What are cookies?

Tracking technologies, such as cookies, tags, and similar scripts, store and/or share information about website visitors, their systems, and browsers. Information collected by cookies and other tracking technologies varies depending on each website’s components. It can be of a personal nature (information that directly or indirectly identifies you) and non-personal (information that does not directly or indirectly identify any single individual, such as cookies used to enable language settings on a website). Information of a personal nature may include details about the device you are using, the browser you are using, your IP address, the previous website you visited, whether you clicked on one of our ads, and your browsing behaviour.

Some of the cookies and tracking technologies that we use are strictly necessary and are there to technically enable the website and its components and security measures. Strictly necessary cookies are activated without user consent because they are considered necessary for the website to function effectively and securely. All cookies and other tracking technologies that are not classified as strictly necessary are subject to consent from website visitors.

This notice is for visitors to our website (www.fda,org,uk). It outlines information about the cookies (including similar tracking technologies) we use, the categories of information we collect, and the purposes for which the cookies and other tracking technologies collect information.

For further information on how the FDA handles Personal Information, please see our Privacy Policy.

Types of cookies

1. Session Cookies (Essential to the full operation of the website) –
This cookie is used to provide essential facilities on our site. This cookie is deleted when you close your web browser. 

Find out more about Session ID’s.

2. Google Analytics Cookies 
These cookies are used to collect anonymous information about how visitors use our site, including information about the number of visitors to the site, where they’ve come from and the pages they’ve visited. We use this information to make improvements to the site and to help to make your experience of our website more enjoyable. Further information on this is available by clicking on the link below. 

Read Google Analytics privacy policy. 

3. Third Party Cookies
These are set by someone other than the FDA. Some of the content on our web page may also contain content from other sites like YouTube, which may set their own cookies. 

Also, if you share a link to an FDA page, the service you share it on (e.g. Facebook) may set a cookie on your browser. We have no control over third party cookies. As a user, you can delete cookies, we have provided guidance on how to do this below.

Below is a table of cookies that are used on the site:

Cookie	Domain	Description	Duration	Type
bcookie	.linkedin.com	LinkedIn sets this cookie to track the use of embedded services.	1 year	Advertisement
_ga_*	.fda.org.uk	Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.	1 year 1 month 4 days	Analytics
_ga	.fda.org.uk	The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site’s analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.	1 year 1 month 4 days	Analytics
_gid	.fda.org.uk	Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website’s performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.	1 day	Analytics
_gat_UA-*	.fda.org.uk	Google Analytics sets this cookie for user behaviour tracking.	1 minute	Analytics
_hjSessionUser_*	.fda.org.uk	Hotjar sets this cookie to ensure data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID, which persists in the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site.	1 year	Analytics
_hjSession_*	.fda.org.uk	Hotjar sets this cookie to ensure data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID, which persists in the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site.	1 hour	Analytics
_fbp	.fda.org.uk	Facebook sets this cookie to store and track interactions.	3 months	Analytics
lastExternalReferrerTime	fda.org.uk	This cookie captures when a user last visited a website from an external referrer, and is primarily used for tracking and analytics purposes.	Session based	Analytics
pa_enabled	fda.org.uk	This cookiecontrolsl whether performance or personalization-related features are enabled for the user. It typically stores a simple value indicating whether a feature is turned on or off.	Session based	Analytics
hjActiveViewportIds	fda.org.uk	Hotjar sets this cookie to track which portions (or viewports) of a webpage a user is actively viewing during their session. It supports session recordings, heatmaps, and other behavior analysis tools by monitoring which sections of the page are visible and engaged with by the user.	Session based	Analytics
pa	fda.org.uk	This cookie supports analytics, performance tracking, or personalization features. It gathers data related to user behavior or website performance to help optimize the user experience, improve site functionality, or analyze engagement.	Session based	Analytics
hjViewportId	fda.org.uk	Hotjar uses this cookie to track and record the dimensions of the user’s viewport (the visible portion of the webpage). It helps Hotjar accurately replay session recordings, generate heatmaps, and analyze how users interact with different parts of the page based on their device’s screen size.	Session based	Analytics
li_gc	.linkedin.com	LinkedIn set this cookie to store visitors’ consent regarding using cookies for non-essential purposes.	6 months	Functional
lidc	.linkedin.com	LinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.	1 day	Functional
_lfa_expiry	fda.org.uk	This Cookie is part of Leadfeeder’s tracking system and is used to manage the expiration of session or visitor tracking data. It ensures that the collected data expires after a set period, controlling how long the system retains information about site visitors.	Month	Functional
_lfa	.fda.org.uk	This cookie is set by the provider Leadfeeder to identify the IP address of devices visiting the website, in order to retarget multiple users routing from the same IP address.	1 year	Necessary
lastExternalReferrer	fda.org.uk	This cookie captures when a user last visited a website from an external referrer, and is primarily used for tracking and analytics purposes.	Session based	Necessary