Cookies policy

10 March 2023

Cookies are small files that are saved on your device when you visit a website. We explain below what cookies we use and why.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies make our websites work as they should. They do things like:

  • remember your selections or preferences so that you don’t have to set them again
  • help our servers cope with changes in site traffic
  • protect websites against attacks.

We use necessary cookies on the following domains:

You can restrict or block these cookies through your browser settings, but this may impact your experience of our websites.

NamePurposeExpiration
SQ_SYSTEM_SESSIONSquiz Matrix content management system cookie that remembers when a user is logged in to the website to prevent prompts to log back in.When user closes browser
AECGoogle security cookie used to confirm visitor authenticity, protect visitor data and prevent fraudulent use of credentials6  months
PagesThis cookies enables the 'add to your pages' functionality.1 year
BrowserId, BrowserId_secSalesforce cookies used for security protections.1 year
CookieConsentPolicySalesforce cookie to  apply end-user cookie consent preferences set by our client-side utility.1 year
LSKey-c$CookieConsentPolicySalesforce cookie to  apply cookie consent preference set by our client-side utility1 year
CookieControlThis cookie remembers users’ cookies settings selections on this website, to prevent prompts to choose again when they return.1 years
nmstatSiteimprove cookie used to collect statistics about site usage. Read more about how Siteimprove process personal data in their privacy notice.1 year
CONSENTGoogle cookie used to store user preference and personalised adsPersistent

Performance cookies

These cookies help us understand how people use the following websites:

This includes how many people visit a website, which pages they view and how they navigate through it. We use this information to make improvements. Anonymous data is stored in Google Analytics, Hotjar and Siteimprove.

NamePurposeExpiration
_hjIncludedInSessionSampleHotjar cookie set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit.When user closes browser
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample Hotjar cookie set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's pageview limit.When user closes browser
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgressHotjar cookie used to detect the first pageview session of a user.When user closes browser
_hjFirstSeenHotjar cookie used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions. When user closes browser
OGPCGoogle cookie used for adsWhen user closes browser
_dc_gtm_#Google Tag Manager cookie used to analyse how users interact with the website.1 day
_gidGoogle Analytics cookie to distinguish users.1 day
_gatGoogle Analytics cookie used to throttle the speed of requests to the server.1 day
AWSALBCORSSiteimprove cookie that ensures all page views for the same visit (user session) are sent to the same endpoint.7 days
OTZGoogle ads used to link user website activities with other devices which have been logged in via Google account to better tailor ads1 month
_hjSession_#Hotjar cookie to ensure subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session.1 year
ai_userMicrosoft cookie to collect statistical usage of Power BI data reports.1 year
ajs_anonymous_idJIRA cookie used to store last visits to a website1 year
__Secure-ENID, SIDGoogle security cookie used to confirm visitor authenticity, protect visitor data and prevent fraudulent use of credentials1 year
SOCSGoogle cookie used to store user preference and personalised ads13 months
AIDGoogle cookie used to link user website activities with other devices which have been logged in via Google account to better tailor ads2 years
_gaGoogle Analytics cookie to collect data on website traffic. Read a summary of Google Analytics’ data practices.2 years
__Secure-3PAPISID, __Secure-1PAPISIDGoogle cookie used to profile the interests of website visitors to serve relevant and personalised ads through retargeting.2 years
SAPISID, APISID, HSIDGoogle Analytics cookie used for customisation.2 years

Marketing cookies

These cookies allow us to measure the performance of our communications campaign activity on Google Ads and Facebook. They also enable us to serve targeted ads in Google search results and on Facebook. We use these cookies on Ofcom.org.uk.

NamePurposeExpiration
yscYoutube cookie to remember user input and associate a user’s actions.When user closes browser
DVGoogle cookie used to provide ad delivery or retargeting on Google ads1 day
visitor_info1_liveYoutube cookie used to to provide bandwidth estimations.1 month
device_infoYoutube cookie used to track user interaction with embeded content.5 months
NIDUsed to show Google ads in Google services for signed out users6 months
__Secure-3PSID, __Secure-1PSIDGoogle targeting cookie used to personalised Google ads and user profile2 years
APISID, SIDGoogle Ads Optimization cookie to collect visitor information for Youtube and Google maps2 years

How to control and delete cookies

You can update your cookies preferences for Ofcom.org.uk by clicking the cog icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.

You can block or remove cookies set by our other websites – see the full list of domains under ‘Necessary cookies’ above – through your browser settings. This guide tells you how to manage cookies on a range of browsers.