1st Formations’ use of Cookies

1st Formations’ website (the “Website” or “Site”) uses ‘cookies’. By using our Site, you consent to the use of the cookies listed below; however, you can disable cookies and continue to use our Website. We do not use cookies to gather personal information about you from your computer - we can only collect this kind of information if you choose to give it to us.

1. What is a cookie?

  1. Cookies are small text files that virtually all websites use to identify and remember users and track their activities on the Site. They contain small amounts of information and they are downloaded to a user’s laptop or other device by a web server when the user visits a website. These cookies remain on the user’s device until they expire or are deleted. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to save you time by telling a web server that you have returned to a specific page.

2. What are cookies used for?

  1. Without cookies, it would not be possible to achieve the level of interaction that internet users expect of the web. Cookies are used by browsers for a variety of tasks, such as:
    1. Tracking visits to a website and individual web pages
    2. Remembering user names and passwords
    3. Retrieving billing and shipping addresses
    4. Remembering credit and debit card information
    5. Keeping users logged into a website when web pages are re-opened
    6. Remembering un-purchased items in a user’s online shopping basket
    7. Tracking sales
    8. Analysing trends and user behaviour
    9. Improving products, services and communications
    10. Displaying user-appropriate advertising - have you ever wondered why adverts
    11. for your favourite shops keep lingering at the side of your computer screen every time
    12. you go online? You can thank cookies for that
    13. Developing and marketing products and services appropriately
    14. Measuring the effectiveness of ads and web searches
    15. Optimising websites and making them easier to navigate

3. What cookies does 1st Formations use?

  1. All of the cookies we use on this Website are ‘Performance Cookies’, as categorised by The International Chamber of Commerce (UK). This classification of cookie collects anonymous information about the way our visitors use our Website - the most frequently-visited pages, the amount of time spent on each page, the number of users who click on internal and/or third-party links, how many sales are generated through each page, whether you came to our Site via another Website, etc.
  2. No identifiable information is collected by these cookies - all gathered data is aggregated and therefore anonymous. The cookies we use simply allow us to monitor and improve the performance of our Website in general, and improve and personalise each user’s experience on this Site. To find out more about our Privacy Policy, please click here.
  3. The following four Google Analytics cookies are used on this Site:
Cookie Name Cookie Description Cookie Expiration
__utma This is a Google Analytics cookie which tracks the number of visits you make to this site and the time of the first, previous and current visit you make. 2 years
__utmb This is a Google Analytics cookie which tracks your activity on this website per session. 30 mins
__utmc This is a Google Analytics cookie which is used for backwards compatibility. Session
__utmd This is a Google Analytics cookie which tracks how you arrived at our site. 6 months

You can view the privacy policy of Google Analytics here .

4. Do these cookies allow you to spy on users?

  1. No, they do not. These performance cookies simply allow us to track user activity on our Website - they do not contain any personal data or anything that could identify you.

How do I delete or modify these cookies?

  1. You can easily delete cookies at any time and modify your browser setting to automatically disable or enable all specific cookies. You can also set your web browser to notify you every time a cookie is presented to your computer, thus allowing you to reject or accept them on an individual basis. However, please be aware of the following consequences:
    1. If you delete cookies, this may cause you to lose information that would otherwise allow you to access our Website more quickly.
    2. By declining cookies, you may not be able to access all or some parts of our Website or enjoy certain interactive features of our services.

6. How to disable cookies on your web browser

Safari

  1. Go to the Safari menu.
  2. Click on ‘Preferences’
  3. Click the ‘Security’ tab.
  4. Under ‘Accept Cookies’, set it to accept, reject, or selectively accept cookies.

Firefox 3.0+

  1. Click on 'Tools' in the menu bar.
  2. Click on 'Options...'
  3. Click on 'Privacy’ tab in the top section.
  4. From the drop down box, select ‘Use custom setting for history’.
  5. Un-check the box that says 'Accept Cookies from Sites'
  6. Click ‘OK’ and Close the screen.

Internet Explorer 7.0+

  1. Click on 'Tools' in the menu bar.
  2. Select 'Options'.
  3. Click on 'Privacy' tab on top section.
  4. Click on the 'Advanced" button.
  5. Select ‘Prompt’ for both ‘First-Party cookies’ and ‘Third-Party Cookies’.
  6. Click ‘OK’ and Close the screen.

Google Chrome 8.0+

  1. Click the 'Tools Menu'.
  2. Select 'Options'.
  3. Click on 'Under the Bonnet'.
  4. Click on 'Cookie Setting' button and tick ‘Block all third-party cookies without exception’.
  5. Close the screen.

For further information and guidance on cookies, please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org.uk/ .