At Westminster, we use cookies on our website much like most of the websites you might visit.
A cookie is a small text file which is downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. When you return to a website you have previously visited or visit a website that uses the same cookies, that website will then recognise these cookies and therefore your device.
A pixel is a tiny snippet of code that gathers information about your behaviour on a website, such as traffic and conversions. Pixels sometimes work with cookies together in order to assist with our marketing and delivery of online advertising.
Our primary use of cookies is to identify which web pages are accessed, helping us to analyse and improve the navigation and content of our website. We do this mostly through traffic log cookies and analytics services provided by Google in order to give you a better web browsing experience.
Cookies and pixels will not be used to store personal information, nor do we use them to identify individuals. The tables below illustrate the cookies we have identified and that we are presently using on our website.
As the website develops, so might the cookie usage and the following list is therefore subject to change.
Essential cookies
These cookies are set by services to protect our website from attackers and your data when you submit a form, or to enable certain functions on the website. They always need to be on.
New Relic
New Relic is an application monitoring tool we use to measure our website’s health. This information is used to track performance and will alert us to any issues. For more details, please see New Relic’s cookie policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| JSESSIONID | Session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application. | When you close your browser |
Cloudflare
Cloudflare is our Content Delivery Network (CDN), which serves our vendor JS, CSS libraries and other assets. For more details, see the terms of Cloudflare CDN.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| __cfduid | Used to help block malicious visitors to our websites and allow trusted visitors. | 29 days |
Chat4Assistance
We use Click4Assistance to provide a live chat feature on our website. Turning these cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using the Click4Assistance live chat service. For more details, please visit Click4Assistance’s cookie policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| _C4ATestS | Records if a browser allows cookies to be stored. | Immediately |
| _C4AP (SIPersist) | Used to identify if the visitor is new or returning, includes historical activities such as when/if a chat has started, hotspot hit or conversion occurred. | Immediately |
| _C4AS (SISession) | Used to hold information about the Click4Assistance tools and proactive rules. | Session |
| _C4ATestP | Used to determine if the browser allows persistent cookies to be stored. | Immediately |
| ASP.Net_SessionId | The chat window runs on a Microsoft asp.NET platform, and this cookie is strictly necessary to allow asp.NET to maintain an anonymised user session by the server. | Session |
iVent
iVent (Virtual Ivent Ltd) is our online event platform (universityofwestminster.online-event.co). The platform uses a session-based cookie that is essential to the experience.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | PHP Session identifier generated by the server when you visit the event booking platform. It provides security that is essential to comply with data protection requirements. | When you close your browser |
YouTube
We embed YouTube videos on some of the pages on our website. These cookies are set when you play an embedded Youtube video on our site and allow YouTube to apply your YouTube preference and track usage of its services. Read more about embedded YouTube videos.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| YSC | Set by the YouTube video service on pages with embedded YouTube video. | When you close your browser |
| VISITOR_INFO01_LIVE | Measures your bandwidth to determine whether you get the new player interface or the old. | 6 months |
| PREF | Stores user’s preferred page configuration and playback preferences like autoplay, shuffle content, and player size. | 8 months |
Vimeo
We embed Vimeo videos from our Vimeo channel on some of our pages. When you press ‘play’, Vimeo will place third-party cookies on users’ browsers to enable the video to play and to collect data such as how long a viewer has watched the video. These cookies do not track individuals. For more details, please see Vimeo’s cookie policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| player | Measures your bandwidth to determine whether you get the new player interface or the old. | 6 months |
| vuid | Stores user’s preferred page configuration and playback preferences like autoplay, shuffle content, and player size. | 8 months |
Others
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie-agreed | We use this cookie to remember your cookie preference. | 180 days |
Analytics cookies
We use tools to gather statistical data on how our website is being used, so that we can continually improve it. For example, how you get to the site, the pages you visited and what you click on while you are visiting our site.
The data collected is anonymous and will not be used to identify any individual. We do not allow Google or other services to use or share the data about how you use our site.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use our site and generate reports to improve our website. Google Analytics uses cookies and pixels to collect this data. For more information, please see Google’s cookie usage page.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| _ga, _gid | Distinguishes users and counts how many people visit our site by tracking if you’ve visited before. | 2 years |
| _ga_LNH85BCBPM | Persists session state in Google Analytics 4. | When you close your browser |
| _gat_UA-1849071-9 | Persists session state in Universal Google Analytics. | When you close your browser |
| _gcl_au | This is a Conversion linker set by Tag Manager that allows us to track actions taken on the website through Google Analytics. | 30 minutes |
Hotjar
Hotjar helps us understand the behaviour of our website users through tools such as heatmaps, recordings and surveys. Hotjar stores persistent cookies on users' browsers to monitor user behaviour on our website, such as mouse clicks, movements and scrolling on a webpage - this user behaviour information is anonymous. You can opt out of Hotjar collecting your information by following the steps provided on the Hotjar website. For further details, please see Hotjar’s privacy policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| _hjid | Set when the visitor first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the Hotjar User ID. | One year |
| _hjClosedSurveyInvites | Set once a visitor interacts with a Survey invitation modal popup. Ensures that the same invite does not reappear if it has already been shown. | One year |
| _hjDonePolls | Set once a visitor completes a poll using the Feedback Poll widget. Ensures that the same poll does not reappear if it has already been filled in. | One year |
| _hjMinimizedPolls | Set once a visitor minimizes a Feedback Poll widget. Ensures that the widget stays minimized when the visitor navigates through the site. | One year |
| _hjIncludedInSample | Set to let Hotjar know whether a visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels. | One year |
Marketing cookies
Marketing cookies help us understand your browsing habits and provide you with ads that are relevant to you. They are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device and do not directly store your personal information.
