Information about our Cookie Policy
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This is required to help provide you with a great experience when you browse our website, and also allows us to improve our site. By continuing to browse the site or mobile app (“Site”) you are agreeing to our use of cookies as set out in this policy.
We use different types of cookies on our Site. We only need you to consent to some of the cookies we use. ‘Strictly necessary cookies’ and ‘Functionality cookies’ are needed to provide our services to you, so these are exempt from the requirement to obtain your consent.
We ask for your consent for ‘Analytical cookies’, ‘Targeting cookies’ and the cookies dropped by the affiliate networks (more information about affiliate network cookies is in the ‘Affiliate Network’ section of this policy).
You can withdraw your consent at any time by deleting all cookies on your devices and / or by changing the cookie settings of your browser or device. We need to make you aware that if you do this, some parts of our Site and mobile app will not function correctly if you disable cookies. This may mean that the website will not function as intended.
What is a Cookie?
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers, it contains no personal information such as your name or email address. The cookie is stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. Cookies may be placed on your device by XXXXXXXXXX.COM, which are ‘first party’ cookies. Cookies may also be placed by another party, such as our marketing partners or social media platforms. These are called ‘third party’ cookies. Where targeting cookies are placed by third parties, any information collected by them will be used in accordance with their own privacy policies, you can find out more on their websites.
We use the following cookies:
Strictly necessary cookies – These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our Site.
Functionality cookies – These are used to recognise you when you return to our Site. This enables us to personalise our content for you and remember your preferences such as keeping you logged into sections of our website – such as the discussion forum.
Analytical/performance cookies – They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our Site when they are using it. These cookies help us to improve the way our Site works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
Targeting cookies – These cookies record your visit to our Site, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our Site and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. If the cookie is set by a third party, this type of cookie may also be used to create profiles of your general online behaviour. The information collected by tracking cookies is then used to serve you with tailored online advertising. If you’d like to see a list of cookies we use on site, click here.
The table below explains the cookies we use and why.
| Cookie | Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Universal Analytics (Google) | _ga, _gali, _gat, _gid | These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our website. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone, including the number of visitors to the website and blog, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited. Read Google’s overview of privacy and safeguarding data. |
| Switchpals.com (Forum) | spuser, spsess, sppass | These cookies are used to keep you logged in to the discussion forum section of the website (if you choose to use it and login). This saves you from having to login each and every time, and will also remember your login details if you logout. |
| Criteo Ad Network | cto_pub_test_tld, cto_writeable, cto_bundle | These cookies are used to display advertisements to visitors of our website. This is one of the ad networks that we use and will help to provide you with personalised adverts that may be of more interest to you than standard adverts. |
| Addthis.com (Social Media) | na_tc, na_rn, na_sr, na_srp, na_sc_e, na_id, ouid | These cookies are used for the purpose of enabling sharing of links on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. They are also used to recognise a visitor upon re-entry to the website. |
For information on how Google will use your personal data visit https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
Manage Cookies
Some cookies are essential in order to use the Site, and if you do reject cookies this may affect the functionality of the Site meaning that some parts of the website may not work properly.
You can choose which cookies you’d like us to store on your device by updating your browser settings. Each browser allows you to restrict or block cookies in different ways.
To find out more about cookies such as; managing the cookies or how to see what cookies have been set on any of the browser types listed below. Visit http://aboutcookies.org.uk/managing-cookies.
Google Chrome
Microsoft Edge
Mozilla Firefox
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Opera
Apple Safari
To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer’s website.
Please note that we’re not responsible for the content of external websites.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.