Use of cookies
What are cookies?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) defines a cookie as “a small file of letters and numbers that is downloaded on to your computer when you visit a website. Cookies are used by many websites and can do a number of things e.g. remembering your preferences, recording what you have put in your shopping basket, and counting the number of people looking at a website.”
Current cookie legislation.
On 26 May 2012, new European law relating to use of web cookies came into force in the UK that will affect most web sites. The rules on cookies are covered by The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 and ICO is responsible for enforcing these new rules.
The regulations also cover similar technologies for storing information, e.g. Flash cookies. The ICO and International Chamber of Commerce both provided guidance and advice on EU cookie directive and its implementation. Please refer to their detailed guides for more information:
General use of information collected, used and stored by Imperial College London is governed by Imperial College policies.
Types of cookies
These will generally be used to store a unique identifier to manage and identify the user as unique to other users currently viewing the website, in order to provide a consistent and accurate service to the user.
Will typically be the result of a user action, but might also be implemented in the delivery of a service not explicitly requested but offered to the user. They can also be used to prevent the user being offered a service again that had previously been offered to that user and rejected.
These are limited to performance and website improvement.
These contain a unique key that is able to distinguish individual users’ browsing habits or store a code that can be translated into a set of browsing habits or preferences using information stored elsewhere.
Cookies set by Imperial College London
Most cookies set by the College are temporary, or session, cookies and they are removed from your browser when your session ends. You do not need to take any action to remove them. Some of these cookies are essential in providing the services you are requesting from us during the session so when they are disabled parts of the website may stop working. We therefore encourage you to accept the cookies we serve. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our or any other website, you can do this through your Browser settings.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
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