Cookies on jisc.ac.uk
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About cookies
To help improve this site we place small files, known as cookies, onto your computer. Some are essential for the site to work properly, others are to improve the experience you have.
You can stop this site using non-essential cookies by updating your settings above.
Please note, if you have used the site in the past these cookies may still be on your computer - but by disabling them in your settings we will no longer access them.
You can also decide to stop this or any site from using any cookies. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them visit KnowCookies.com.
How we use cookies
We use cookies for several purposes on this website – we’ve listed each of them below with more details about why we use them and how long they’ll last.
Cookies to improve your experience
You can tell us to stop using these at any time by updating your settings above.
Measuring website usage (Google)
We use Google to collect information about how people use our site, and rough demographics as to what groups of people are using our site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting your needs and to understand how we could improve it.
Google stores information about:
- The pages you visit
- How long you spend on each page
- How you got to the site
- What you click on while you're here
The following cookies are set by Google:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | This helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you've visited before | 2 years |
| _ga_45WGVVS0SK | This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. | 2 years |
| APISID | This cookie is used by Google to store user preferences and information when viewing pages with Google maps on them. | 13 months |
| __Secure-1PAPISID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to store user preferences and information when viewing pages with Google maps on them. | 13 months |
| __Secure-1PSID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to authenticate users, store session preferences, and perform security measures. | 13 months |
| _Secure-1PSIDTS | This cookie collects information about your interactions with Google services and ads. It contains a unique identifier. | 1 year |
| __Secure-3PAPISID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to store user preferences and information when viewing pages with Google maps on them. | 13 months |
| __Secure-3PSID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to authenticate users, store session preferences, and perform security measures. | 13 months |
| __Secure-3PSIDCC | This cookie is set by Google and is used to protect users' data from unauthorized access. | 1 year |
| __Secure-3PSIDTS | This cookie stores an encrypted timestamp that helps maintain user sessions and preserves their preferences and settings across various Google services and websites. | 1 Year |
| __Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN | This cookie is used by YouTube to manage the phased rollout of new features and updates. This cookie helps assign users to specific test groups for experimental features, such as changes to the user interface or video player. The __Secure- prefix indicates that the cookie is only transmitted over a secure HTTPS connection, enhancing data security. | 180 days |
| HSID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to authenticate users, store session preferences, and perform security measures. | 13 months |
| LOGIN_INFO | Google may set this cookie on your phone, tablet or computer once you click on the YouTube video player. Used by the YouTube video service on websites with embedded YouTube videos. | 2 years |
| SAPISID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to store user preferences and information, such as the preferred language and browsing preferences. | 13 months |
| SID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to authenticate users, store session preferences, and perform security measures. | 13 months |
| SSID | This cookie is set by Google and is used to store user preferences and information, such as the preferred language and browsing preferences. | 13 months |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | Google may set this cookie on your phone, tablet or computer once you click on the YouTube video player. This cookie contains a unique ID used to remember your preferences and other information such as your preferred language. Used to enable personalised recommendations on YouTube based on past views and searches and also to detect and resolve problems with the service. | 6 months |
| VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA | This cookie is hosted by YouTube and used as a unique identifier to track viewing of videos | 5 months |
| YSC | Google may set this cookie on your phone, tablet or computer once you click on the YouTube video player. Used to prevent spam, fraud, and abuse. | Session |
Measuring website usage (Matomo)
We use Matomo to collect information about how people use our site, and rough demographics as to what groups of people are using our site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting your needs and to understand how we could improve it.
