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Cookie guidance

Here you will find information on what cookies may be set when you visit LGA's online services, our website and how to reject or delete those cookies.


Sections

  • What is a cookie? 
  • What is the change in the law?
  • What is the LGA doing?
  • List of the LGA's cookies
  • Third-party cookies
  • Cookies set by third-party sites
  • How to control and delete cookies.

What is a cookie?

An HTTP cookie (cookie) is a small parcel of text sent backwards and forwards between a web browser and a website. It is used in a number of ways and there are a number of different types.

See Wikipedia for full definition of Cookies

  • Session cookie – A session cookie only lasts for the time you are using the website and then gets deleted.
  • Persistent cookie  – A persistent cookie lasts longer than this and is used to remember things about your access like your user name and password. 
  • Secure cookie – We use secure cookies because logged in connection to our website is via HTTPS (128-bit encryption), ensuring that the cookie is always encrypted.
  • Third-party cookie – These are cookies set by other services. In our case this is Google Analytics and ShareThis. These are used to compile statistics about usage and provide shortened URLs respectively.

First-party cookies (those set by the site you are on) are used to distinguish between different users, or determine the relationship between the pages you visit. They differentiate one user from another and provide continuity. Normally they collect data about your browser, along with the information you request and send. Cookies in themselves do not identify individuals, but are defined by a combination of a computer, a user account, and a browser.

What's the change in the law?

The EU directive relating to cookies says you should know what cookies are used, why and explicitly accept them as they can track information about your browsing. Facebook, for instance, sets cookies that track your online activity even when you are not on their site. The regulations are designed to protect you from this by ensuring that you explicitly consent to the action of any cookies used.

What is the LGA doing?

The LGA will only every use cookies to deliver a better service and online experience to you. We will never use cookies in a malicious or covert way to gather information about you. We are providing information here on what cookies we use and why. We are also publishing information on what cookies are and how to both block them and delete them. In order to comply with the new regulations we will ask you to accept amended T&Cs for our website , giving us permission to set the cookies listed below.

List of the main LGA website cookies 

This is a list of the main cookies set by the LGA's websites, and what they are used for.

Name  Logged in    Description
GUEST_LANGUAGE_ID  No  Specifies the user language preference
JSESSIONID  No  Identifies the user's browsing session 
COMPANY_ID  Yes  The ID of the portal instance
ID  Yes  Encrypted user ID, used for auto-login (remember

 me) 
LFR_SESSION_STATE  Yes  Used for client-side session interaction, e.g. session

 timeout warnings
LOGIN   Yes  The user's username, for pre-populating the

 username field
PASSWORD  Yes  Encrypted user password, used for auto-login

 (remember me) 
REMEMBER ME  Yes  Indicates whether or not the user has opted for auto-

 login
SCREEN_NAME  Yes  Encrypted user screen name

 

Third-party cookies

The LGA uses two third-party cookies to help provide services. If you would like more information about the cookies used by these suppliers, as well as information on how to opt out, please see their individual privacy policies listed below.

Google Analytics

ShareThis

Cookies set by third-party sites

We sometimes embed photos and video content from websites such as YouTube to provide additional useful content such as instructional video clips. As a result, when you visit a page with content embedded from these sites you may be presented with cookies from them.

We do not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the relevant third-party website for more information about them.

Sharing tools

Embedded ‘share' buttons to enable users of the site to easily share items on other social networks may set a cookie when you are also logged in to their service. We do not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third-party website for more information about these.

How to control and delete cookies

The LGA will only use cookies that collect information in order to offer you services which match your needs. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by the LGA's websites (Local.gov.uk ), you can do this through by setting your browser to reject them. The 'Help' section on your browser will tell you how to do this. For information on how to do this on your mobile phone you will need to refer to the appropriate manual. The LGA use's two suppliers who also set cookies on both the local.gov.uk on our behalf in order to deliver the services that they are providing. If you would like more information about the cookies used by these suppliers, as well as information on how to opt out, please see the relevant sections above.

If you have any questions or issues please Contact Us.