Please find details of our cookie policy
How we use cookies
Like most web sites, The Children’s Society uses cookies.
A cookie is a small file that we put on your computer to help us provide you with a good online experience. It's the standard way of distinguishing you from other users of the site, and learning how we can make improvements.
The following information shows you the cookies used by The Children’s Society website.
1. Cookies that help us understand how our site is used
We use Google Analytics to measure what people do on our site. This is the most common analytics tool on the Internet, and we use it to look at things like which pages are most popular, and which browsers people use. It's a really useful service for us, because we want to keep on learning about what makes good user experience. You can find out more here.
We use Optimizely to measure and enhance the user experience of our site. This tool allows us to test different versions of our site, changing things like imagery, messaging and the position of elements on the page. This service helps us to continuously improve the site
2. Cookies that remember your preferences
There are a number of instances where it's useful to record what you've done previously on the site, so we don't have to ask you the same question again:
Social Media: The popular AddThis widget allows users to quickly share pages through social media, with the buttons at the bottom-left of each page. The cookie records if you've shared info on this site before, so the widget can suggest which account you'd like to post to.
Google Maps: The map on the In Your Area section uses cookies to remember which options you have previously chosen. For instance, if you are looking at the map in ‘satellite view’, or have chosen to see a particular type of pin.
Drupal preferences: We use 'session identification' cookies, which is the standard means to distinguish you from other users used by Drupal – our content management system. For example, if we put a poll on the website and you had already completed it, we wouldn't want to invite you to complete the poll again. The session identification cookie is what would tell us and you that you've already completed it.
These are all standard uses of cookies, and we do not feel that they record any more information than they need to. However, if you wish to restrict or block web browser cookies which are set on your device then you can do this through your browser settings; the Help function within your browser should tell you how. Alternatively, you may wish to visit AboutCookies.org., which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of desktop browsers.
If you've got any general questions about the way we use cookies, don't hesitate to contact our Supporter Care team at supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk.