Cookie Law

The EU cookie directive, or the EU cookie law as it is more commonly known, is a law that came into effect at the end of May 2012 that aims to improve data privacy and online security by giving internet users more control over what data can be held about them. The cookie law also concerns how our personal data is being used and held on the websites we visit.

The UK cookie law forces website owners to be more transparent about how they are using cookies, i.e. how long they hold cookies, what information is held – and it will also be a requirement for websites to request permission from visitors before their cookies can be used to improve website performance.

Originally, the law stated that websites had to explain how they used cookies, and provide users with the option to 'opt-out' of leaving cookies at a website. Now however, it is the case that users need to 'opt-in' after they have become made aware of the how the use of cookies will inevitably improve their user experience.

The law applies to all Member States of the European Union, but if a site based outside the EU is targeting visitors from inside the EU, they will also need to abide by the same laws.

The change in law will mean that practical changes need to be made to the website in order to make users aware of how to 'opt-in' to leaving cookies. Cookies also play an important part in storing user preferences such as the language that the site is shown in, and storing the items that users have added to their shopping basket.

It will be possible for websites to use cookies without the websites permission in instances where it is completely necessary for them to do so for website functionality (such as the shopping basket on an ecommerce website).

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that websites save to your computer, allowing the services those websites provide to be more reliable, easy to use, and useful. The cookies that are stored on your device by a website, be it a desktop computer or a mobile phone, do not contain any information that can be used to identify you personally. However, they do contain some information that is used by the website to improve your experience.

Here are some examples of how the information in cookies is used to improve the quality of service a website offers, or its general browsing experience, for you:

• Enabling cookies allows a website to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same data multiple times during a single task.
• Having cookies enabled means that if you have already entered a username and password, you won't need to do it again for every webpage that requests that information.
• If you suffer with reading difficulties, you may want to view text on a site with a larger font. Allowing cookies will enable the website to recognise you, meaning you won't have to change font size every time you visit the site.
• How to manage your cookies

As you can see, allowing cookies can greatly improve your experience when browsing the Web. Please read the list below to learn about the cookies that this website uses.

Our use of cookies:

Cookie Name	Cookie Age	What it does
cookieConsent	5 years	This is set by us so we know that you have read, understand and agree to our cookie policies.
fe_typo_user	Session*	Created by our servers to manage your session on our website.
PHPSESSID	Session*	Created by our servers to manage your session on our website.
PREF NID SNID	2 years 6 months 6 months	These are 3rd party cookies supplied by Google’s plusone and is required for linking content to your Google 1+ account.
X_LI_IDC	6 months	This is a 3rd party cookie supplied by LinkedIn and is needed to view our LinkedIn social status.
k twitter_sess guest_id js original_referer	7 days Session* 2 years 1 month Session*	These are 3rd party cookies supplied by Twitter and are needed to view our Twitter social status. For more information please visit this page from twitter.
datr lsd reg_fb_gate reg_gb_ref wd	2 years Session* Session* Session* Session*	These are 3rd party cookies supplied by Facebook and are needed to view our Facebook social status. For more information please visit this page by Facebook.
__utma __utmb __utmc __utmz	2 years 30 minutes Session* 6 months	Created by Google Analytics to track various aspects of your visit. For more information please visit this page by Google.
* - These cookies will expire when you close your browser