How we use cookies
This policy helps to explain the occasions when, where and why cookies may be sent to your computer when you visit the blog site of Precedent Communications Ltd. and how you can block and/or delete cookies. By using our site you consent to cookies being used in accordance with our policy documented below.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a text file contain small amounts of information which are placed on your computer when you visit a website. They are widely used in order to make website work more efficiently as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.
Cookies allow the website to remember important information that will make your use of the site more convenient.
A cookie from our site typically contain the name of our domain (either precedent.co.uk or blog.precedent.co.uk), the “lifetime” of the cookie, and then possibly a random generated number or another value. Like most websites, we use different categories of cookies for a variety of purposes in order to improve your online experience.
For more information on cookies, visit the official ICO website at www.ico.gov.uk, or www.whatarecookies.com
What are the categories of cookies?
Cookies can be categorised into four main categories, following the International Chamber of Commerce guide, as follows:
Category 1: Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use it’s features, such as accessing secure areas of the website.
Category 2: Performance cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.
Category 3: Functionality cookies
These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make, (such as username name, etc.) and provide enhanced, more personal features. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
Category 4: Targeting/Advertising cookies
These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number o times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operators permissions. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with others organisations such as advertisers. Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked ot a site functionality provided by other organisation.
List of cookies used on the Precedent blog website:
Below is a list of the cookies used on our site, include their name, expiry times, category type and a short description about the cookie.
Note: We do not use any category 4 (advertising) cookies on our site.
| Cookie group: | WordPress (our website) |
| Cookie Names: | comment_author , comment_author_email, comment_author_url |
| Description: | These cookies are only set if you add a comment to one of our blog entries.Author, email and URL are simply used to pre-populate the “comment” field should you wish to add another comment in future.
If your post is published and you’ve added a website then the website URL will show next to your name on the comment for others to see. Please note that these URLS are closely monitored and moderated. Note: the email address is never shown on the website or used by Precedent for any marketing purposes. |
| Expiry: | 1 year |
| Category: | Category 3 – functionality cookies |
| Cookie group: | WordPress (our website) |
| Cookie Name: | WordPress_test_cookie |
| Description: | Used by WordPress to check whether cookies can be added (or not). |
| Expiry: | Not set – cleared on browser close (session cookie) |
| Category: | Category 1 – strictly necessary cookie |
| Cookie group: | Google Analytics (website analytics) |
| Cookie Name: | _utma, _utmb, _utmc, _utmz |
| Description: | Used by Google Analytics to identify unique visitors vs. returning visitors.This is only used for our web analytics to help measure traffic and improve the quality of content/service we offer on our site. |
| Expiry: | UTMA: 2 years / UTMB: 30 mins / UTMC: Not set – cleared on browser close (session cookie) / UTMZ: 6 months |
| Category: | Category 2 – performance cookies |
How can I manage/disable cookies from your website?
You are not required to accept cookies in order to view our website and may modify your browser so that it will not accept cookies. Most web browsers on computer, smart phones and other web-enabled devices are normally set up to allow cookies as default. If you choose to block all cookies, parts of the Precedent website may not work properly.
If you wish to change, disable your cookie preferences or be notified when a cookie is set for this website or any other site, you can do this through your browser settings. Each browser is different, so check the “Help” menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences. Further information on how to prompt or block cookies on various browsers is available on the All about cookies website.
Google Analytics
Precedent uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service, provided by Google, Inc (“Google”), to analyse the use of our blog website.
The information generated by the Google Analytics cookies (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
Google will store this information. For more information see Google’s privacy policy. If you wish to opt out of being tracked, they provide a facility to tracking on all sites using Google Analytics on their Opt-out browser site.
Notification of changes
From time to time, we may make changes to our cookie policy. This may be in relation to changes in the law, best practice, changes in our services or treatment of your personal information. We will always display clearly when our cookie policy was last amended on this page.
Latest Updated: May 2012
