GOV.UK
This service puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site.
Cookies are used to:
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember the notifications you’ve seen so that we don’t show them to you again
These cookies aren’t used to identify you personally.
Find out more about how to manage cookies.
How cookies are used on this service
Measuring website usage
We collect logs on our servers that tell us how people use this site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting your needs and to understand how we could do it better. Cookies are used to give us more information in these logs.
The logs are analysed to tell us what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on. We do not collect or store your personal information (eg your name or address) so this information cannot be used to identify who you are.
We do not allow external organisations to access, use or share any of this analytics data, which is stored on in-house servers.
Our analytics tools set the following
cookies:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _utma | Determines the number of unique visitors to the site | 2 years |
| _utmb | This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on our site | 30 minutes |
| _utmc | This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser. | When you close your browser |
| _utmz | This provides information about how you reached the site (eg from another site or a search engine) | 6 months |
Managing your current visit
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ASP.NET_SessionId | A 'session identifier' which allows the site to recognise your movement around the site as being from one computer | When you close your browser |
| cfduid | Helps detect malicious users and minimizes blocking legitimate users from using the service. | 30 days |
| _cf_bm | Used to manage incoming traffic that matches criteria associated with automated internet robots (bots). | 30 minutes |
| ANONID & DUG | A 'session identifier' to manage automated traffic visiting our website | When you close your browser |
| _RequestVerificationToken_(17 alpha numeric characters) | An 'identifier' that helps prevent fraudulent requests to the site | When you close the browser |
We sometimes use Questback to collect responses to our satisfaction survey from links provided in our emails. Questback may also set cookies. Further information can be found at the Questback privacy statement