cookies off?
It is usually possible to stop your browser accepting cookies. All modern browsers allow you to change your cookie settings. These settings will typically be found in the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ menu of your browser. In order to understand these setttings, the following links may be helpful, otherwise you should use the ‘Help’ option in your browser for more details.
Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari web and iOS.
If you are primarily concerned about third party cookies generated by advertisers, you can turn these off by going to the Your Online Choices site.
You can also visit the trade body representing these advertising platforms for more information: Network Advertising Initative.
They have provided a one-stop place that gathers all of the opt-out controls. Please bear in mind that the are many more networks listed on this site than those that we use at the Brain Injury Group
http://networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
Useful links
If you would like to find out more about cookies and their use on the Internet, you may find the following links useful:
Microsoft Cookies guide
All About Cookies
The IAB has provided the following website to give information specifically about privacy issues around Internet advertising:
youronlinechoices.co.uk/uk
For further legal information about privacy issues, you may find these links useful:
Data Protection Act 1998
The Information Commissioner’s Office
