Google offers the best explanation of cookies: “A cookie is a small piece of text sent to your browser by a website you visit. It helps the website to remember information about your visit, like your preferred language and other settings. That can make your next visit easier and the site more useful to you. Cookies play an important role. Without them, using the web would be a much more frustrating experience.”
More from Google: “Many websites use Google technologies to improve their content and keep it free. When you visit a website that uses our advertising products (like AdSense), social products (like the +1 button) or analytics tools (Google Analytics), your web browser automatically sends certain information to Google. This includes, for example, the web address of the page that you’re visiting and your IP address. We may also set cookies on your browser, or read cookies that are already there.” Read more here: How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps.
According to UK and EU privacy laws (EU user consent policy), all websites using cookies (which are, in fact, most of all existing websites) must obtain the user’s consent for the use of these cookies.
Here is our Cookies policy:
A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. They may be persistent cookies – which will be stored by the browser and remain valid auntil manually cleared by the user or until its set expiry date or session cookies – which will expire at the end of the user session, when the browser is closed.
Cookies are used by web servers to identify and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website. They help provide the visitor with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
Here are the cookies we use on HealthyWithHoney.com:
wp-settings-time-1, wp-settings-time-2, wp-settings-1, wp-settings-2 = These cookies have no impact on your user experience, and store no personal information. These cookies are automatically added by the software that runs this website, but we do not use them in any way.
wordpress_test_cookie = A test cookie to check that cookies can be set at all.
cookie_notice_accepted = A cookie that will remember your consent next time you visit the website.
We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Here is a complete Google Analytics Cookie Usage on Websites.
The analytics cookies used by our website:
|Cookie Name||Default Expiration Time||Description|
|__utmt||10 minutes||Used to throttle request rate.|
|__utmc||End of browser session||Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit.|
|__utmv||2 years from set/update||Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.|
|_ga||2 years||Used to distinguish users.|
|_gat||10 minutes||Used to throttle request rate.|
You may opt out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising or customize Google Display Network ads by using the Google Ads Settings page. You may also prevent your data from being collected and used by Google Analytics by opting out through the use of the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Third party cookies
- Google AdSense We publish Google AdSense interest-based advertisements on our website. In order to determine your interests, Google will track your behavior on our website, and on other websites across the web, using the DoubleClick cookie. You can view, delete or add interest categories by visiting: Control your Google Ads.
Please note that if you opt out, you will continue to see the same number of (or more) ads on the web sites you visit, but those ads may be less relevant because they will not be tailored to your perceived interests.
To ensure your opt out settings remain in your browser, use the Google browser plug-in available at: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/plugin.
Blocking and removing cookies
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies, set preferences or delete them manually.
- Internet Explorer See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196955 and manually delete them http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/internet-explorer/delete-manage-cookies#ie=ie-11
- Firefox See: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Cookies. Cookies can be deleted by clicking “Tools”, “Options” and “Privacy”, then selecting “Use custom settings for history” from the drop-down menu, clicking “Show Cookies”, and then clicking “Remove All Cookies”;
- Chrome See: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95647. Delete all cookies by accessing the “Customise and control” menu, and clicking “Settings”, “Show advanced settings” and “Clear browsing data”, and then selecting “Cookies and other site and plug-in data” before clicking “Clear browsing data”.
- Opera: http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/security/privacy/
- Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=32467
- Safari iOS: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1677
- Android: http://support.google.com/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=169022
- Blackberry: Turn off cookies in the browser
- Windows Phone: Changing privacy and other browser settings
Remember that blocking all cookies may have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites, or restrict you from using all the features of a website.