Cookies Policy

Our site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our site and also allows us to improve our site.

All sites which operate across certain parts of the European Union are required to obtain consent using or storing cookies (or similar technologies) on your computers or mobile device. This cookie policy provides you with clear and comprehensive information about the cookies we use and the purposes for using those cookies. To review the privacy policies that apply to users of www.rafmuseum.co.uk, please read our Privacy Policy.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon as you visit our site.

• First and third-party cookies: whether a cookie is ‘first’ or ‘third’ party refers to the domain placing the cookie. First-party cookies are those set by a website that is being visited by the user at the time (e.g. cookies placed by www.rafmuseum.co.uk).
• Third-party cookies: are cookies that are set by a domain other than that of the site being visited by the user. If a user visits a website and another entity sets a cookie through that site this would be a third-party cookie.
• Persistent cookies: these cookies remain on a user’s device for the period of time specified in the cookie. They are activated each time that the user visits the website that created that particular cookie.
• Session cookies: these cookies allow website operators to link the actions of a user during a browser session. A browser session starts when a user opens the browser window and finishes when they close the browser window. Session cookies are created temporarily. Once you close the browser, all session cookies are deleted.

You block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon as you visit our site.

If you wish to withdraw your consent at any time, you will need to delete your cookies using your internet browser settings.

For further information about deleting or blocking cookies, please visit:

http://www.aboutcookies.org/

Internet browsers allow you to change your cookie settings. These settings are usually found in the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ menu of your internet browser. In order to understand these settings, the following links may be helpful. Otherwise you should use the ‘Help’ option in your internet browser for more details.

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer

Cookie settings in Firefox

Cookie settings in Chrome

Cookie settings in Safari

To find out about specific cookies we use on this site, please see below for details.

The cookies used on our site are categorised as follows:

• Strictly necessary
• Performance

‘Strictly necessary’ cookies let you move around the site and use essential features like accessing your profile and posting feedback. Without these cookies, these services cannot be provided. Please note that these cookies do not gather any information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you’ve been on the internet.

We use these strictly necessary cookies to:

• identify you as being logged in to our site; and
• enable you to submit information via online forms such as registration and feedback forms.

Accepting these cookies is a condition of using the site, so if you prevent these cookies we can’t guarantee your use of our site or how the security on our site will perform during your visit.

‘Performance’ cookies collect information about how you use our site e.g. which pages you visit, and if you experience any errors. These cookies do not collect any information that could identify you and is only used to help us improve how our site works, understand what interests our users and measure how effective our content is.

We use Web Analytics performance cookies to provide anonymous statistics on how our site is used.

Some of our performance cookies are managed for us by third parties. However, we don’t allow the third party to use the cookies for any purpose other than those listed above.

By using our site, you accept the use of ‘Performance’ cookies. Accepting these cookies is a condition of using the site, so if you prevent them we cannot guarantee how our site will perform for you.

• Information about cookies: useful information about cookies can be found at: http://www.allaboutcookies.org
• International Chamber of Commerce United Kingdom: information on the ICC (UK) UK cookie guide can be found on the ICC Web site: http://www.iccwbo.org/privacy/

First party cookies

Name	Description	Expiration

Third party cookies

Google Analytics sets the following cookies as described in the table below. A default configuration and use of Google Analytics sets only the first 4 cookies in the table.

Name	Description	Expiration
__utma	This cookie is typically written to the browser upon the first visit to your site from that web browser. If the cookie has been deleted by the browser operator, and the browser subsequently visits your site, a new __utma cookie is written with a different unique ID. This cookie is used to determine unique visitors to your site and it is updated with each page view. Additionally, this cookie is provided with a unique ID that Google Analytics uses to ensure both the validity and accessibility of the cookie as an extra security measure.	2 years from set/update.
__utmb	This cookie is used to establish and continue a user session with your site. When a user views a page on your site, the Google Analytics code attempts to update this cookie. If it does not find the cookie, a new one is written and a new session is established. Each time a user visits a different page on your site, this cookie is updated to expire in 30 minutes, thus continuing a single session for as long as user activity continues within 30-minute intervals. This cookie expires when a user pauses on a page on your site for longer than 30 minutes. You can modify the default length of a user session with the _setSessionCookieTimeout() method.	30 minutes from set/update.
__utmc	This cookie is no longer used by the ga.js tracking code to determine session status. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user. For backwards compatibility purposes with sites still using the urchin.js tracking code, this cookie will continue to be written and will expire when the user exits the browser. However, if you are debugging your site tracking and you use the ga.js tracking code, you should not interpret the existence of this cookie in relation to a new or expired session.	Not set.
__utmz	This cookie stores the type of referral used by the visitor to reach your site, whether via a direct method, a referring link, a website search, or a campaign such as an ad or an email link. It is used to calculate search engine traffic, ad campaigns and page navigation within your own site. The cookie is updated with each page view to your site.	6 months from set/update.
__utmv	This cookie is not normally present in a default configuration of the tracking code. The __utmv cookie passes the information provided via the _setVar() method, which you use to create a custom user segment. This string is then passed to the Analytics servers in the GIF request URL via the utmcc parameter. This cookie is only written if you have added the _setVar() method for the tracking code on your website page.	2 years from set/update.
__utmx	This cookie is used by Website Optimizer and only set when the Website Optimizer tracking code is installed and correctly configured for your pages. When the optimizer script executes, this cookie stores the variation this visitor is assigned to for each experiment, so the visitor has a consistent experience on your site. See the Website Optimizer Help Center for more information.	2 years from set/update.
guest_id	This cookie is used by Twitter and serves as your unique identification number associated with Twitter.	2 years from set/update.

For more information on Google Analytics see: https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsCookies.

We also use Hotjar in order to better understand our users’ needs and to optimise this service and experience. Hotjar is a technology service that helps us better understand our users’ experience (e.g. how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and don’t like, etc.) and this enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback. Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices. This includes a device's IP address (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), and the preferred language used to display our website. Hotjar stores this information on our behalf in a pseudonymized user profile. Hotjar is contractually forbidden to sell any of the data collected on our behalf.

For further details, please see the ‘about Hotjar’ section of Hotjar’s support site.