Cookies
What is a cookie?
When you use our website, a text file called a 'cookie' is placed in a directory on your computer. This file is passed through to our web server.
Cookies allow websites to remember your preferences. For example, if you have specified that you would like the website to appear in high contrast.
Cookies can be sessional (they only last for the time you are on the website) or persistent (they last for a certain length of time).
The cookies that we use cannot harm your computer in any way or give away any of your personal information.
EU ePrivacy directive
On 26 May 2011, the European Union brought in new laws which state websites must get "explicit consent" from web users where cookies are used. Websites must also tell users about cookies and what they are going to use the information for.
Session only cookies are exempt from the regulations as they are needed for a website to work properly and they do not collect or store information permanently.
More information about the directive [external link]
Cookies we use
Here is a list of the cookies we use, on this website and the third-party systems we use (for example, Facebook and Google).
| Name | Description | Duration | Session/ Persistent |
| __RequestVerificationToken | This is an anti-forgery cookie set by web applications built using ASP.NET MVC technologies. It is designed to stop unauthorised posting of content to a website, known as Cross-Site Request Forgery. It holds no information about the user and is destroyed on closing the browser. | Until the browser is closed | Session |
| cookie_consent_level | This cookie is used for our cookie notice so that we know which cookies you have allowed | 2 months | Persistent |
| cookie_consent_user_accepted | This cookie is used for our cookie notice so that we know you have clicked on it and to not ask you again. | 2 months | Persistent |
| _ga | This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics - which is a significant update to Google's more commonly used analytics service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports. By default it is set to expire after 2 years, although this is customisable by website owners. | 2 years | Persistent |
| _gid | This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics. This appears to be a new cookie and as of Spring 2017 no information is available from Google. It appears to store and update a unique value for each page visited. | 24 hours | Persistent |
| _gat | This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics, according to documentation it is used to throttle the request rate - limiting the collection of data on high traffic sites. It expires after 10 minutes. | 10 minutes | Persistent |
| _cfduid | This cookie is used by Cloudflare to identify real users and bots. More information can be found on the Cloudflare website [external link]. | 30 minutes | Session |
| test_cookie | This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to determine if the website visitor's browser supports cookies. | 15 mins | |
| _fbp | Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers | 3 months | |
| __cf_bm | This cookie is used by Cloudflare to identify real users and bots. More information can be found on the Cloudflare website [external link]. | 30 minutes | Session |
| _gcl_au | Used by Google AdSense for experimenting with advertisement efficiency across websites using their services | 3 months | |
| CONSENT | This cookie carries out information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website. | ||
| dpr | Used by Facebook for performances purposes including to deliver an optimal experience for your device’s screen. | 7 days | |
| wd | Used by Facebook for performances purposes including to deliver an optimal experience for your device’s screen. | 7 days | |
| usida | Used by Facebook to aid their marketing functionality | Session | Session |
| spin | Used by Facebook to aid their marketing functionality | 1 year | |
| fr | Used by Facebook to aid their marketing functionality | 3 months | |
| presence | Used by Facebook to contain the user’s chat state. | 1 month | |
| sb | Used by Facebook to store browser details | 2 years | |
| locale | Used by Facebook to store the display locale of the last logged in user. | 1 week | |
| datr | Used by Facebook for security and fraud prevention. | 2 years | |
| dv | Used by Google to measure visitors’ actions after they click through from an advert and to store user preferences. | 1 day | |
| OGPC | Used by Google to store user preferences and information when viewing pages with Google Maps on. | 1 year | |
| IDE | This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to aid Google's real time bidding advertising exchange. | 1 year | |
| c_user | Used by Facebook and contains the user ID of the currently logged in user. | 1 year | |
| NID | Used by Google to store user preferences. | 6 months | |
| xs | Used by Facebook store a unique session ID | 1 year | |
| 1P_JAR | Used by Google to retrieve information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website. | 1 month |
| Spektrix Cookies | |||
| Cookie Name | Description | Expiration Time | Category |
| CookieDetection | Used to identify whether cookies can be set. | Deleted when the user ends their browser session. | Session |
| ReturningCustomerCookie | Used to recognise return users. | Persists until the customer clears their cookies. | Persistent |
| SessionID | Used to distinguish users. | Deleted when the user ends their browser session. | Session |
| ASPXAUTH | Used to authenticate a logged in customer | 10 Minutes from the time first set | |
| SpektrixClientName | Used to distinguish Spektrix client systems. | 1 year | |
| QueueNumber | Used to record the user's place when queuing for tickets | Deleted when the user ends their browser session. | Session |
| Google Analytics | Spektrix iframes include Google Analytics cookies. More information can be found at: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage [External Link] | Variable | |
How to manage cookies
How to manage cookies in Internet Explorer [external link]
How to manage cookies in Firefox [external link]
How to manage cookies in Chrome [external ink]
How to manage cookies in Safari [external link]
There are add-ons and extensions available to download in certain browsers that allow you to view the web with a greater degree of privacy.
Bear in mind that blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of your browser.