Cookies on www.hesa.ac.uk

 

To make this site simpler, we sometimes place small data files on your computer. These are known as cookies. Most big websites do this too.

They improve things by:

  • remembering settings, so you don't have to keep re-entering them whenever you visit a new page
  • protecting against hackers impersonating you on a website
  • remembering information you've given (eg form fields you've filled in) so you don't need to keep entering it
  • measuring how people use the website so we can make sure it meets our users' needs

Our cookies aren't used to identify you personally. They're just here to make the site work better for you. Indeed, you can manage and/or delete these small files as you wish.

To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit AboutCookies.org, or please read on to find out more about how and where we use cookies.

How we use cookies

We use cookies in several places - we've listed each of them below with more details about why we use them and how long they will last. HESA uses cookies which can only be accessed by HESA websites ('first-party' cookies). This ensures your activities on other sites CANNOT be profiled alongside your activities on HESA sites. HESA does NOT track your activities on other people's websites.

Session identifier cookies

On many HESA sites, we use session identifier cookies to ensure a secure browsing experience. These first-party cookies contain no personal data at all - they usually contain only a randomly generated string of numbers and/or letters. They expire when you close your browser. Session identifier cookies protect against malicious 'session hijacking' attacks which would allow a hacker to impersonate you while browsing a website. They are therefore necessary to the proper functioning of websites and we strongly encourage you to allow them to be set.

Cookies set by www.hesa.ac.uk

The main HESA website uses first-party cookies to perform a few important tasks. No personal data is stored by any of these cookies.

The following cookies are set by www.hesa.ac.uk:

Name Typical content Expires
PHPSESSID A random string of numbers and letters like 'tpvg630xcodc74dks6iggl769m58ib3t'. This is a built in security feature of the open-source PHP language, which powers many HESA sites. If you choose to block this cookie, the site will not work properly. When you close your browser
A random string of numbers and letters like '67285a5c13e213f2ee8751b0863a7b59' Another random string of numbers and letters like 'f0fda82f010765727fb83bcfcab62da0'. This is a built in security feature of the open-source content management system Joomla, which powers www.hesa.ac.uk. If you choose to block this cookie, the site will not work properly. When you close your browser
isHESAUser 'y' or 'n' - this simply indicates whether you are viewing the HESA site from outside the office or inside the office. If you choose to block this cookie, the HESA website will have to check whether you are a HESA user every time you click a link on the HESA site, which will make the website a little slower. When you close your browser
numberOfItemsInCart A number - this cookie only appears if you have chosen to purchase something. It provides quick access to the number of items in your 'cart'. If you choose to block this cookie, you won't be able to purchase anything from HESA. When you close your browser
valueOfItemsInCart A number with decimal places, encoded like this: %26%23163%3B65.00 (£65.00). It provides quick access to the value of items in your 'cart'. If you choose to block this cookie, you won't be able to purchase anything from HESA. When you close your browser

Analytics cookies

HESA uses Google Analytics to help us improve our websites. The cookies used by analytics, like the other cookies HESA sites set, are first-party only: their contents are only available to HESA websites, not to other websites. They contain NO personal data and just tell us that, for example, a page is being accessed by the same person twice in a row, but NOT who that person is. The data generated by analytics is aggregate in nature and we use it only to determine trends and make broad inferences such as 'most people use Internet Explorer to browse this site'. It is an immensely valuable tool for any web developer: without it we are 'flying blind' when it comes to making important design decisions about how we build our sites.

The following cookies are set:

Name Typical content Expires
__utma A random number 2 years
__utmb A random number 30 minutes
__utmc A random number When you close your browser
__utmz A random number and information on how you reached the HESA site, ie, a link, directly, or via a search of some kind (again, no personal or specific data) When you close your browser

Some of the content on this page is based on content shared under the UK Open Government License by www.gov.uk.