Cookies

How cookies are used on the Intelligence and Security Committee website

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. 

What are cookies?

These pieces of information are used to improve service through, for example:

  • measuring how many people are viewing the website, so that it can be made easier to use and there’s enough capacity to ensure it remains fast
  • analysing data to help us understand how people interact with our website so we can make it better

You can manage these small files and learn more about them from the article ‘Internet Browser cookies- what they are and how to manage them from Directgov: How government websites use cookies. If you’d like to learn how to remove cookies set on your device, visit: About cookies: How to control cookies.

Our use of cookies

Cookies for measuring performance of the website

By understanding how people use the ISC website, we can make improvements to the navigation and content to make the site better and easier to access.

Cookies for managing your current visit

To remember the selections or preferences you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service. These expire when the user exits browser.

Cookies set by other websites through this site

We want to provide interesting and engaging content on our website. On a number of pages we embed media such as Government responses to ISC reports. 

The suppliers of these services may also set cookies on your device when you visit the pages where we have used this type of content. These are known as ‘third-party’ cookies. 

The ISC does not control how a third party uses their cookies. You should check these third party websites’ privacy policies for more information about their cookies if you are concerned about this.

How to control and delete cookies

If you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘Help’ function within your browser should tell you how.

Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your machine as well as more general information about cookies.

If you wish to view your cookie code, just click on a cookie to open it. You’ll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies do things like remember your preferences and the choices you make, to personalise your experience of using the guidance area of the Intelligence and Security Committee website.

Name – AWSALB
Purpose – Allows us to deliver the service seamlessly from multiple services using a load balancer. The cookie records which server cluster is serving you
Expires – 1 week

Name – AWSALBCORS
Purpose – Allows us to deliver the service seamlessly from multiple services using a load balancer. The cookie records which server cluster is serving you.
Expires – 1 week

Cookies message

You may see a banner when you visit this area of the Intelligence and Security Committee website inviting you to accept cookies or review your settings. We’ll set cookies so that your computer knows you’ve seen this banner and not to show it again, and also to store your settings.

Name – cookie_policy
Purpose – Lets us know that you’ve seen our cookie message
Expires – 1 month

Cookies that measure website use

We use Google Analytics software (Universal Analytics) to collect information about how you use the guidance area of the Intelligence and Security Committee website. We do this to help make sure the website is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.

We do not allow Google to use or share the data about how you use this area of the site.

Google Analytics stores information about:

  • how you got to the site
  • the pages you visit on the Intelligence and Security Committee and how long you spend on them
  • what you click on while you’re visiting the site

Google Analytics sets the following cookies:

Name – _ga
Purpose – This helps us count how many people visit the Intelligence and Security Committee website by tracking if you’ve visited before.
Expires – 2 years

Name – _gid
Purpose – This helps us count how many people visit the Intelligence and Security Committee website by tracking if you’ve visited before.
Expires – 24 hours

Name – _gat
Purpose – Used to manage the rate at which page view requests are made.
Expires – 1 minute

Find out more about opting out of Google Analytics cookies.