Details about cookies on 188体育
188体育 puts small files (known as 鈥榗ookies鈥�) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site. Find out more about the cookies we use, what they鈥檙e for and when they expire.
Cookies that measure website use
We use Google Analytics cookies and a Real User Monitoring (RUM) cookie from SpeedCurve to collect information about how you use 188体育.
We use the following Google Analytics cookies on 188体育:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | These help us count how many people visit 188体育 and other government digital services by tracking if you鈥檝e visited before | 2 years |
| _gid | These help us count how many people visit 188体育 and other government digital services by tracking if you鈥檝e visited before | 24 hours |
| _ga_S5RQ7FTGVR | Used by Google Analytics to find and track an individual session with your device | 2 years |
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies on the 188体育 cookies page or by installing the .
You can read Google鈥檚 overview of .
Other government digital services also use Google Analytics cookies to collect information about how you use them and they share this information with us. Each digital service has its own consent mechanism and cookie policy that provides more information about their use of cookies.
The 188体育 Privacy Notice has more information about the data we collect using Google Analytics cookies and information we receive from other digital services.
We also set our own cookie to understand how people move through the site:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| analytics_next_page_call | This lets us know the next page you visit on 188体育, so we can make journeys better | When you close your browser |
SpeedCurve RUM sets the following cookie:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| lux_uid | This lets us understand the web performance you experience while on 188体育 | 1 day or 30 minutes of inactivity |
Comparing different versions of a webpage
We sometimes use analytics to try out different versions of pages to see which work better for users (鈥榤ultivariate testing鈥�). We鈥檒l save a cookie so that you consistently see the same version when browsing 188体育.
The cookie name will change but will be in the form 鈥楢BTest-[Test name]鈥� where the 鈥楾est name鈥� describes which part of 188体育 is being tested.
This type of cookie will usually expire after between 1 and 4 weeks, but this may be longer for more in-depth tests.
If you have not opted in to this type of cookie, you鈥檒l see the standard version of the page being tested.
JavaScript detection
We measure how many people visiting 188体育 are using JavaScript, so that the site works for as many users as possible.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| JS-Detection | This tells us if you are browsing 188体育 while running JavaScript | 1 year |
Cookies that help with our communications and marketing
Some 188体育 pages may contain content from other sites, like YouTube or Flickr, which may set their own cookies. These sites are sometimes called 鈥榯hird party鈥� services. This tells us how many people are seeing the content and whether it鈥檚 useful.
In addition, if you share a link to a 188体育 page, the service you share it on (for example, Facebook) may set a cookie. We have no control over cookies set on other websites - you can turn them off, but not through us.
YouTube videos
We use YouTube to show videos on some 188体育 pages. YouTube sets cookies when you visit one of these pages.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _use_hitbox | This is a randomly generated number that identifies your browser | When you close your browser |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | Lets YouTube count the views of embedded YouTube videos | 9 months |
Cookies that remember your settings
These cookies do things like remember your preferences and the choices you make, to personalise your experience of using 188体育.
Messages across 188体育
We might display a message on all 188体育 pages to tell you about an important event or situation. We鈥檒l save a cookie that will let us know how many times you鈥檝e seen it, or if you鈥檝e dismissed it.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| global_bar_seen | Remembers the number of times you鈥檝e seen the message, or if you鈥檝e dismissed it | 12 weeks |
Surveys
We will sometimes select users to take part in a survey, for example our performance survey. If you take part, or dismiss the survey, we鈥檒l save a cookie that lets us know you鈥檝e seen the message so that we do not show it to you again.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| govuk_taken[NameOfSurvey] | Saves a message to remember if you鈥檝e taken the survey or dismissed it | 4 months |
| govuk_surveySeen[NameOfSurvey] | Saves a message to remember how many times you鈥檝e seen the survey | 2 years |
We use to collect responses to the survey. If you take part, SmartSurvey to track your progress on their website.
Your location
We may give you the option of saving your home nation on pages where guidance is different if you鈥檙e in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland (for example, the UK bank holidays page).
If you save your location, we鈥檒l save a cookie to your device so we can show you the most relevant information next time you visit that page.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| user_nation | Remembers if you saved your location on pages that can be adjusted based on your home nation | 365 days |
Strictly necessary cookies
Your progress when applying for a licence
When you use the 鈥榓pply for a licence鈥� service, we鈥檒l set a cookie to remember your progress through the forms. These cookies do not store your personal data and are deleted once you鈥檝e completed the transaction.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| licensing_session | Set to remember information you鈥檝e entered into a form when applying for a licence | When you close your browser |
Contacting 188体育
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| govuk_contact_referrer | This lets us know the last page you visited before using the contact 188体育 form | 1 day |
188体育 email subscriptions
If you sign up to receive email notifications from 188体育, we will save a cookie if you change your subscriptions. This cookie is deleted when you close your browser.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| email-alert-frontend_session | This remembers you as you change your email subscriptions | When you close your browser |
Cookies message
You may see a banner when you visit 188体育 inviting you to accept cookies or review your settings. We鈥檒l set cookies so that your computer knows you鈥檝e seen it and not to show it again, and also to store your settings.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| cookies_policy | Saves your cookie consent settings | 1 year |
| cookies_preferences_set | Lets us know that you鈥檝e saved your cookie consent settings | 1 year |