How we use cookies
RB works puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site. The cookies help you navigate our website faster and use all its features easily. Cookies ‘remember’ certain information from your visit, which helps to keep your experience relevant for you and helps us improve the site for everyone.
Types of cookies
Cookies are simple text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device, browser or in encrypted databases. Only those entities can retrieve or read the contents of the cookies data. Each cookie is unique to your web browser; therefore, it can’t be read by any other website.
There are three types of cookies:
Session cookies also known as ‘temporary cookies, cannot be passed to any machine other than the one that generated the cookies. Session cookies allows the browser to re-identify itself to the single, unique server to which the client had previously authenticated. Additionally, session cookies allow users to be recognized within a website so any page changes or item or data selection you do is remembered from page to page. The most common example of this functionality is the shopping cart feature of any e-commerce site. You don’t have to keep re-submitting information as you move through the site or carry out transactions.
Persistent cookies are stored on a user’s device to hold usage information, settings, personalization, or sign-on credentials, from previous visits – for example names and details for online forms. The primary purpose of persistent cookies is to provide users with an immersive and seamless browsing experience by auto-filling information that the user may have already provided. They are used to collect anonymous statistics about how many people use the site, and to maintain any settings (such as accessibility) you have changed.
Third-party cookies are placed on a website by someone other than the owner (a third party) and collects user data for the third party. For example, you can have a “Like” button on your website which will store cookies on a visitor’s computer, those cookies can later be accessed by for example, Facebook to identify visitors and see which websites they visited. Such cookies are considered to be a 3rd party cookie.
To find out more about cookies and how they work, visit the website, all about cookies.
Cookies on this site
anonymous usage and analytic cookies
third party cookies
Google analytics (GA)
Usage and analytic cookies
We use Google Analytics to collect statistical data about our visitors. We collect this information in a way that does not identify, your IP Anonymization (or IP masking) in Universal Analytics – Google Analytics, and the data is not shared with anybody else. We use this data to help us understand our website audience better so we can improve our communications with residents.
Usage and Google Analytic cookies
Utmc
Records moment in time when a visitor leaves a site. Waits 30 minutes, and then it expires.
utmb
Is one of the GA cookies that fulfil the role of session cookies. It is used to determine new sessions and or visits.30-minute expiration period
utmz
Also known as “campaign” cookies. If a user comes back to the site within 6 months, it will remember the last traffic source
of that visitor. Expires in 6 months.
utma
Keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. Each time a user comes to the site, their cookies gets updated for another 2 years. 2 years expiration period.
Third party cookies
Some areas of our website are supplied by third-party companies and or organisations. They all employ their own use of cookies and their own privacy policies; however they must follow data protection legislation (ICO), and they still have to protect your data.