Privacy and Cookies
In this section you will find information on what cookies may be set when you visit a BBC website and how to reject or delete those cookies. If you wish to read the BBC's Cookies Policy, this can be found in section 12 of the Privacy Policy.
The BBC will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by BBC websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how.
Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your machine as well as more general information about cookies.
Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of the BBC website.
If you wish to view 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.
For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
To totally opt-out of our suppliers collecting any data regarding your interaction on bbc.co.uk, please refer to section 3.2.
The BBC uses the Adobe Flash Player to deliver services, such as the BBC iPlayer, throughout the site. To improve user experience, Local Shared Objects - or Flash Cookies as they are commonly known - are employed to provide features such as auto-resume and for saving your preferences. Flash Cookies are stored on a user's terminal much the same as cookies are, however it is not possible to manage them at browser level in the same way.
The BBC uses MemeCounter, a UK based analytics service, to gather non-personal usage information for some of our online games. This information is used to help us to better understand how our online games (including quizzes) are consumed. This information is not used to link you to a particular game you have played and any IP address gathered in the process is discarded when you stop playing.
The Adobe website provides comprehensive information on how to delete or disable Flash cookies either for a specific domain like bbc.co.uk or for all websites - see http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/security for details. Please be aware that restricting the use of Flash Cookies may affect the features available to you for Flash based applications such as the BBC iPlayer.
Please note that if you disable your Flash cookies for the BBC website you will be unable to play content on the BBC media players (including BBC iPlayer). This is a temporary issue and more information is available on our Internet Blog at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2010/11/lso_flash_cookies_and_media_pl_1.html
To support our journalism, we sometimes embed photos and video content from websites such as YouTube and Flickr. As a result, when you visit a page with content embedded from, for example, YouTube or Flickr, you may be presented with cookies from these websites. The BBC does not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the third party websites for more information about these.
UPDATE: News Website sharing tools
We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the BBC website now carries embedded 'share' buttons to enable users of the site to easily share articles with their friends through a number of popular social networks. These sites may set a cookie when you are also logged in to their service. The BBC does not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.
The BBC uses a number of suppliers who also set cookies on the BBC website on its behalf. However, please be aware that which cookies are set may depend on whether you are a UK visitor or a non-UK visitor (viewing the International version of the website).
1) The following cookies may be set for both UK visitors and non-UK visitors:
These include:
Nielsen//NetRatings, Quantcast and SageMetrics
These are 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. Quantcast only gathers data regarding non-UK-based visitors to the international version of the BBC site.
If you would like more information about the cookies used by these companies how to opt out, please see their individual privacy policies below:
Omniture
UK-based visitors:
Omniture gathers data on behalf of the BBC World Service about visits to the BBC World Service sites including the foreign language news sites, a full list of which can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/languages/index.shtml
Omniture uses cookies, log file data and code which is embedded on bbc.co.uk/worldservice and on the foreign language news sites. The BBC World Service uses this information to track volume of usage on the World Service sites and to help improve the services it provides to users. Information (IP addresses and information in other BBC World Service cookies) that Omniture collects is transferred to them in the United States of America. BBC World Service confirms that Omniture satisfies the EU's data protection requirements.
See http://www.omniture.com/en/privacy/2o7 for more information and details of how to opt out.
Non-UK based Visitors:
Omniture provides anonymised statistical information to BBC Worldwide Limited ("BBCW"), about users outside the UK only. They process IP addresses and information from other cookies used on "bbc.com", BBCW's international online service for users outside 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. Omniture is also used to provide similar information for the international version of the BBC News App for Apple iPad and iPhone for users outside the UK only.
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 BBCW cookies) that Omniture (Visual Sciences) collects is transferred to them in the United States of America. BBCW confirms that Omniture (Visual Sciences) satisfies the EU's data protection requirements.
See http://www.omniture.com/en/privacy/visualsciences/policy for more information and details of how to opt out.
comScore
UK visitors:
comScore, an independent measurement and research company, gathers information regarding visitor activity on the BBC's websites and other BBC online services. Data is gathered on the BBC's behalf using cookies, log file data, and code that is embedded on our websites. The BBC uses this information to help improve the services it provides to its users.
Information (such as IP addresses) that comScore collects is transferred to them in the United States of America. comScore have committed to handling personal data they receive from the European Economic Area in accordance with the EU's data protection requirements. For information on how comScore treats personal data please see the comScore Privacy Policy.
