Introduction: What is a cookie?
Cookies are small text files that are downloaded to your computer when you visit a website. In general terms they are used by many website operators for benign purposes to help the user enjoy the content of the website and gain access to password protected areas. They can also be used to remember your preferences for accessing and viewing the website. They are also often used to collect data about your visit, such as which pages of the website you visited and for how long.
For more detailed information about cookies, we suggest you visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Our Policy on Cookies
This websites does make very limited use of cookies. They do not interfere at any level with the operation of your computer, nor do they represent a threat to your online privacy. We are perfectly happy to comply with legislation which requires us to provide information about the cookies used on this website and clear instructions on how to refuse them, should you so choose. If you do elect to block our cookies, please be aware that this website may not function as intended. You will also not be able to gain access to the password protected areas of this website.
To help you understand more about the cookies we use, we have grouped them by function to help explain what they do:
- 1. Strictly necessary (none present)
- 2. Performance (Standard Google Analytics present)
- 3. Functionality (none present)
- 4. Targeting (none present)
1. Strictly necessary cookies
This website does not make use of this type of cookie.
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing the secure areas of the website protected by passwords. Without these cookies services you may want to use cannot be provided.
Please note that we treat usage of our site as acceptance of this type of cookie. While you can make use of the information below to block these essential cookies, doing so will limit your ability to make full use of the website’s functionality.
We use a PHP session ID cookie to secure and lock down your access to the online members section of this website. If you block this cookie you will not be able to access the members section.
2. Performance cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.
Please note that we treat usage of our site as acceptance of this type of cookie. You can make use of the information provided below to block this type of cookie, and doing so should not degrade the functionality or performance of this website.
We deploy the Google Analytics Standard analytics cookie, which allows us to track and store anonymous information about the various visitors to our website. It records the time you spent on our site, the web pages you viewed and whether you have visited us before. It also records the type of operating software your PC runs and the web browser you used to visit the website. It does not broadcast or store any personal information about you such as your name, telephone number, postal or email addresses at any time.
3. Functionality cookies
This website does not make use of this type of cookie.
These cookies allow a website to store and recall the personal choices you make in the way you interact and view different parts of that website. For instance, a website may be able to provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing in a cookie the region in which you are currently located. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and configure certain default preferences for viewing data.
Please note using the information below to block such cookies should not degrade the performance of a website. If it does, move onto another website that isn’ t adversely affected.
4. Targeting or Advertising cookies
This website does not make use of this type of cookie.
Although targeting cookies have a legitimate place in the scheme of things, their widespread misuse led to the introduction of the Legislation that now requires website operators to make disclosures like this one.
The legitimate use of targeting cookies includes providing a visitor with the option to knowingly interact with the website’ software and provide personal information that can be stored and applied logically to present different information that may more closely match the visitor’s areas of interest.
The more questionable use of targeting cookies is when they collect detailed information about you and the choices you make in clicking your way through the website with a view to controlling the advertising information you are presented with at the time, or upon a return visit. Some cookies may even store and pass on personal information that will subsequently be used to send you unsolicited follow-up marketing emails and telephone calls.
Personal privacy is important, and many people advocate using the information below to block cookies of this nature as a sensible precaution to take. Although it won´t apply here, if any other website’s performance is seriously degraded after blocking targeted cookies, we suggest you vote with your mouse and find an alternative website that does work under your chosen level of web browser security.
Managing Cookies on your PC
You can change the security level of your web browser at any time, which will directly affect the types of cookies that can operate on your PC:
Internet Explorer 9
- Click the Tools menu and then Internet Options
- Click the Privacy tab
- Move the slider to choose your preferred settings. These settings are quite general.
- For more specific cookie settings click on Advanced, check the ’Override cookie handling‘ button and modify the settings to suit your requirements. You can also click on Sites to set cookie settings for individual websites.
Internet Explorer 6, 7 & 8
- Click the Tools menu and then Internet Options
- Click the Privacy tab
- Move the slider to choose your preferred settings. These settings are quite general.
- For more specific cookie settings click on Advanced, check the 'Override cookie handling' button and modify the settings to suit your requirements.
Firefox 3.5 and above
- Click the Tools menu, then Options
- Select the Privacy tab and in the History Panel, select ‘Use custom settings for history’
- You can set general cookie preferences using the checkbox, or more specific settings by clicking on Exceptions. Clicking on ‘Show Cookies’ displays all cookies saved on your computer and also allows you to clear all of them with a single click.
Firefox pre-3.5
- Click on Tools, then Options
- Select the Privacy tab
- Select Cookies. You can then choose your preferred settings
Chrome
- Click on the Tools menu (or the Spanner/Wrench icon) and select Options
- Click the ‘Under the Bonnet’ tab and locate the Privacy section, and choose the Content settings button
- Click the ‘Cookie settings’ tab and choose your preferred settings. The default behaviour is to allow all cookies, but you can fine tune your preferences here, and view the currently set cookies by clicking on ‘All cookies and site data …’
Apple Safari v3 and above
- Click the Cog icon or Edit on the main menu
- Click Preferences, then Security
- The ‘Accept cookies’ section allows you to specify your cookie preferences. To remove all cookies, click on ‘Show Cookies’ and ‘Remove All’