COOKIE POLICY
(Relating to the use of the First Tutors Website)
COOKIES are small files containing information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive that can be read by your web browser. Our website uses several different types of cookies to improve our site and your user experience. They cannot be used to identify you personally, cannot carry viruses, or install malware.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a piece of data sent to your device from a website. This means the website can recognise your device if you return to the same website. A cookie often includes a unique identifier, which is an anonymous number (randomly generated) and is stored on your device. Some expire at the end of your website session; others remain on your computer for longer.
These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:
- enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task, e.g. filling out a web form or a web survey;
- recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page;
- measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast analysing anonymised data to help us understand how people interact with the different aspects of our online services so we can make them better.
Our Cookies
We only use a very minimal set of site cookies. Some of our cookies are required for your use of our website, other cookies are optional as they will not impact your experience of the website. You will be provided the opportunity to opt-in to any optional cookies as well as an opt-out in your account settings (if applicable). Our cookies are:
| Cookie Name(s) | Purpose | Expiry | Required/Optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Random | Session cookies allow users to log into websites. They only store a random number which allows our site (only) to keep track of who is who. If this type of cookie is blocked our service cannot be used! | At the end of the session, unless you have asked us to remember your session, then it will expire after one (1) year. | Required for registered users |
| cookie_policy_accepted | This cookie remembers your preference for allowing or rejecting 3rd party cookies on our site. | 1 year | Required |
| visitor_id | Internal usage tracking | 10 years | Optional |
3rd Party Cookies
We use a few external services to improve our user's experience on our site. Some or all of these may create cookies. You will be provided the opportunity to opt-in to any optional cookies as well as an opt-out in your account settings (if applicable). The cookie we use is described as follows:
On many of our pages we embed Google Analytics which uses cookies for analytical reasons. These allow us to count the number of visitors our site receives and to see how users move around our site. This helps us to improve the way our website works and ensure the best possible user experience.
You can find more information about the individual 3rd party cookies our site uses and the purposes for each below:
| Service | Cookie Name(s) | Purpose | Expiry | Required/ Optional | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | _ga, _gat, _gaexp, __utma, __utmb, __utmc, __utmt, __utmv, __utmx, __utmxx, __utmz | Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. used on most of our pages count visitors to count the number of visitors our site receives and to see how users move around our site. | The longest lasting cookie expires 2 years after your last visit to the website. Others are deleted 6 months, 30 minutes and at the end of the session. | Optional | Privacy Policy |
Links to other websites
Our website contains links to other relevant websites. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Turning off Cookies
You can block cookies by changing your browser settings to refuse some (or all) cookies. The following are links to help you do so for major browsers. If you block all cookies (including essential session cookies) you will not be able to use our service!