In this section you will find information on what cookies may be set when you visit a Mobile Food Guide website and how to reject or delete those cookies.
1. What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes a unique identifier that is sent to your computer or mobile phone (referred to here as a "device") browser from a website's computer and is stored on your device's hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other websites. Many websites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows.
First party cookies: these are our own cookies, controlled by us and used to provide information about usage of our site.
Third party cookies: these are cookies found in other companies’ internet tools which we are using to enhance our site, for example Facebook or Twitter have their own cookies, which are controlled by them.
2. How to control and delete cookies
The MFG will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by MFG websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how.
Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of the MFG website.
The MFG use a number of suppliers who also set cookies on our websites on our behalf in order to deliver the services that they are providing. If you would like more information about the cookies used by these suppliers, as well as information on how to opt-out, please see below.
3. First party cookies
This is a list of the main cookies set by the MFG website, and what each is used for.
We currently don't set any cookies directly.
4. Third Party Cookies
The MFG uses a number of suppliers who also set cookies on our website on our behalf in order to deliver the services that they are providing. If you would like more information about the cookies used by these suppliers, as well as information on how to opt-out, please see their individual privacy policies.
| Name | Purpose | Duration | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| _utma | This cookie is typically written to the browser upon the first visit to our site from that web browser. If the cookie has been deleted by the browser operator, and the browser subsequently visits our site, a new __utma cookie is written with a different unique ID. This cookie is used to determine unique visitors to our site and it is updated with each page view. Additionally, this cookie is provided with a unique ID that Google Analytics uses to ensure both the validity and accessibility of the cookie as an extra security measure. | 2 years | Google Analytics |
| _utmb | This cookie is used to establish and continue a user session with our site. When a user views a page on our site, the Google Analytics code attempts to update this cookie. If it does not find the cookie, a new one is written and a new session is established. Each time a user visits a different page on our site, this cookie is updated to expire in 30 minutes, thus continuing a single session for as long as user activity continues within 30-minute intervals. This cookie expires when a user pauses on a page on our site for longer than 30 minutes. | 30 minutes | Google Analytics |
| _utmc | This cookie operates in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user. In particular, this cookie is not provided with an expiration date, so it expires when the user exits the browser. Should a user visit our site, exit the browser and then return to your website within 30 minutes, the absence of the __utmc cookie indicates that a new session needs to be established, despite the fact that the __utmb cookie has not yet expired. | On exit | Google Analytics |
| _utmz | This cookie stores the type of referral used by the visitor to reach our site, whether via a direct method, a referring link, a website search, or a campaign such as an ad or an email link. It is used to calculate search engine traffic, ad campaigns and page navigation within our own site. The cookie is updated with each page view to our site. | 6 months | Google Analytics |
| datr | Facebook set the datr cookie when a web browser accesses facebook.com (except social plugin iframes), and the cookie helps us identify suspicious login activity and keep users safe. For instance, we use it to flag questionable activity like failed login attempts and attempts to create multiple spam accounts | 2 years | |
| locale | Facebook : the region or Locale (example UK region and English Language) | 2 years | |
| lu | Facebook : the lu cookie helps protect people using public computers. The data it contains is used to make subtle changes to the login form, such as prefilling your email address and unchecking the Keep me logged in option if we detect multiple users signing in with the same browser. If you log out, this cookie does not contain your user id and Facebook will not prefill the email field. | 2 years | |
| sct | Facebook : unknown | short | |
| x-src | Facebook : Ajax cover photo for timeline select | short | |
| NID | Google Number ID | 6 months | |
| PREF | Google Preferences | 18 months | |
| guest_id | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| k | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| __utma | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| __utmb | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| __utmc | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| __utmv | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| __utmz | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| twll | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| _twitter_sess | Used for Twitter share button | ||
| __ar_v4 | Allow Google to track which of our adverts performs the best | Google Ads/Doubleclick | |
| bkng | Booking.com cookie for providing nearby hotel searches. | Booking.com |
5. Sharing Tools
We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the MFG website now carries embedded ‘share’ buttons to enable users of the site to easily share articles with their friends through a number of popular social networks. These sites may set a cookie when you are also logged in to their service. The MFG does not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.