Cookies
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files sent to your computer or mobile phone that help your browser navigate through a particular website. The cookie file is generated by the site you're browsing and is accepted and processed by your computer's browser software. The cookie file is stored in your browser's folder or sub-folder.
Your browser accesses the cookie file again when you return to the website that created the cookie file. The browser uses the information stored in the cookie file to help ease your navigation of the website by letting you log in automatically or by remembering settings you selected during your earlier visits to the website, among many other functions. Cookies are not programs and do not collect information from your device or pass on computer viruses. A cookie does not hold any information about which sites you visited before this one.
Why are cookies used?
Cookies make the interaction between users and web sites faster and easier. Without cookies, it would be difficult for a web site to remember the user's preferences or registration details for future visits.
They allow websites to create a customised view of pages to which you navigate. For example, they are commonly used to authenticate or identify registered users of a website without requiring them to sign in each time they access it. Other uses include maintaining a ‘shopping basket’ of goods a user has chosen to purchase, site personalisation (presenting different pages to different users) and tracking the pages a user has visited on a site for analysis purposes. Cookies may come with or without an expiry date.
Cookies without an expiry date exist until the browser is closed, while cookies with an expiry date may be stored by the device until the expiry date passes.
EEAST use cookies to track usage of this site and may use this information to improve the site.
Cookies used on our website
If you would prefer not to receive cookies, you may alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of this site may not work fully.
In compliance with EU legislation, the following table lists the use of cookies on this web site:
| Cookie Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| AcceptCookies | This is used to stop the cookie banner message from displaying once it has been dismissed. Persistent for one year. |
| useTextOnly | This is used to store whether you are in text only mode or not. Persistent for three months. |
| setString | This is used to store user preferences when viewing the website in text only mode. Persistent for one month. |
| Google Analytics _utma _utmb _utmc _utmz |
These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited. |
| SKSession | This cookie serves as a session cookie for extranet users. Without this cookie, an extranet user will have to login to each individual page in the extranet. |
| YouTube (Google) | Some videos hosted via YouTube are embedded within this site. A YouTube cookie is used to provide web analytics in terms of the number of times a video has been watched and/or shared. For further information, read YouTube's privacy policy |
For more information on Youtube and Google Analytics cookies, visit https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?hl=en-GB.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or https://policies.google.com/technologies/managing?hl=e
How to control and delete cookies
You can use your web browser to:
- delete all cookies;
- block all cookies;
- allow all cookies;
- block third-party cookies;
- clear all cookies when you close the browser;
- open a 'private browsing' / 'incognito' session, which allows you to browse the internet without storing local data; and
- install add-ons and plug-ins to extend browser functionality.
There are a number of websites that provide detailed information on cookies, including guidance on how to control or delete cookies. These include Aboutcookies.org and AllAboutCookies.org.