Privacy and cookies policy
We collect certain information or data about you when you use www.pointsoflight.gov.uk. This includes:
- questions, queries or feedback you leave, including your email address if you send an email to the Points of Light team
- your IP address, and details of which version of web browser you used
- information on how you use the site, using cookies and page tagging techniques to help us improve the website
- details to allow you to access government services and transactions, e.g. an email address (you’ll always be told when this information is being collected, and it will only be used for the purpose you provide it for)
This helps us to:
- improve the site by monitoring how you use it
- respond to any feedback you send us, if you’ve asked us to
- provide you with information about services if you want it
We can’t personally identify you using your data.
Where your data is stored
We store your data on our secure servers in the UK.
It may also be stored outside of Europe, where it could be viewed by our staff or suppliers.
By submitting your personal data, you agree to this.
Keeping your data secure
Transmitting information over the internet is generally not completely secure, and we can’t guarantee the security of your data.
Any data you transmit is at your own risk.
We have procedures and security features in place to try and keep your data secure once we receive it.
We won’t share your information with any other organisations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes, and we don’t pass on your details to other websites.
Disclosing your information
We may pass on your personal information if we have a legal obligation to do so, or if we have to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements. This includes exchanging information with other government departments for legal reasons.
Your rights
You can find out what information we hold about you, and ask us not to use any of the information we collect.
Links to other websites
www.pointsoflight.gov.uk contains links to and from other websites.
This privacy policy only applies to this website, and doesn’t cover other government services and transactions that we link to.
Following a link to another website
If you go to another website from this one, read the privacy policy on that website to find out what it does with your information.
Following a link to Points of Light from another website
If you come to the Points of Light website from another website, we may receive personal information about you from the other website. You should read the privacy policy of the website you came from to find out more about this.
Cookies
The Points of Light website (pointsoflight.gov.uk) puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site.
Cookies are used to:
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember the notifications you’ve seen so that we don’t show them to you again
You can find out more about how to manage cookies, including how to delete and block them, on the Information Commission Officer’s (ICO) website.
How cookies are used on the Points of Light website
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use this site. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.
Google Analytics stores information about:
- the pages you visit on the site
- how long you spend on each page
- how you got to the site
- what you click on while you’re visiting the site
It doesn’t collect or store your personal information (e.g. your name or address) so this information can’t be used to identify who you are. We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data.
Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years |
| _gat | 10 minutes |
| _gid | 24 hours |
| _ga_HKCLHV7Q9R | 2 years |
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
Our introductory cookie message
When you first visit this website you should see a pop-up message to inform you that the site uses cookies and to request your permission to set analytical cookies. We’ll store a cookie so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and knows not to show it again.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| CookieControl | 3 months |
Website Registration (WordPress)
This website is built using the WordPress content management system. WordPress uses the following cookies to enable registered users to log into the website:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| wordpress_test_cookie | When you close your browser |
| wordpress_logged_in_[ID] | When you close your browser |
| wordpress_sec_[ID] | When you close your browser |
YouTube Videos
We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| GPS | 30 minutes |
| PREF | 2 years |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 9 months |
| YSC | When you close your browser |
| remote_sid | When you close your browser |
Read YouTube’s Privacy Policy.
Flickr Photos and Videos
We embed photos and videos from our Flickr channel using Flickr’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the Flickr video player, but Flickr will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| AO | 30 years |
| B | 1.5 years |
| F | 24 hours |
| PH | 24 hours |
| SSL | 24 hours |
| T | 24 hours |
| Y | 24 hours |
| usc | 24 hours |
Read Flickr’s Privacy Policy.
Twitter posts
We embed Tweet posts and videos from Twitter. Twitter will never associate this web browsing history with users’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, or Twitter handles, and they delete, obfuscate, or aggregate it after no longer than 30 days.
Twitter sets the following cookies:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| _twitter_sess | When you close your browser |
| ct0 | 6 hours |
| external_referer | 1 week |
| guest_id | 2 years |
| personalization_id | 2 years |
| _utma | 24 hours |
| _utmz | 24 hours |
| eu_cn | 1 year |
| gdpr_lo | 3 months |
| syndication_guestid | 2 years |
| tfw_exp | 6 months |
Twitter also own the cdn.syndication.twimg.com domain which places the following language cookie, enabling Twitter to determine the language settings of your browser, to better show you relevant information in the right language.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| lang | When you close your browser |
Read Twitter’s Privacy Policy.
Facebook posts
We embed Facebook videos from Facebook.
Facebook sets the following cookies:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| act | When you close your browser |
| c_user | 6 months |
| datr | 2 years |
| fr | 9 months |
| presence | When you close your browser |
| sb | 2 years |
| wd | 1 week |
| xs | 9 months |
Read Facebook’s Data Policy.
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