How NPSA uses cookies to collect information about how you use our site
www.npsa.gov.uk puts small files - known as "cookies" - on to your computer to collect information about how you use our site. Cookies are used to:
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember the notifications you've seen so that we don't show them to you again
- to show you relevant advertising on other sites, ensuring our advertising is as cost-effective as possible. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
NPSA does not use cookies to identify you personally. You should see a message appear on the site before we store a cookie on your computer and you can change your cookie settings at any time.
Strictly necessary cookies
The GA cookies we currently use are:
|
Cookie
|
Purpose
|
Duration
|
| CookieControl | This cookie stores the user's cookie preferences. | 90 days |
| li_gc | This cookie stores user consent for LinkedIn cookies. | 2 years |
| SSESS{identifier} | This cookie is used for user authentication and access control. | Session |
| cookie-agreed | This cookie is used to store a user's cookie preference and stop the banner from reappearing based on their preference. | 100 days |
| cookie-agreed-version | This cookie stores the version of the cookie policy you agreed to, so the site knows if it needs to ask for your consent again after updates. | 100 days |
| cf_chl_rc_m | This Cloudflare cookie verifies user legitimacy on the website. | 1 hour |
| __cf_bm | This Cloudflare cookie is used to identify and mitigate malicious bots. | 30 minutes |
Cookies that measure website performance
We use one optional cookie which measures website use. You can choose whether or not you are happy for us to use it.
NPSA (www.npsa.gov.uk) uses Google Analytics (GA) and Hotjar to collect data that we use to improve your experience of our website. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements. Google Analytics and Hotjar store information about:
- how long users spend on each web page and how users got to the site
- what users click on while visiting the site
The analytics cookies we currently use are:
| Name | Purpose | Duration |
| _ga | This cookie is used to identify unique visitors and understand their overall behaviour across multiple visits to the website. | 2 years |
| ga{measurement_ID} | This cookie tracks user interactions within a single session to help analyse specific events and how visitors engage with the website during that visit. | 2 years |
| lidc | This cookie helps LinkedIn manage traffic by directing visitors to the right servers, ensuring the website runs smoothly and efficiently. | 24 hours |
| _hjSession{site_id} | This Hotjar cookie is used to attribute a series of requests to a single user in the same session. | Session |
| _hjSessionUser{site_id} | This Hotjar cookie is used to attribute a series of requests to a single user in the same session. | 1 year |
For future information read Google's overview of privacy and safeguarding data.
Should you wish, you can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
Marketing cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. This means that you may see NPSA adverts shown to you even after you have left our website. They do not store directly personal information or provide identifying information to NPSA, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
| Cookie | Description | Duration |
| bcookie | This cookie helps LinkedIn recognise users' devices to keep their LinkedIn account secure and deliver personalised ads. | 2 years |
| ar_debug | This cookie is used for ad-related testing and debugging by DoubleClick. | Persistent (until cleared) |
| _fbp | This Facebook Pixel cookie is used to track visitor behaviour for ads and retargeting. | 3 months |
| _gcl_au | This cookie is used by Google AdSense to measure ad conversion rates and improve ad targeting. | 3 months |
Third-party cookies
First-party cookies are those that we set for www.npsa.gov.uk; third party cookies are cookies that originate from different websites.
An example of third-party cookies we use is Vimeo, as we host our videos online with Vimeo; you may therefore receive a Vimeo cookie, if you click to view one of our videos. Please note that the following third parties may also use cookies and these named third parties may include, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services. These third party cookies are likely to be analytical cookies or performance cookies or marketing cookies.
- Meta
- Vimeo
- YouTube
Surveys
We will sometimes select users to take part in a survey, for example our 'Digital Experience' survey. If you take part, or dismiss the survey, we'll save a cookie that lets us know you've seen the message so that we do not show it to you again. We use SmartSurvey to collect responses to the survey. If you take part, SmartSurvey will save extra cookies to track your progress on their website.
Limitations and Amendments
This statement only covers the NPSA website at https://www.npsa.gov.uk. This statement does not cover third party websites to which we may link.
Any revisions to this statement will be published on this page. It is your responsibility to check this page periodically for any such changes.