How we use cookies

We are keenly aware of the trust you place in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy. As part of this responsibility, we let you know what information we collect using cookies when you use our websites, why we collect it and how we use it to improve your experience.

About Cookies

Cookies are small text files that websites save locally to your computer, which allow sites to store and use information during your visit. They can improve your experience when using a website by:

• Remembering preferences, so you don’t have to keep re-entering your choices when you visit again
• Measuring how you use a site, so that changes can be made to ensure it meets your needs

None of our cookies used for our sites can be used to identify you personally. They are just used to help make the site better for you. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit http://aboutcookies.org/. Read on to find out more about how we use cookies.

How Nominet Use Cookies

The primary Nominet site, nominet.uk and associated microsites (e.g. theukdomain.uk and ourhomeonline.wales) use cookies in several places, and we’ve listed them below with more details about why we use them and how long they will last.

You can set your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent, however some website features or services may not function properly without cookies.

Measuring our website usage – Google Analytics

We only use first-party Google Analytics cookies to track anonymous usage statistics and do not collect any personal information that can be used to identify you. This helps us analyse data about webpage usage and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs.

Google Analytics stores information about what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on. We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data.

Google Analytics sets the following first-party cookies:

Running our sites – session cookies

Google Analytics does not collect any personal information, as identified in their privacy policy. Google also offers a browser plugin that allows users to opt out of their analytics.

Running our sites – session cookies

To run our sites we use “session cookies”. These cookies are used to remember selections and preferences that you’ve already made or information that you’ve already given. Certain parts of our sites will not work if cookies cannot be set (for example if you set your browser to refuse all cookies).

Current concerns with cookies

There are many legitimate uses for cookies to enhance convenience and efficiency. However, some uses of cookies can lead to privacy concerns. These concerns typically emerge when a cookie holds personal information identifying you (e.g. a person’s name, e-mail address, billing information, address or similar), or is used across multiple sites to track users and internet usage.

nominet.uk does not use any of its first-party cookies to hold any personal information or track users across multiple sites. On some of our sites we use third party social sharing tools that set third-party cookies, which allow you to share content via social networks.

Other concerns some users have are around privacy, and in particular those third party cookies which are generated by advertisers which track browsing activity across different sites. For all cookies, there are steps that you can take to manage your user preferences on how these are set.

How do I manage cookies or turn them off?

You can manage the cookies stored on your computer, or turn them off completely, through your browser settings. Be aware that this may affect your browsing experience or even prevent you from using certain services such as those with a secure login, which require cookies to be set in order to work.

All modern browsers will let you change your cookie settings to give you broad control over whether cookies can be set or not. For more information, visit the help section for the browser you use.

Here are a few of the most popular:

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari

If you are concerned about third party cookies generated by advertisers, you can visit the Your Online Choices website which allows you to turn these off.

The Network Advertising Initiative also provides opt-out controls for targeted advertising by NAI member ad networks.

Please bear in mind that there are many more networks listed on the Network Advertising Initiative than those that we use at Nominet.

Further information on cookies

For more information about how to manage cookies and their uses visit About Cookies.

For information regarding the updated law on cookies visit the ICO.