Cookies Policy

What are cookies?

Cookies are files saved on your phone, tablet or computer when you visit a website.

They store information about how you use the website, such as the pages you visit.

Cookies are not viruses or computer programs. They are very small so do not take up much space.

How we use cookies

We use cookies to:

make our website work, for example by keeping it secure

remember which pop-ups you've seen

measure how you use our website, such as which links you click on (analytics cookies)

help show you relevant health campaigns on social media

List of cookies

Google	Purpose	Domain	Expires
_ga	This cookie is a Google Analytics persistent cookie which is used to distinguish unique users.	practice domain (google.com)	Immediately
_ga_<container-id>	Used to persist session state.	practice domain (google.com)	2 years
_gid	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form.	practice domain (google.com)	1 day
1P_JAR	Based on recent searches and previous interactions, custom ads are shown on Google sites.	.gstatic.com	1 week
1P_JAR	Based on recent searches and previous interactions, custom ads are shown on Google sites.	.google.com	1 week
__Secure-3PAPISID	Builds a profile of website visitor interests to show relevant and personalized ads through retargeting.	.google.com	2 years
__Secure-3PSID	Builds a profile of website visitor interests to show relevant and personalized ads through retargeting.	.google.com	2 years
__Secure-3PSIDCC	Used by for targeting purposes to build a profile of the website visitor's interests in order to show relevant & personalised Google advertising.	.google.com	2 years
APISID	Personalizes Google ads on websites based on recent searches and interactions.	.google.com	2 years
HSID	Security cookie to confirm visitor authenticity, prevent fraudulent use of login data and protect user data from unauthorized access.	.google.com	2 years
NID	Stores visitors’ preferences and personalizes ads on Google websites based on recent searches and interactions.	.google.com	6 months
SAPISID	Google collects visitor information for videos hosted by YouTube.	.google.com	Persistent
SEARCH_SAMESITE	allow servers to mitigate the risk of CSRF and information leakage attacks by asserting that a particular cookie should only be sent with requests initiated from the same registrable domain.	.google.com	5 Months 2 Days
SID	Security cookie to confirm visitor authenticity, prevent fraudulent use of login data and protect visitor data from unauthorized access.	.google.com	2 years
SIDCC	Security cookie to confirm visitor authenticity, prevent fraudulent use of login data and protect visitor data from unauthorized access.	.google.com	3 months
SSID	Google collects visitor information for videos hosted by YouTube on maps integrated with Google Maps.	.google.com	Persistent


Twitter	Purpose	Domain	Duration
personalization_id	This domain is owned by Twitter. The main business activity is: Social Networking Services. Where Twitter acts as a third party host, it collects data through a range of plug-ins and integrations, that is primarily used for tracking and targeting.	.twitter.com	730 days


Facebook	Purpose	Domain	Duration
c_user	The cookie contains the user ID of the currently logged in user.	.facebook.com	3 months from the creation date (if Remember Me option is set) / Expires when the browser session ends.
datr	identify the web browser being used to connect to Facebook independent of the logged in user. This cookie plays a key role in Facebook’s security and site integrity features.	.facebook.com	2 years
fr	Contains a unique browser and user ID, used for targeted advertising.	.facebook.com	3 months
sb	Used by Facebook to improve friend suggestions	.facebook.com	2 years
spin	Facebook to support social sharing and the integration of Facebook services.	.facebook.com	1 day and 1 hour
xs	This cookie contains multiple pieces of information, separated by colon (colon is encoded to the value for transmission). The first value is an up to two-digit number representing the session number. The second portion of the value is a session secret. The third, optional component is a ‘secure’ flag for if the user has enabled the secure browsing feature.	.facebook.com	3 months from the creation date (if Remember Me option is set) / Expires when the browser session ends.

How we use the information we collect

To find out how we collect, store and use information about you or your visit, see the website privacy policy.

The Health Service Ombudsman in England

Locations

GET THE NHS App