Cookie and Interest-based Advertising Policy

W & A Anderson Services Limited

This policy outlines what cookies and similar tracking technologies our websites use, how we use them and information on how to opt out of these cookies if you wish to do so.

Contents

  1. What are cookies?

  2. Why do we use them?

  3. Opting out of cookies

What are cookies?

Cookies and similar tracking technologies, such as tags, scripts and beacons, are small pieces of code (referred to as cookies hereafter) that are stored on a device (computer, mobile phone, tablet etc) and enable a website to "personalise" itself to users by remembering information about the user's visit to the website. We also use cookies within emails we may send.

Cookies are used to collect information, where available, about your device, your IP address, operating system and browser type and how you have interacted with our websites.

Why do we use them?

Our websites use cookies to:

  • Store any preferences you have made and display content to you in a more personalised way

  • Evaluate our websites' advertising and promotional effectiveness

  • Gain insight into the nature of our audience so we can tailor our content accordingly

  • Provide interest-based advertising on our websites and on other websites which are tailored to your interests and preferences

  • Obtain information about how visitors interact with our content, and to help us improve the experience when visiting our websites.

We advertise on our site and in our newsletters to help keep the content free for our audiences.

We will always make sure our websites contain clear and easy to find information about our cookies, and you can find more information about the purposes for which we use cookies below.

What types of cookies do we use?

  • Session cookies - We only use these while you are visiting our website and they are deleted when you leave. They remember you as you move between pages, for example recording the items you add to an online shopping basket. They also help maintain security.

  • Persistent cookies - These cookies stay on your computer until they expire or are deleted. We set automatic deletion dates so that we don't keep your information for longer than we need to.

  • First and third-party cookies – Whether a cookie is ‘first’ or ‘third’ party refers to the website or domain placing the cookie. First party cookies in basic terms are cookies set by a website visited by the user - the website displayed in the URL window. Third party cookies are cookies that are set by a domain other than the one being visited by the user. If a user visits a website and a separate company sets a cookie through that website this would be a third-party cookie.

The cookies we use can also be categorised by function:

Stricly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for our websites 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 our websites may not then work.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to precisely count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our websites. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the sites.

Functional Cookies

These cookies enable our websites to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.

Targeting Cookies

These cookies may be set through our websites by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. If you reject targeting cookies you will still see adverts on our websites, but they will not be tailored to your likely interests using information collected from cookies and similar technologies on your device.

Social Media Cookies

These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to our websites to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

Audience Measurement

We also place an audience measurement cookie on our websites when you access them. This audience measurement cookie is limited to audience measurement to enable us to operate our websites and is only used to produce aggregated statistical data. You can refuse this cookie for subsequent visits to our websites using the controls available through the "Show Purposes" button on the cookie management and consent pop-up displayed when you first navigate to our websites, or from the ‘Manage Preferences’ link on the footer of each page of our websites.

Opting out of cookies

Cookies that are strictly necessary for the use of our websites, such as authentication cookies or cookies that remember your choices regarding cookies, are automatically placed without your consent. Our websites do not give you the ability to refuse these cookies. If you block these cookies, in particular through your browser, your browsing on our websites will be affected and they may not function normally.

Please also note that after applying these settings, you will continue to receive advertising, although it may not be tailored to your likely interests using information collected from cookies and similar technologies on your device.

Alternatively you can control your cookie settings using your browser, as described below.

First Party Cookies. If you'd rather we didn't use cookies when you visit us, look for information on how to configure your browser settings to reject cookies. Please note, disabling these types of cookies won’t turn off advertising on our websites and the advertising you see may be less relevant to you.

Third Party Cookies. If you would like to opt-out of third-party cookies, here are some options:

  • If you would like to opt-out of receiving personalised ads from third party advertisers and ad networks who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), or who follow the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising, you can by visiting the opt-out pages on the NAI website and DAA website.

  • Google provides a suite of tools to control its cookies:

    • Google Analytics, which is a tool used to track and report website traffic, provides an out-out browser add-on that can be downloaded here.

    • Google Safety Centre has a tool where you can control the ads you see on Google and control the data used for serving ads to you. It can be found here.

  • If you wish to block other cookies, including those being served by companies that are not part of the NAI or the DAA you can use the browser-level cookie controls described below.

Browser-level cookie controls

Most browsers allow you to manage cookie settings. These settings can usually be found in the ‘Settings’, ‘Options’ or ‘Preferences’ menu of your browser. The links below are provided to help you find the settings for some common browsers.