Cookie Policy
The UK government has updated the Privacy and Electronic Communications
Regulations in response to the EU Privacy Directive. In light of this the Information Commissioner's
Office has provided guidance on the EU Cookie Law which
came into effect in May 2012.
GoodWillVouchers is currently in the process of auditing the use of cookies across
its sites. Information on the types of cookies GoodWillVouchers uses is listed below, along
with options for deleting and/or disabling cookies on your computer.
What are
cookies?
Cookies are small text files that the web sites you visit place on your
computer to store information about your visit. Cookies are 'passive' in that
they contain information your browser can retrieve, but do not contain
programmes, viruses or malicious software. Cookies normally expire after a
certain length of time, although that time can be anywhere from a few minutes
to more than a year.
Cookies can be divided into two categories: 'session' and 'persistent'.
Session cookies are temporary and are deleted when you close your browser or
after a period of inactivity. Persistent cookies remain on your computer until
the expiration date/time set by the cookie creator.
What do
cookies do?
Cookies can contain many types of information about your visit to a
particular web site, but most commonly are used to store the preferences you've
selected, such as language, shopping cart contents, privacy settings and login
state. Cookies do not contain personal or private data about you, but can
compile information about your browsing habits. For the most part, cookies
enhance your browsing experience by keeping you from having to select the same
options each time you visit a site.
However, cookies can also be used by web sites to serve you advertising
targeted to your particular interests based on the preferences you've selected
or the content of the pages you have visited. For this reason, some web users
choose to delete or reject cookies of certain types or from certain sites.
Can I
delete cookies?
Yes, you can both view the cookies stored on your computer and delete
some or all of them. However, each browser has a slightly different procedure
for doing so.
Note that in some cases, deleting cookies will impact your experience in
revisiting a site. For example, you may be forced to log in again, or items
added to your shopping cart will have disappeared.
Can I set my browser to block cookies?
Yes, most browsers allow you to specify which types of cookies you will
accept or to reject all cookies. As each browser is different, here are some of
the most common ones:
·
Firefox
·
Internet Explorer
·
Chrome
As above, you may see an alert message when visiting some sites that
recommends you accept cookies for an optimal browsing experience.
Which
cookies does GoodWillVouchers use?
Most cookies you will encounter when browsing the GoodWillVouchers
web site are considered 'third party' cookies. This simply means the GoodWillVouchers web site has used a feature supplied by an
external provider, such as Facebook or Google Maps which sets the cookie. Third
party cookies are not inherently more or less risky than first party cookies.
The only thing to bear in mind is that the external provider, not GoodWillVouchers, determines what type of information is
stored and how it is used.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact team@goodwillvouchers.org.
