Cookies list and how to reject cookies

Topics

• List of main bbc.co.uk cookies
• CBBC Cookies
• 3rd Party Cookies
• How to reject cookies

1. List of main bbc.co.uk cookies

This is a list of the main cookies that bbc.co.uk sets, and what each is used for:

HP

Used to store information about the customised layout of the bbc.co.uk homepage. This information includes the positioning of modules and feeds and whether they are minimised or expanded.

BBC-UID cookie

A unique identifier given to each computer to allow log analysis to determine the number of unique users for various parts of bbc.co.uk. Data is only used in aggregate.

BBCMediaselector cookie

Used to store your user preferences for Audio-Video content from bbc.co.uk - format (Real player or Windows Media player) and quality (narrowband or broadband).

mstouch cookie

Used if we have needed to reset your BBCMediaSelector cookie which stores your preference for the Audio-Video content from bbc.co.uk.

BBCPostcoder cookie

Used to store your user preferences for geographic specific content on bbc.co.uk - allows pages to present information for your local area, primarily on the homepage, but also in other areas like bbc.co.uk/arts.

BBCWEACITY cookie

Used to store your user preferences for home city - allows the the weather site to present information for your local area.

BBCNewsAudience cookie

Used to store your user preferences for which edition (domestic UK or International) of the BBC homepage, Radio, TV and Weather homepages, News site and Sport site you wish to view when visiting www.bbc.co.uk.

BBCNewsAudcWght cookie

Used to record the degree of certainty of the domestic UK or International edition preference ascribed to you. If you make an express preference (see above) then we can be certain of which edition of the domestic UK or International site to serve to you. If you do not express a preference we will make a guess of varying degrees of certainty as to which edition of the domestic UK or International site is most appropriate for you based on your IP.

BBCNewsAudcWghtUpd cookie

Used to keep track of when your BBCNewsAudcWght cookie (if any) was last updated. This ensures that, where we have guessed which edition of the domestic UK or International site is most appropriate for you, we continue to review our assumptions.

SSO2-UID cookie

Used to allow you to be automatically signed in to a bbc.co.uk service which you have previously registered for.

BBC-H2-User cookie

Used for user authentication for the bbc.co.uk messageboard system.

rmRpDetectReal cookie

Used to store a preference to prevent 'You don't have Real player installed ...' alerts coming up if you really don't want to install it and don't want to be pestered with requests to do so.

*votename* cookie

Some voting systems on bbc.co.uk may set a cookie to discourage voters voting more than once. In each case the cookie's name will reflect the vote in question.

Survey cookie - "bbcsurvey"

Used to ensure that once you have taken a BBC survey, or said that you don't want to be surveyed, that you are not offered the same survey again.

bbcComSurvey

Used to ensure that once you have taken a BBC survey, or said that you don't want to be surveyed, that you are not offered the same survey again. This cookie is used when there are two concurrent surveys being run.

myway

Used to store your user preference for which colours to use (for example, high contrast colour scheme) on bbc.co.uk/accessibility.

BBCLiveStatsClick

Used to capture the co-ordinates of clicks made on the BBC News pages. The cookie expires after 8 seconds and the information is used to inform editorial decisions about page layout and promotion.

BBCHomeOpt

Used to store user preferences for customisable elements, where available, on the bbc.co.uk homepage.

BBCNewsCustomisation

Used to store user preferences for customisable elements, where available, within news.bbc.co.uk.

BBCMobilePref2

Is a unique identifier for mobile phone users of bbc.co.uk which is used to recognise revisiting users in order to offer them a more personalised user experience.

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2. CBBC Cookies

Below is a list of the main cookies that CBBC web pages set:

cbbc_anim

Set whether the user wants the Flash background playing or not

CBeebiesJourney

Record a users journey throughout the site to allow for quick links

cbeebies_snd

Opt in for audio navigation

bbcsr_users[x]

Where x is an integer to identify a specific user Used to store a users preferences for a switch news reader application

cbeebies_rd

Stops intro animation on the Razzledazzle site (/cbeebies/razzledazzle/) being shown more than once

cbeebies_pet_loyaltyengine

My Cbeebies (/cbeebies/mycbeebies/) - monitors points for CBeebies Pet point scoring system

cbbc_roly_splash

Stops intro animation being shown more than once, on the RolyMo site (/cbeebies/rolymo/)

cbbc_ar_sendtofriend

On the CBBC Adventure Rock (/cbbc/adventurerock/) site, once SSO signed-in users have downloaded the game, this allows them to fill in a form to send emails to their friends telling them about the game.

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3. 3rd Party Cookies

The BBC uses a number of suppliers who also set cookies on bbc.co.uk on its behalf. These include:

Nielsen/Net Ratings and SageMetrics

Nielsen/Netratings and SageMetrics are two independent measurement and research companies. They gather data regarding the visitors to BBC sites on our behalf using cookies, log file data and code which is embedded on our website. The BBC uses this type of information to help improve the services it provides to its users.

Nedstat

Nedstat, an independent measurement and research company, gathers non-personal information regarding visitor activity of the BBC iPlayer site and service and other audio video embedding web pages. The BBC uses this information to help improve its iPlayer and embeddable audio video services.

