A cookie is a means for your web browser to hold a small amount of information, either in memory or on your hard disk, for use during your website visit. They provide a better browsing experience by offering the ability to remember user settings or preferences when visiting a site.
Cookies are not viruses - they cannot damage your computer, find out information about you or read any personal material kept on your hard drive.
Like most websites, we make use of cookies. They are only used where they are technically necessary (e.g. as part of our online forms or payments), offer a significantly better user experience, or help us to improve our website.
Some cookies are set when you first visit the site, others are set when you visit a specific page or service.
Types of cookies we use
Essential cookies
We use certain cookies in order to deliver essential information and services on the website. Without them you may not be able to make use of our services or content.
| Name | Default duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| cookie-agreed | 100 days | Stores whether a user has provided consent for cookies to be stored. |
| cookie-agreed-version | 100 days | Stores which cookie policy version a user has consented to. |
| cookie-agreed-categories | 100 days | Stores which cookies a user has consented to. |
| ASP.NET_SessionId | End of session | Session ID for Modern.gov pages. |
MyAccount customer self-service portal
| Name | Default duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| localtime | End of session | Used to calculate local time from UTC time. |
| PHPSESSID | 6 hours | Session ID. |
| APP_LANG | 24 hours | Language used to view site. |
| _lastlogin | End of session | Unix timestamp. |
| SimpleSAMLSessionID | End of session | Used for oauth third party authentication. |
Measuring website usage
Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google. It uses cookies to help monitor use of the website. It reports trends without identifying individual visitors.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google. This information is used to evaluate visitors' use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity for site operators.
We will not use Google Analytics to track or collect any personally identifiable information about visitors to our site. We will not use Google Analytics data with any other personally identifying information from any other source. We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data in anonymous form as part of their benchmarking service.
Find out more about Google’s privacy policy relating to Google Analytics or to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites.
| Name | Default duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years | Used to distinguish users. |
| _ga_<container-id> | 2 years | Used to persist session state. |
Preventing cookies from being set
Most web browsers will allow you to prevent cookies being set on your device, but doing this may mean you are unable to use some parts of our website. Consult the Help section of your browser to find out how to change the cookie settings.
If you follow any links on this site to another website, you might encounter the use of cookies there. These websites and their associated cookies are beyond our control.
The website All About Cookies has more information about cookies, including how to control and delete them.