Cookie policy for the STACK website
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small file downloaded on to your phone, tablet or computer when you visit a website. Cookies allow websites to recognise your device when you make a return visit.
We use several types of cookies on the STACK website. Some are essential, like cookies that make sure our website works properly with your browser. They always need to be on.
Some cookies you can opt out of or block completely. Opting out or blocking these cookies might affect how the website looks or works for you.
When you leave our website or click on links that take you to an external websites, we can’t control what cookies they set. They will have their own cookie policy and you will need to set your cookie preferences for those websites too.
Why and how we use cookies
There are three reasons why a cookie might be stored on your device when visiting the STACK website:
- Cookies that make the website work properly for you and enable you to make use of the secure online services that we provide.
- Cookies that collect data about your use of the website which is then anonymised and used to help us improve our online services.
- Cookies that are placed by third party services we make use of, to enhance the information we present online. We have no control over these third-party cookies.
- Public Page Cookies
- We currently only use Google Analytics, and a cookie to track your analytics preferences.
- After Authentication to STACK
- We add two cookies, which identify you in your session.
- If you disable these, you are no longer authenticated.
These cookies are placed on your device either by EDINA or by the third parties whose services we use as part of the website.
Some cookies are retained in your browser only for as long as you visit our website, while others persist for a longer specified or unspecified periods.
Strictly necessary cookies
Some cookies we place on your browser ensure that EDINA services and sites delivers you information and services securely and optimally. You must accept these cookies to be able to make use of our online systems and access the STACK website.
STACK uses cookies to maintain session state and user identity, which are required for using the service, and for storing your cookie preferences regarding use of analytics.
Functionality cookies
Some cookies enable websites to remember choices their users make, for example, username, language or text size. These cookies are known as “functionality cookies” and help to improve a user’s experience of a website by providing a more personalised service.
We currently use no functional cookies for the STACK service.
Performance cookies
We use a number of tools that monitor visitor behaviour on our website to help us improve our information and services.
The tool we use to track business usage of STACK is Google Analytics. Anonymous data about your visit is collected and amalgamated with that of other visitors so we can better understand how people use our website.
You can opt out of providing us with this information if you wish, with no impact on your experience of our website. To do this, see the How to block cookies section below.
Third party cookies
Some STACK documentation may use third-party services. Many of these services may set their own cookies on your device.
However, you can block or remove cookies yourself by altering the settings of your browser. Blocking these cookies is unlikely to impact on your experience of our website.
How to block cookies
Most browsers allow some control of cookies through browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, refer to About Cookies or All About Cookies.
It is possible to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics by visiting the Google Analytics opt-out page.