Matomo stores information about:
- The pages you visit
- How long you spend on each page
- How you got to the site
- What you click on while you're here
The following cookies are set by Matomo:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _pk_cvar | A short-lived cookie that temporarily stores data for your visit | 30 mins |
| _pk_ses* | A short-lived cookie that temporarily stores data for your visit | 30 mins |
| matomo_sessid | This is created when the opt-out feature is used and helps provide fraud prevention | When you close your browser |
| _pk_ref* | This is used to store the attribution information the referrer initially used to visit the website | 6 months |
| _pk_id* | This stores a few details about you as a user, such as the unique visitor ID | 13 months |
| _pk_testcookie | This checks whether your browser supports cookies, and is then directly deleted | Created, then directly deleted |
Understanding our users' needs
We use Hotjar and VWO to better understand our users’ needs and optimise the experience of this website. It helps us understand users’ experiences (eg how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and don’t like, etc), which enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback.
Hotjar and VWO use cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behaviour and their devices. This includes:
- A device's IP address (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form)
- Device screen size
- Device type (unique device identifiers)
- Browser information
- Geographic location (country only)
- Preferred language used to display our website
Hotjar and VWO store this information on our behalf in a pseudonymised user profile and are contractually forbidden to sell any data collected on our behalf.
The following cookies are set by Hotjar and VWO:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| hjActiveViewportIds | This cookie stores user active viewports IDs. It stores an expirationTimestamp that is used to validate active viewports on script initialization. | when you close your browser |
| _hjClosedSurveyInvites | This sets when a user interacts with a Link Survey invitation modal. It ensures the same invite does not reappear if it has already been shown. | 1 year |
| _hjCookieTest | This checks to see if the Hotjar tracking code can use cookies. If it can, a value of 1 is set. It is deleted almost immediately after it is created. | Under 100ms duration, cookie expiration time set to session duration. |
| _hjDonePolls | This is used to make sure the same survey does not reappear if you've already filled it in. | 1 year |
| _hjMinimizedPolls | This is used when you minimise a survey widget - it makes sure that this stays minimised as you navigate through the website. | 1 year |
| _hjSession_2326029 | This holds current session data and ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session. | 30 minutes, extended on user activity. |
| _hjSessionStorageTest | This checks if the Hotjar tracking code can use session storage. If it can, a value of 1 is set. The data stored in _hjSessionStorageTest has no expiration time, but it is deleted almost immediately after it is created. | Under 100ms |
| _hjSessionUser_2326029 | This sets when a user first lands on a page. It ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID. | 1 year |
| _hjTLDTest | When the Hotjar script executes, it tries to determine the most generic cookie path to use, instead of the page hostname. This is done so that cookies can be shared across subdomains (where applicable). To determine this, Hotjar tries to store the _hjTLDTest cookie for different URL substring alternatives until it fails. After this check, the cookie is removed. | when you close your browser |
| _hjHasCachedUserAttributes | This stores User Attributes which are sent through the Hotjar Identify API, whenever the user is not in the sample. Collected attributes will only be saved to Hotjar servers if the user interacts with a Hotjar Feedback tool, but the cookie will be used regardless of whether a Feedback tool is present. | when you close your browser |
| _hjLocalStorageTest | This is used to check if the Hotjar Tracking Script can use local storage. If it can, a value of 1 is set in this cookie and is deleted almost immediately after it is created. | under 100m/s |
| _hjViewportId | This stores information about the user viewport such as size and dimensions. | when you close your browser |
| _hjUserAttributes | This stores user attributes sent through the Hotjar Identify API. | No expiration. |
| _hjUserAttributesHash | Lets us know when any user attribute has changed and needs to be updated. | 2 minutes duration, extended every 30 seconds |
| _vwo_uuid_v2 | This cookie calculates unique traffic on our website. | 366 days |
Essential cookies
Website operation
The system that runs our website sets cookies to allow it to run smoothly.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| cookiesPrivacy | Used to remember your privacy preferences | 90 days |
| AWSALB | Used to make sure the website can cope with unexpected traffic | 2 years |
| AWSALBCORS | Used to make sure the website can cope with unexpected traffic | 2 years |
NB: Cookie guidance wording adapted from cookies on gov.uk, shared under the Open Government Licence.
Last updated: 22 May 2025.