Doubleclick
Doubleclick 'Spotlight Tags' are used to measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns for the BBC. Double Click is also used by BBC World Ltd and BBC Worldwide Ltd (BBCW) 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
Google Analytics
The BBC News App uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics sets a cookie in order to evaluate your use of the News App and compile reports for us on activity on the News App.
Google stores the information collected by the cookie on servers in the United States. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using the News App, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
For more information on the cookie set by Google Analytics, including information on how to opt out please go to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html
Ad Serving (non-targeted)
The advertisements seen by international users of the site are served by a number of third party ad serving providers, including DoubleClick, Advertising.com (AOL), Adviva.net (Specific Media), AdRevolver (BlueLithium-Yahoo!), 247realmedia.com, Atlas (atdmt), Mediaplex (ValueClick) and MediaMind (Eyeblaster), amongst others. The cookies accompanying the ads allow them and their advertisers to monitor the effectiveness of the ads (e.g. by using statistical analysis cookies) and make the ads more relevant to you (e.g. if you use our sites from outside the UK, you may get ads from your local country).
If you would like more information about the cookies used by the providers listed above, please see their privacy policies at:
Ad Serving (targeted) - 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 of America, and BBCW confirm that AudienceScience satisfies the EU's data protection requirements through its registration with the US Department 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.
This is a list of the main cookies set by the BBC website, and what each is used for:
hploc cookie
Used to store your user preferences for the homepage in order to give you area-specific News, TV, Radio and Weather.
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.
BGUID cookie
This cookie is being rolled out as a replacement to the BBC-UID cookie. It has a slightly extended purpose to the BBC-UID cookie: as well as being used in log analysis to determine the number of unique users for various parts of bbc.co.uk (using aggregate data), this BGUID cookie is also used as a key to storing preferences and personalision data for sites such as the BBC Homepage and BBC iPlayer.
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.
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 weather site to present information for your local area.
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.
pulse cookie
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.
BBCLiveStats
Used to capture the co-ordinates of clicks made on the BBC website pages. The cookie expires after 8 seconds and the information is used to inform editorial decisions about page layout and promotion.
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.
abtst_id
Used to anonymously test different design ideas for sites within the BBC (known as 'A-B testing'), with the 'id' indicating which part of the site is conducting the testing.
IDENTITY
The IDENTITY cookie is used to allow you to sign in to the BBC website. If you ticked 'Remember Me on this computer' this cookie will remain on your computer for up to 30 days or until you click 'sign out'. Until that time, you'll remain signed in to the BBC website. If you didn't tick 'Remember Me', this cookie will be removed when you close your browser session.
HTTPS-IDENTITY
This cookie provides extra security with your BBC iD accounts. If you view a BBC page using HTTPS, this cookie will be passed over that encrypted connection. As such this cookie provides the most security when identifying you as a user.
IDENTITY_SESSION
This cookie is used by BBC iD to identify you as a user between page loads. This allows BBC iD to remember certain settings, like which part of the BBC website you were using before you were asked to sign in or register. This cookie is destroyed each time you close your browser.
s1
Like the BBC-UID cookie, this is 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.
ns_session
Used with the s1 cookie to identify user sessions on bbc.co.uk. Data is only used in aggregate.
ns_cookietest
Used to confirm that your browser is able to accept cookies.
ns_ux
Used to identify how users interact with various parts of bbc.co.uk. Data is only used in aggregate.
NO-SA
Used to identify users who with to opt out of the Nedstat reporting.
Below is a list of the main cookies that are set by the CBBC and CBeebies web pages:
cbbc_anim
Set whether the user wants the Flash background playing or not
CBeebiesJourney
Record a user's 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
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.
If you shorten BBC URLs, for example on Twitter or Facebook, and use the bit.ly service to do so, the BBC works with bit.ly to rebrand that as a http://bbc.in/xxxxx link. Also BBC web products or phone apps sometimes offer features that allow users to share links with social networks and the BBC shortens that URL using the bit.ly service.
Bit.ly provides the BBC with anonymised, aggregated statistics relating to use of the shortened BBC URL, for example by telling us how many times it has been clicked on. The BBC does not have access to the IP address collected by bit.ly when you use its service or any other identifiable information about you. Nor does Bit.ly have any access to data collected on a BBC website. For more information on bit.ly's privacy policy, please see http://bit.ly/pages/privacy.
Last updated: 4th April 2011
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