Cookies

Cookies and how they are used – Toby & Roo

What are cookies and how do they work?

A cookie is a text file containing information that can be remembered by a web browser between pages. When an individual uses a web browser to access the internet their browser can create cookies which are stored on the user’s computer. Cookies are not programs and therefore cannot contain viruses or other malicious software. They are purely a string of text and numbers.

There are two main types of cookies – session cookies and persistent cookies.

Session cookies only last during a single visit. When a user closes their web browser the session cookie information is automatically removed from their computer. The Toby & Roo website uses session cookies for two purposes:

  1. Two session cookies are set that temporarily store a unique identifier for each visitor to the website. This identifier is a random series of letters and numbers and doesn’t contain any personal or identifiable information. It is used to help count the number of visitors to the Toby & Roo website.
  2. Two cookies are set by the computer systems that run the Toby & Roo website. These cookies are used as part of the process of sending web pages to the user’s web browser and are essential – no website using Microsoft technology will work without these cookies.
  3. Persistent cookies are stored by the user’s web browser even when the web browser has been closed, so that the next time a user goes back to the website that originally set the cookie, the web site can read information back from the cookie. Persistent cookies have an expiry date which controls when they are automatically deleted. This can be anything from a few minutes to several years.

Toby & Roo use persistent cookies for the following purposes:

  1. Google Analytics is a system used by many website to record information about who visits a website. Google set five different cookies with expiry dates ranging from 1 day to 2 years. These cookies are used mainly to differentiate between first time visitors to a website and repeat visitors. They do not contain any personally identifiable information. You can find out more about how Google use cookies at http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html (English only)
  2. Toby & Roo use their own cookies to remember which items a customer has put into their basket. By using a persistent cookie for this, a customer can close their web browser and come back to the Toby & Roo website subsequently and still be able to access items that had been put into their shopping basket on a previous visit. This cookie is essential for the functioning of the Toby & Roo website as without it customers would be unable to place items into the shopping basket. The cookie lasts for 1 year but is cleared once an order has been placed.
  3. Toby & Roo also use a cookie to remember a user’s website preferences such as preferred language, currency and delivery country. The first time a customer visits the Toby & Roo website they are asked to confirm this information which is then stored in a cookie set to last for 1 year. Without this cookie the customer would have to re-enter their preferences every time they visit the website.
  4. A number of persistent cookies are also set by the computers that run the Toby & Roo website. These cookies are solely used to record technical information necessary for our web servers to work properly. No personally identifiable information in stored in these cookies.
  5. All cookies used by Toby & Roo are ‘first party’ cookies. This means that any cookie set on the Toby & Roo website can only be read back from the Toby & Roo website. No other website is able to read or access information from any cookie set by the Toby & Roo website. We do not use ‘third party’ cookies which would permit this sort of behaviour by other websites.

 Controlling or deleting cookies

Depending on which web browser you use it is possible to control how cookies are used, or to delete existing cookies from your computer. You can find instructions on how to control the use of cookies, or delete cookies from your computer at http://www.aboutcookies.org (English only)

Please remember that if you delete or restrict cookies from the Toby & Roo website you may not be able to experience the full benefit of some of the features and services the website has to offer.

GDPR COMPLIANCE

This site is registered as “Journalist” with ICO and has an annual renewal licence in place.

Nature of work – Journalist

Description of processing

The following is a broad description of the way this organisation/data controller processes personal information. To understand how your own personal information is processed you may need to refer to any personal communications you have received, check any privacy notices the organisation has provided or contact the organisation to ask about your personal circumstances.

Reasons/purposes for processing information

We process personal information to enable us to investigate, research, report and distribute news as a journalist.

Type/classes of information processed

We process information relevant to the above reasons/purposes. This may include:

  • personal details
  • family details
  • lifestyle and social circumstances
  • education and employment details
  • financial details
  • text of articles and reports
  • photographic images
  • bibliographic details

We also process sensitive classes of information that may include:

  • racial or ethnic origin
  • political opinions
  • religious or other beliefs of a similar nature
  • trade union membership
  • physical or mental health details
  • sexual life
  • offences and alleged offences
  • criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences

Who the information is processed about

We process personal information about:

  • the subjects in our articles or reports
  • authors
  • journalists
  • professional advisers and consultants
  • complainants
  • enquirers

Who the information may be shared with

We sometimes need to share the personal information we process with the individual themself and also with other organisations. Where this is necessary we are required to comply with all aspects of the Data Protection Act (DPA). What follows is a description of the types of organisations we may need to share some of the personal information we process with for one or more reasons.

Where necessary or required we share information with:

  • clients
  • business associates
  • suppliers and service providers
  • complainants and enquirers
  • press and the media
  • publishers
  • providers of publicly available information
Additional reasons
Undertaking research
Personal information is also processed in order to undertake research. For this reason the information processed may include name, contact details, family details, lifestyle and social circumstances, financial details, good and services. The sensitive types of information may include physical or mental health details, racial or ethnic origin and religious or other beliefs. This information is about survey respondents. Where necessary or required this information may be shared with customers and clients, agents, service providers, survey and research organisations.