What cookies are
Cookies are small text files that the Scottish Parliament website puts on your computer. They help this website work.
Cookies collect information about how you use this site so we can make sure it meets your needs. They do not collect information that could be used to identify you personally.
How cookies work
Cookies store information on the device you’re using. Sometimes this information is essential if you want to use a website's functions. For example, if you need to log in, a cookie will allow the website to recognise your log-in details.
Cookies can also be used to build a profile of your activity on a website. This includes which pages you visit and how long you spend on each page.
A website may use this information to tailor the pages you see on future visits.
We've listed below how the Scottish Parliament uses cookies.
Managing or deleting cookies
All recent versions of popular browsers, like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, allow you to control cookies. You can set your browser to:
- accept all cookies
- reject all cookies
- accept or reject only certain cookies
For example, you might be happy to accept a cookie that allows you to log in to a website, but want to reject ones which are used to build a profile of how you use the internet.
You should also be able to set your browser to prompt you each time a cookie is offered.
Visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website to find out how to control or delete cookies.
How we use cookies
We use cookies for two reasons:
- to improve your experience on the website. This might include making it quicker and easier for you to find what you need, or remembering your settings.
- to collect information about how you use our website through Google Analytics (GA). GA is a tool that produces detailed statistics about website activity. It allows us to see where the website can better meet our users' needs.
The cookies we use
| Name | What it does | When it expires |
|---|---|---|
| ASP.Net_SessionId | It helps with the process of 'caching' (putting data in a temporary storage area) certain things to make the website work better for you. For example, if you change the page to high contrast, it’ll keep that setting until you close your browser. | It stores your session temporarily until you close your browser down. |
| ApplicationGatewayAffinity | It registers which server is being used. It is not required for the website to function, but will improve performance. For example, by allowing pages to load more quickly. | It stores your session temporarily until you close your browser down. |
| ApplicationGatewayAffinityCORS | It optimises the response rate between the user and the website. It is not required for the site to function, but will improve performance. For example, by allowing pages to load more quickly. | It stores your session temporarily until you close your browser down. |
| website#lang | It saves your preferred language to use on the website. If turned off the website will default to its own language (either English or Gaelic depending which site you are visiting). | It stores your session temporarily until you close your browser down. |
| _ga (Google Analytics) | It registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how you use the website. |
2 years |
| _gid (Google Analytics) | It registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how you use the website. | 1 day |
| Google Analytics user-consent cookie | It registers a user's preference when choosing to accept or reject cookies. | Two weeks |
| Sitecore user-consent cookie |
Sitecore is the system we use to manage information on parliament.scot. This cookie remembers your preference when choosing to accept or reject cookies. |
One month |
Hotjar cookies
We use Hotjar to gather feedback via online surveys. We also use its 'heat-map' function to see how people are behaving on our website. We use that information to try to improve the website.
These are the most common cookies set by HotJar, when a survey is running. Some tracking code remains on the website even when there are no active surveys.
| Name | What it does | When it expires |
|---|---|---|
| _hjSessionUser_{site_id} | It is set when a user first lands on a page. Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site. Hotjar does not track users across different sites. Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID. | 1 year |
| _hjFirstSeen | It identifies a new user’s first session. Used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions. | 30 minutes duration, extended on user activity. |
| _hjHasCachedUserAttributes | It enables Hotjar to know whether the data set in _hjUserAttributes Local Storage item is up to date or not. | Session |
| _hjUserAttributesHash | It enables Hotjar to know when any User Attribute has changed and needs to be updated. | 2 minutes duration, extended every 30 seconds. |
| _hjIncludedInSessionSample_{site_id} | It is set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by the Scottish Parliament's site's daily session limit. | 2 minutes duration, extended every 30 seconds. |