Details about cookies
GOV.UK puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site. Find out more about the cookies we use, what they’re for and when they expire.
Cookies that measure website use
We use Google Analytics software (Universal Analytics) to collect anonymised information about how you use GOV.UK. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements to the site and to government digital services.
We do not allow Google to use or share the data about how you use this site.
Google Analytics stores information about:
- how you got to the site
- the pages you visit on GOV.UK and how long you spend on them
- what you click on while you’re visiting the site
Google Analytics sets the following cookies.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | These help us count how many people visit GOV.UK by tracking if you’ve visited before | 2 years |
| _gid | These help us count how many people visit GOV.UK by tracking if you’ve visited before | 24 hours |
We also set our own cookie to understand how people move through the site:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| analytics_next_page_call | This lets us know the next page you visit on GOV.UK, so we can make journeys better | When you close your browser |
Messages across GOV.UK
We might display a message on all GOV.UK pages to tell you about an important event or situation. We’ll save a cookie that will let us know how many times you’ve seen it, or if you’ve dismissed it.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| global_bar_seen | Remembers the number of times you’ve seen the message, or if you’ve dismissed it | 12 weeks |
Strictly necessary cookies
Site usage
When you use the ‘food for vulnerable people’ service, we’ll set a cookie to remember your progress through the forms. These cookies do not store your personal data and are deleted once you’ve completed the transaction.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| AspNetCore.Cookies | Used for the logging in and authorization of a user session | When you log out or end you session |
Cookies message
You may see a banner when you visit GOV.UK inviting you to accept cookies or review your settings. We’ll set cookies so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and not to show it again, and also to store your settings.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| cookies_policy | Saves your cookie consent settings | 1 month |
| cookies_preferences_set | Lets us know that you’ve saved your cookie consent settings | 1 month |