What are cookies?
Cookies are small files that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Your browser sends these files (or cookies) back to the website every time you visit the site again, so it can recognise you and tailor what you see on the screen.
Cookies don’t store or collect information about you (like your name), but they collect information related to:
- The devices you use to access the internet
- Your browser
- Your browsing history.
Cookies are integral to how a modern website functions and are widely used to make websites work better for visitors.
How does Pharmacist Support use cookies?
Pharmacist Support works hard to comply with the law in relation to cookies and similar technologies. We want everyone who visits our website for support or to give support (via donations, fundraising, volunteering, etc.) to feel reassured with how we look after your personal information. If you have used or are looking to use our free and confidential Support Services, you may also wish to look at our Privacy Policy for service users.
At Pharmacist Support, we use cookies on the our website to:
- Help visitors navigate around the website
- Work out whether the website is working well
- Gather statistics on how our website is being used, which can help us to improve it
- Personalise the service we offer by working out which areas of the website are most relevant to you.
The types of cookies we use
Some of the cookies that we use are Session Cookies which are deleted when you close your browser. Others stay on your browser or device until they expire or until you delete them from your browser history. These are known as Persistent Cookies. You may have noticed that you can select your cookies preferences on our banner, and these are categorised into the following:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We need these cookies for the website to work properly which means we can’t switch them off. They’re only set when you take certain actions – like setting your privacy preferences or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block these cookies, but this will mean our website won’t work as well.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website 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.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count the number of people visiting our website, and see where they’re coming from. This helps us to measure and improve the performance of our website and our digital ads. Performance cookies help us to gather information such as which pages are the most and least popular, see how visitors navigate around the site and measure the impact of our digital adverts.
If you don’t allow these cookies, we won’t know when you’ve visited or how you’ve reached our website. This means we won’t be able to monitor how well our digital ads or website are doing.
Targeting Cookies
Targeting Cookies are used by our advertising partners (e.g. Facebook) to collect information about how you use our website (including visits to our information pages) and show you associated adverts on other sites. The information that’s been used to build that profile may also be used to find other people with similar interests to yours so that our adverts can be shown to them too. No directly identifiable personal information is shared with our advertising partners e.g. details such as your email address), but information that uniquely identifies your browser and internet device will be shared. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Third party cookies
Third party cookies are owned and set by a third party partner or supplier on our behalf, and can be used by that third party to recognise your computer when you visit other websites. Third party cookies are most commonly used for website analytics or advertising purposes.
We use Facebook cookies so we can deliver adverts to website visitors who have a Facebook account as well as find Facebook customers with similar interests to the people who visit our website. We also use Facebook cookies to measure the effectiveness of our Facebook ad campaigns which, in turn, helps ensure that we’re using our resources effectively. You can read Facebook’s privacy policy here.
We use Google’s Marketing Platform cookies so that we can measure the impact of our digital advertising campaigns. This helps us to ensure that the money we spend on digital advertising is cost-effective. They also help us to serve adverts to people who have visited our websites and control the number of times that a website visitor sees an advert.
We use Google analytics cookies to help us measure how visitors use our websites. This helps us to improve peoples’ experience of using our sites and measure the effectiveness of our digital advertising campaigns. Our ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visit to our sites is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.
How Google uses information from sites or apps that use their services
Hotjar
Hotjar is an analytics tool which helps us to monitor how visitors are using our website which helps us to improve user experience and take steps to ensure that can easily find what they are looking for. You can read Hotjar’s privacy policy here.
Cookies currently used on our website
How can I control cookies?
You can accept all the cookies that we use by clicking on the ‘Accept Cookies’ button displayed on our cookie banner. If you’d rather decide what cookies are set, you can choose your preferences by clicking on ‘Cookie Settings’. If you haven’t given us permission to set cookies through the cookies banner, we can’t track your visit and how you got here. If you visit our website using a different device or browser in the future, you’ll need to set your cookie preferences again.
You can amend your settings or withdraw your consent for cookies at any time by clicking on the ‘Cookies settings’ button below. Please be aware that disabling cookies will usually result in also disabling certain functionality and features of the this site. Therefore it is recommended that you do not disable cookies.
If you require further information about our website functionality, please email marketing@pharmacistsupport.org.
Why are they called cookies?
According to some sources, the term 'cookie' derives from 'magic cookie', which itself is another term for a fortune cookie; a small biscuit containing information or a message!