Bango

An external BBC supplier who provides a unique identifier to each modile phone user of bbc.co.uk in order for the BBC to recognise revisiting users and personalise their user experience.

Omniture (Visual Sciences)

Provides anonymised statistical information to BBC Worldwide Limited ("BBCW"), about ex-UK users only. They process IP addresses and information from other cookies used on "bbc.com" so BBCW know how many page views it has, the number of international users, what browsers international users are using (so BBCW can target resources in the right way to maximise compatibility for the majority of international users) and in which country, city or region international users are located.

This statistical information also allows BBCW to determine how much it should charge for advertising, and if it is hitting its target audience. Information (IP addresses and information in other BBC cookies) that Omniture (Visual Sciences) collects is transferred to the United States BBCW confirms that Omniture (Visual Sciences) satisfies the EU's data protection requirements.

Doubleclick

Doubleclick 'Spotlight Tags' are used to measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns for the BBC. Double Click is used by BBC World Ltd and BBC WW as they publish advertising on bbc.com when the site is accessed outside the UK. This service gathers information regarding visits made by international users which is used to decide on the insertion of adverts. For information on the cookie set by Doubleclick plus information on how to opt out please go to http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx

For users outside of the UK ONLY - Omniture (Visual Sciences)

This company provides anonymised statistical information to BBC Worldwide Limited ("BBCW"), about users outside of the UK only. They process IP addresses and information from other cookies used on "bbc.com", BBCW's international online service for users outside of the UK, so BBCW know how many page views it has, the number of international users, what browsers international users are using (so BBCW can target resources in the right way to maximise compatibility for the majority of international users) and in which country, city or region international users are located.

This statistical information also allows BBCW to determine how much it should charge for advertising, and if it is hitting its target audience. Information (IP addresses and information in other BBC cookies) that Omniture (Visual Sciences) collects is transferred to them in the United States. BBCW confirms that Omniture (Visual Sciences) satisfies the EU's data protection requirements.

For users outside of the UK ONLY - AudienceScience Inc. (formerly Revenue Science, Inc.)

This company uses cookies to discover general information about the pages on "bbc.com" that you visit and it also processes IP addresses to collect other non-personally identifiable information in order to place you in a "market segment". This includes data about the country, city or region where you are located and your domain name (e.g. what ISP you use). It then places advertisements onto "bbc.com" which it believes people in your market segment will find relevant. If you would like more information about the cookies used by AudienceScience and how to opt out, please see their privacy policy at: http://audiencescience.com/privacy.asp.

Information (IP addresses and information in other cookies on our sites) that AudienceScience collects is transferred to them in the United States, and BBCW confirm that AudienceScience satisfies the EU's data protection requirements through its registration with the US Dept of Commerce's "safe harbor" framework. Data is sometimes shared with AudienceScience's sub-contractors in India who also contractually satisfy the EU's data protection requirements.

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4. How to reject cookies

There are two ways you can minimise the number of cookies you receive:

1. Adjust your browser settings to reject cookies (for mobile phones you will have to refer to your handset manufacturer's help manual) using one of the following procedures (depending on your website browser);

If you're using Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Privacy tab
4. Click on Custom Level
5. Click on the 'Advanced' button
6. Check the 'override automatic cookie handing' box and select Accept, Block or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Firefox 2.0:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Options
3. Click the Privacy icon

If you're using Firefox 1.0 or 1.5:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Options
3. Click the Privacy icon
4. Click the Cookies tab

If you're using Opera 8.0 or 9.0:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Preferences
3. Advanced
4. Cookies

If you're using Opera 7.0:

1. Choose File, then
2. Preferences
3. Privacy

If you're using Netscape 6.0:

1. Choose Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Click on Cookies

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.5:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Security tab
4. Click on Custom Level
5. Scroll down to the sixth option to see how cookies are handled by IE5 and change to Accept, Disable, or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0:

1. Choose View, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Advanced tab
4. Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security and choose one of the three options to regolate your use of cookies.

If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0:

1. Choose View, then
2. Options
3. Click on Advanced
4. Click on the button that says Warn before Accepting Cookies.

If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0:

1. Choose Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Set your options in the box that says Cookies.

To see your cookie code, just click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.

2. For information on how to reject or opt-out of cookies that may be set by our suppliers on bbc.co.uk, you will need to follow the opt-out procedures below:

If you wish to reject cookies that may be set by our suppliers on bbc.co.uk, you can use the process set out in point 1 above. To totally opt-out of our suppliers collecting any data regarding your interaction on bbc.co.uk, use the opt-out procedures located at the following sites:

1. Use the opt-out facility on Nielsen/Netratings' 'Privacy and Cookie Policy' on http://www.netratings.com/privacy.jsp?section=leg_scs.
2. Use the opt-out facility on Sage Metrics 'Privacy Statements and Policies' on http://www.sagemetrics.com/ popup-dynamic.asp?pagename=privacy_main.

Our suppliers' opt-out facilities work by storing a cookie on your computer which does not collect personal information, but eliminates further cookies being sent to your computer.

If you have set your device to reject or have opted out of receiving cookies you can still browse bbc.co.uk anonymously until such time as you wish to register for bbc.co.uk services. For further information on cookies please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org.

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Last Updated : 1st April 2009