What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small file that contains letters and numbers that is downloaded on to your device when you visit a website. It is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive, tablet or mobile device. When you visit our sites it can allow us to recognise and remember you.
Technologies similar to cookies
Technologies that store or access information on a user’s device are similar to cookies and are also covered by this policy. These technologies may include:
- Device fingerprinting – using a set of information without relying on cookies in order to identify a particular device. For this purpose where you are resident in Australia, our partner Ipsos Iris may collect your IP address, monitor settings, type of browser and operating system to create a unique serial number which constitutes a digital “fingerprint”.
- Local storage – storage of data in the local device’s cache, for example to load content quicker.
In this policy we call all cookies and similar technologies “cookies”, for ease.
First-party and third-party cookies
There are different types of cookies:
- First-party cookies – cookies that are set by us when you use our site.
- Third-party cookies – cookies that are set by parties or organisations other than us when you use our site. Some of our web pages may also contain content from or link to other sites which may set their own cookies.
How do we use cookies?
We use cookies in a range of ways to improve your experience on our sites, including:
- Understanding how you use our site, for instance how long you stay on a page or which article you read next.
- Monitoring how users interact with pages on our site to identify and remedy technical issues.
In the next sections, we explain in more detail how cookies on our site may be useful, as well as when and where you can control them.
What types of cookies do we use?
We use two types of cookies:
- Strictly Necessary – These cookies are essential to provide you with services you have requested, which means they cannot be switched off through the “Privacy Settings” link. In particular, we won’t be able to save your preferences about cookies.
- Performance – These cookies measure how often you visit our site and how you use it. We use this information to get a better sense of how you engage with our content and use it to improve our sites so that you have a better experience. For example, we collect information about which of our pages are most frequently visited, and by which types of users.
How long do cookies last?
- Session cookies – These cookies only last as long as your online session and expire when you close your browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari).
- Persistent cookies – These cookies stay on your device after your browser has been closed and last for a time specified in the cookie (but not longer than 13 months). We use these cookies when we need to remember you for more than one browsing session, for instance to remember your preferences from one visit to the next.
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy notice from time to time. When we change this notice in a material way, we will update the version date at the bottom of this page. For significant changes to this notice we will try to give you reasonable notice unless we are prevented from doing so. Where required by law we will seek your consent to changes in the way we use your personal information.
Contacting us
In the event of any query or complaint in connection with the way we track this websites usage, please email us at: somicb.communications@nhs.net