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 and similar technologies 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/ or https://www.allaboutcookies.org/. Read on to find out more about how we use cookies.
How Nominet use cookies and similar technologies
The primary Nominet site, nominet.uk and associated microsites (e.g. theukdomain.uk and ourhomeonline.wales and nominetcyber.com) 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.
We have also listed below pixels and tracking scripts which are used on our website; these are not stored on your browser but fulfil a similar purpose in helping us understand how you use our website and none of these can be used to identify you personally.
Miscellaneous cookies, pixels and scripts
| Name | Description | Duration | Type | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _fbp | This cookie is set by Meta to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website. | 3 months | Advertisement | .nominet.uk |
| Facebook Pixel | Tracking pixel | n/a | Analytics | Facebook.com |
| https://js.hs-scripts.com/ | Script | n/a | Analytics | Hubspot |
| https://snap.licdn.com/li.lms-analytics/insight.min.js | Tracking script | n/a | Analytics | |
| LinkedIn Pixel | Tracking pixel | n/a | Analytics | |
| __cf_bm | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. | 30 minutes | Functional | .hubspot.com |
| __cf_bm | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. | 30 minutes | Functional | vimeo.com |
| __hs_initial_opt_in | This cookie is used to prevent the banner from always displaying when visitors are browsing in strict mode. | 1 week | Functional | .hubspot.com |
| __hs_opt_out | "This cookie is used by the HubSpot opt-in privacy policy to remember not to ask the visitor to accept cookies again. This cookie is set when a website gives visitors the choice to opt-out of cookies." | 6 months | Functional | .hubspot.com |
| __hssc | This cookie keeps track of sessions. This is used to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie. | 30 minutes | Functional | .hubspot.com |
| __hstc | To store time of visit | 13 months | Marketing | .hubspot.com |
| li_gc | Cookie | 2 years | Other | .linkedin.com |
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:
| Name | Description | Duration | Type | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. | 2 years | Analytics | .nominet.uk |
| _gat_UA-16544465-4 | A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. | 1 minute | Analytics | .nominet.uk |
| _gid | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. | 1 day | Analytics | .nominet.uk |
| _ga_QP3W16RYCS | This cookie is used by Google Analytics to persist session state. | 2 years | Performance | .nominet.uk |
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.
Improving our website layout – Hotjar
In addition to Google Analytics we also use Hotjar to track anonymous usage in the form of heatmaps and user journeys, as before we do not collect any personal information that can be used to identify you. This helps us identify where we can improve our website layout in order to help users find the information they’re looking for.
Hotjar sets the following first-party cookies:
| Name | Description | Duration | Type | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _hjFirstSeen | Hotjar sets this cookie to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether it was the first time Hotjar saw this user. | 30 minutes | Analytics | .nominet.uk |
| _hjIncludedInSessionSample | Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit. | 2 minutes | Analytics | www.nominet.uk |
| _hjIncludedInPageviewSample | Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. | 2 minutes | Analytics | www.nominet.uk |
| _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress | Hotjar sets this cookie to detect the first pageview session of a user. This is a True/False flag set by the cookie. | 30 minutes | Analytics | .nominet.uk |
| https://static.hotjar.com/c/hotjar-414361.js?sv=7 | Tracking Script | n/a | Analytics | Hotjar |
| _hjSession_414361 | Cookie | 30 minutes | Other | .nominet.uk |
| _hjSessionUser_414361 | Cookie | 1 year | Other | .nominet.uk |
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).
| Name | Description | Duration | Type | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lang | LinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting. | session | Functional | .ads.linkedin.com |
| wordpress_test_cookie | This cookie is used to check if the cookies are enabled on the users' browser. | session | Necessary | www.nominet.uk |
| __hssrc | To store a unique session ID. Whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser. | session | Statistics | .hubspot.com |
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. If content is shared with a third party site, how this information will be used by the third party is governed by its own privacy policy, and we are not responsible for this (or the types of cookies and similar technologies used by the third party site).
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 and similar technologies
For more information about how to manage cookies and their uses visit About Cookies.
For information regarding the updated law on cookies and similar technologies visit the ICO.
This page was last updated on 12 January 2023.