What are cookies and how do we use them?
A “cookie” is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit. Cookies can also be used to analyze traffic and for advertising and marketing purposes. Cookies are used by nearly all websites and do not harm your system.
We use cookies to track your use of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards to how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website as well as products and / or services in response to what you might need or want.
Where are cookies stored?
- Session cookies: these are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or
- Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics.
3 Types of Cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, such as when buying a product and / or service, and therefore cannot be turned off. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.
- Performance cookies: These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.
- Functionality cookies: These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, we may be able to provide you with news or updates relevant to the services you use. They may also be used to provide services you have requested such as viewing a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised.
First-Party and Third-Party Cookies on our Website
- First party cookies are cookies set by our website. Third party cookies are cookies on our website that are set by a website other than our website.
- Our website is built using WordPress.com by Automattic. Please view the wordpress.com cookie policy here.
- Google Analytics gives information only and does not identify you individually. We use this information to track the location our visitors are from, how long they spend on the site, what pages they visit and how they found our website. Google Privacy Notice https://policies.google.com/privacy To opt-out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
- Affiliates: From time to time we may promote other people’s products and services that we think may be of interest and they may use tracking tools to identify that we have referred them. We always adhere to affiliate rules and are upfront if we benefit from introducing you to them.
- MailerLite Email System. If you join our mailing list, you might like to check out Mailerlite’s cookie policy. Mailerlite tracks open rates, links that are clicked and helps us to understand who is engaging with our emails so that we can improve our service.
- Embedded Content: We may use embedded video content, delivered by services such as YouTube or Vimeo to provide more engaging ways to deliver content on our site. Find out more about YouTube’s Cookie policy, and Vimeo’s cookie policy.
- If you click through to our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram etc, you should check out their relevant cookie policies. Here is Facebook’s cookie policy
How to Opt Out of Cookies
If you want to check or change what types of cookies you accept, this can usually be altered within your browser settings. You can block cookies at any time by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access parts of our site.
To find out more about disabling cookies, use the Help menu in your web browser or take a look at the About Cookies website which offers further guidance and or more information about the rights around your personal information visit https://ico.org.uk/.
Different browsers make different controls available to you and so we provide links below to popular manufacturers’ instructions on how you can do this. Generally, your browser will offer you the choice to accept, refuse or delete cookies at all times, or those from providers that website owners use (“third party cookies”), or those from specific websites.
Coole Eco Community 