We use cookies and similar technologies across our websites to improve their performance and enhance your user experience. This policy explains how we use cookies.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files which a website may put on your computer or mobile device when you visit a site or page. The cookie will help the website, or another website, to recognise your device the next time you visit. Web beacons or other similar files can also do the same thing. We use the term “cookies” in this policy to refer to all files that collect information in this way.
Cookies serve many functions. For example, they can:
- help us to remember your username and preferences;
- analyse how well our website is performing; and
- certain cookies may record personal information – for example, if you click “remember me” when logging in, a cookie will store your username.
Most cookies will not collect information that identifies you personally, and will instead allow us to collect more general information such as how users arrive at, and use, our websites.
What sort of cookies does In Kind Direct International use?
Generally, our cookies perform two different functions:
1. Essential cookies
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies services you have asked for, like shopping baskets cannot be provided. Because some website features will not function without cookies of this type, they are designated as ‘strictly necessary’ and are exempted from the regulations which require your consent to place cookies on your device.
2. Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors visit most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t record information that personally identifies a visitor. All information these cookies record is aggregated and anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.
Below is a summary of web cookies used on our website, which enable us to provide you with a better browsing experience.
Cookie name |
Expires |
Information |
| __utma | 2 years | Used by Google Analytics. Each unique browser that visits a page on the site is provided with a unique ID via the __utma cookie. In this way, subsequent visits to the website via the same browser are recorded as belonging to the same (unique) visitor. Thus, if a person interacted with the website using different browsers, the Analytics reports would track this activity under two unique visitors. Similarly if the same browser were used by two different visitors, but with a separate computer account for each, the activity would be recorded under two unique visitor IDs. On the other hand, if the browser happens to be used by two different people sharing the same computer account, one unique visitor ID is recorded, even though two unique individuals accessed the site. |
| __utmb | 30 min | Google Analytics uses these two cookies to establish a session. If either of these two cookies is absent, further activity by the user initiates the start of a new session. |
| __utmc | End of session | Google Analytics uses these two cookies to establish a session. If either of these two cookies is absent, further activity by the user initiates the start of a new session. |
| __utmz | 6 month | When visitors reach the site via a search engine result, a direct link, or an ad that links to the page, Google Analytics stores the type of referral information in a cookie. The parameters in the cookie value string are parsed and sent in the GIF Request (in the utmcc variable). The expiration date for the cookie is set as 6 months into the future. This cookie gets updated with each subsequent page view to the site; thus it is used to determine visitor navigation within the site. |
Does anyone else use cookies on the In Kind Direct International website?
We use or allow third parties to serve cookies that fall into the categories above. For example, like many companies, we use Google Analytics to help us monitor our website traffic.
If you click on a hyperlink from the In Kind Direct website to any third party websites (e.g. if you 'share' content from the In Kind Direct website with friends or colleagues through social networks), you may be sent cookies from these third party websites. Third party websites have their own privacy and cookie policies which In Kind Direct cannot control. Please check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.
In Kind Direct does not use third party cookies to target advertising.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Can a website user block cookies?
As we’ve explained above, cookies help you to get the most out of our websites.
However, if you do wish to disable our cookies then please follow the instructions on www.aboutcookies.org.
Please remember that if you do choose to disable cookies, you may find that certain sections of our website do not work properly.
Do we track whether users open our emails?
Our emails may contain a single, campaign-unique “web beacon pixel” to tell us whether our emails are opened and verify any clicks through to links or advertisements within the email. We may use this information for purposes including determining which of our emails are more interesting to users, to query whether users who do not open our emails wish to continue receiving them. The pixel will be deleted when you delete the email. If you do not wish the pixel to be downloaded to your device, you should select to receive emails from us in plain text rather than HTML.
More Information
More detail on how businesses use cookies is available at www.aboutcookies.org.
Official guidance is available on the ICO website.
Information about controlling cookies within your web browser:
If you have any queries regarding this Cookie Policy please contact our Privacy Officer by e-mail.