Quantcast
Quantcast uses machine learning to provide ads that are more useful and relevant to your interests based on your browsing behaviour. The information that Quantcast collects does not include information that may be used to identify you directly. For more details, please see Quantcast’s Privacy Policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| Mc | Tracks users to measure and improve performance, and supports personalisation | When you close your browser |
| d | Tracks users to measure and improve performance, and supports personalisation | 2 years |
| __qca | Stores and tracks audience reach. | 90 days |
Google uses cookies to help serve the ads that it displays on the websites of its partners, such as websites displaying Google ads or participating in Google certified ad networks. When users visit a Google partner’s website, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. You can refuse the use of certain cookies by changing the personalisation settings of your Google account. Alternatively, you can change your browser’s cookie settings by following the instructions at the bottom of this page.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| ANID | If you have personalised ads enabled, this cookie is used to show Google ads in Google services for signed- in users. | 13 months |
| NID | If you have personalised ads enabled, this cookie is used to show Google ads in Google services for signed-out users. | 6 months |
| IDE | If you have personalised ads enabled, this cookie is used to show Google ads on non-Google sites. | 13 months |
| 1P_JAR, CONSENT | Remembers your preferences and other information such as website statistics and track conversion rates. | 30 days |
| _gads | Enables sites to show Google ads, including personalised ads. | 13 months |
LinkedIn is a social media platform where we run campaigns to reach a wider audience. LinkedIn uses cookies and pixels to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. For more information, see LinkedIn’s cookie policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| lidc | To optimise data center selection. | 24 hours |
| AnalyticsSyncHistory | Used to store information about the time a sync with the lms_analytics cookie took place for users in the Designated Countries. | 30 days |
| UserMatchHistory | Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences. | 30 days |
| lang | Used to remember a user's language setting. | When you close your browser |
| bcookie | Browser Identifier cookie to uniquely identify devices accessing LinkedIn to detect abuse on the platform. | 2 years |
Facebook is a social media platform where we run campaigns to reach a wider audience. Cookies and pixels are set through our site by Facebook to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. For more information, visit Facebook’s cookie policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| fr | This cookie is used to deliver, measure and improve the relevancy of ads, with a lifespan of 90 days. | 90 days |
| _fbp | This cookie helps measure the performance of ad campaigns for businesses that use the Facebook Products. | 90 days |
Calltracks
Calltracks is a call-tracking software. We use Calltracks to help us understand the effectiveness of our Clearing marketing campaigns. For more information, please visit the Calltracks privacy notice.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| calltracksUID | Set to identify visitor unique to the device and browser. | 30 days |
| calltracksINFO | Used for dynamic number replacement to track statistics on calls. | 30 days |
Snapchat
Snapchat is a social media platform where we run campaigns to reach a wider audience. Snapchat places cookies and pixels to collect information to be used to measure the performance of ads and show you more relevant ads. For more information, please visit Snapchat’s Privacy Policy.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| _scid | Set to identify visitor unique to the device and browser. | 1 year |
| X-AB | Used for reporting on snapchat campaigns, troubleshooting campaign setup and building aggregate pools of audiences for targeting based on behaviour trends. | 30 minutes |
TikTok
TikTok is a social media platform where we run campaigns to reach a wider audience. TikTok may place pixels or cookies on your browser to collect information in order to deliver targeted advertising and help us measure and understand the effectiveness of our campaigns. For more details, check TikTok’s privacy statement.
| Name | Purpose | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| tt_csrf_token | Ensures visitor browsing-security by preventing cross-site request forgery. | When you close your browser |
| bm_sz, _abck, ak_bmsc, bm_sv | These are used to analyse traffic to determine if it is automated traffic generated by bots or a human user. | 1 hour |
Azorus
Azorus is our CRM (customer relationship management) system (your.westminster.ac.uk) for student recruitment. When you sign up to our events or submit an enquiry form, we transfer your name, contact information and programme details to Azorus.
This CRM system is used to communicate with enquirers and applicants via email. We may process your personal data because we think it is necessary to interact with you as part of the admissions process, or for any other purpose for which you provide us with your personal data. Emails sent from our CRM system may include tracking pixels that help us to:
- assess the success of email campaigns (open rates, links clicked)
- establish the time and date of engagement
- understand which devices are used (mobile, desktop)
We use the collected data to improve future email campaigns. You can opt out of our emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email.
Enable or disable cookies from your browser
We do not use cookies to obtain identifiable personal information. Nevertheless, you can choose to reject or block the cookies of this website or those of third-party sites by changing your browser settings. Note that this might affect some website functions.
Windows PC
Google Chrome
- Click on Tools, then Options
- Click the Under the Bonnet tab, then Privacy section, and choose the Content settings button
- Click the Cookie settings tab and choose your preferred settings
Mozilla Firefox
- Click on Tools, then Options
- Select the Privacy icon in the left-hand panel
- Click on Cookies
Internet Explorer
- Choose Tools, then Internet Options
- Click the Privacy tab
- Move the slider to choose your preferred settings.
Opera
- Choose Tools, then Internet Options
- Go to Preferences at the bottom of the File menu
- Click Privacy and select one of the available options
Safari
- Choose Tools, then Internet Options
- Select Security icon
- Cookie settings are shown in window
- Choose your preferred settings
Apple Macintosh
Mozilla Firefox
- Choose Preferences from Firefox menu
- Select the Privacy
- Choose 'Accept cookies from sites'
Opera
- Choose Preferences from Opera menu
- Select Privacy
- Choose your preferred cookies' settings
Safari
- Choose Preferences from Safari menu
- Select Security icon
- Choose your preferred cookies' settings