What is a cookie?

Cookies are small text files that are sent by websites that you visit to recognise who you are when you return there. There files are stored on your computer’s hard drive, and are read by your web browser.

How are cookies used?

Cookies perform several functions, such as remembering who you are on a particular site (your welcome message), to keeping you logged in to your account screen on an ecommerce site (however, you should always log out if you are using a public computer). Advertising agencies also use cookies to find out if they have served you an advert from a particular brand on a site, or if you have seen a particular advert before. Website owners will use cookies to follow which pages that you’ve read so that they can see what parts of the site are popular or not. In short, cookies are a way of providing statistics on site visits as well as some limited functionality that makes your site visit easier. When used properly cookies are an asset to a site visitor and a site owner. They are not viruses, but some unscrupulous outfits will use them maliciously – we follow best practice for cookie use.

Opting out of cookies?

There are a number of options available so that you do not have to store any cookies at all. You can either set your browser so that it will not accept and store any cookie, or if you have a little more time and knowledge you are able to allow only certain ‘trusted’ sites to store cookies on your computer.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (http://www.ico.gov.uk/) provides some advice about cookies and their use, and also provides a link to ‘About cookies’ (www.aboutcookies.org).