Cookies policy
What is a Cookie?
Most websites that you visit will use cookies. Cookies are set in order to improve your overall user experience by enabling the website that you visit (in this case, https://starandgarter.org, https://family.starandgarter.org and https://shop.starandgarter.org) to store data. Cookies will either remember you for the duration of your visit (via a session cookie) or for repeat visits (via a persistent cookie).
Why are cookies good?
Cookies perform a variety of functions, such as letting you navigate between pages efficiently, or storing your preferences so that you don’t have to re-enter these on your next visit. If the website you visit doesn’t use cookies, then it will think you are a new visitor every time you move to a new page on the site.
Websites can also use cookies to enable effective targeting of advertising, based on you, the user and your browsing habits/ location. Cookies can be set by the website that you’re visiting (first party cookies) or they can be set by other websites who are running content on the page that you, the user are viewing (third party cookies).
Types of Cookies
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First Party Cookies
These are set by the website that you are viewing and are only able to be viewed by that website. -
Third Party Cookies
These are set by a different organisation to the owner of the website that you are visiting. An example of this type of cookie is when a third party analytics company will add a cookie to the site that you are visiting, so they can track data from users. Third party cookies can also be set by companies such as YouTube, who may embed content onto a web page and set their own cookies. -
Session Cookies
These are stored temporarily during a browsing session and are deleted once the user has closed their web browser. -
Persistent Cookies
These cookies are stored for a fixed period and are not deleted when the user has closed their web browser. Primarily, persistent cookies are used when a website needs to retain information about you, the user. For example, this type of cookie is used to store your preferences for the next visit, so that they don’t need to be re-entered on your next visit.
What Cookies do we use?
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Google Analytics
Google Analytics is widely used to understand which pages you arrive at, how you navigate around websites, and which kind of device you are using. To do this, Google collects individuals’ anonymised data and stitches it all together to create a big picture. All this data ultimately helps us make improvements to your experience. Find out more about Google Analytics cookies. -
Hotjar
Hotjar shows us the step-by-step path individuals take through our website and lets us know at which points users exit a page. It helps us to learn what the user finds interesting and what we need to improve. Find out more about Hotjar cookies.
Other sites’ cookies (third party)
We sometimes connect our site to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. These sites also use cookies, but we have no control over these third-party cookies.
Take a look at their privacy policies in more detail here:
Why do we use cookies set up by other websites?
We use some third-party cookies to check how well our advertising campaigns are doing and improve their relevance to you. They allow us to show you ads if you have visited our site before and then track important behaviours that are valuable to us such as whether you fill in a contact form.
Here are some links that explain interest-based advertising and how to opt-out:
- Information on Facebook’s interest-based advertising
- Information on Twitter’s interest-based advertising
- Information on LinkedIn’s interest-based advertising
- Opt out of interest-based advertising on Facebook
- Opt out of interest-based advertising on Twitter
- Opt out of interest-based advertising on LinkedIn
We also use Google Ads. This allows us to show ads that are more relevant to you. We base this on what you are searching for on Google, and webpages that appeared to interest you most when you visited our site in the past.
What does a Cookie contain?
Each cookie is unique to the browser that you are using and is a simple text file that is stored on your computer or mobile device by a website’s server. Only the server will be able to read the contents of the cookie. The cookie allows a website to store information about your preferences.
What cookies do we use?
[cookie_audit columns=”cookie,duration,description” style=”winter”]
Why are we telling you all this?
Although your data is made anonymous to keep it safe, with all websites there is a risk, however small, that someone will try to maliciously steal information. We believe that cookies pose little threat to your privacy. But ultimately, we understand that you may still want to opt-out and turn off cookies.
What can I do if I don’t want Cookies to be set?
If you don’t like the idea of cookies storing your data, then you can block some or all cookies, you can even look to delete cookies that have already been set. The blocking of cookies can lead to the loss of some of the functionality of the website that you are currently viewing. For more information on how to delete and control cookies, please visit www.aboutcookies.org.
You can manage your cookies’ consent on this website here: [wt_cli_manage_consent]
Last update
19th February 2021