Cookies policy

1. Introduction

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:

  • enabling a service to recognise your device so you don’t have to give the same information several times during one task
  • recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don’t need to do it for every web page requested
  • measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there’s enough capacity to ensure they are fast
  • analysing anonymised data to help us understand how people interact with government services so we can make them better

You can manage these small files and learn more about them from GOVUK: Cookies.

There’s also a cookies awareness video (below) and further information on how to remove cookies at About Cookies: how to control cookies.

2. ‘First-party’ cookies

These are cookies set by the DfT website (the DfT ‘estate’ of websites consists of corporate, agency, campaign, micro-sites and extranets):

viewed_cookie_policy

  • Purpose: When you first arrive at this site you see a banner at the top of the page alerting you to our use of cookies – this cookie remembers when you have clicked the link saying ‘Accept’
  • Benefit: To remember the selections or preferences you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Data stored by cookie: An instruction to hide the banner (Yes or No)
  • Duration of cookie: Expires after 12 months
  • Relevant sites:
    • www.dft.gov.uk

ASP.NET_SessionId, DFTShopRVILCookie, JSESSIONID, NCRSess, PHPSessID, SERVERID, SESS, VisitorID, xgovTest

  • Purpose: These cookies are ‘session identifiers’, which allows the site to recognise your movement around the site as being from one computer
  • Benefit: To remember the selections or preferences you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Data stored by cookie: Information about the session; the cookie itself contains no personal information
  • Duration of cookie: Expires when you close your browser (except DFTShopRVILCookie, NCRSess: One hour; SESS: One month)
  • Relevant sites:

    • ASP.NET_SessionId
      brakelining-manufacturers-area.dft.gov.uk
      carfueldata.dft.gov.uk
      carfueldata-manufacturer.dft.gov.uk
      hasupplychain.dft.gov.uk
      legstat.dft.gov.uk
      roadcasualtiesonline.dft.gov.uk
      shop.dft.gov.uk
      usedcarlabel.dft.gov.uk
      vanfueldata.dft.gov.uk
      vca-pos.dft.gov.uk
      www.dft.gov.uk/rmd
      www.dft.gov.uk/vca
      think.direct.gov.uk/education/early-years-and-primary/
      think.direct.gov.uk/education/secondary/
    • DFTShopRVILCookie
      shop.dft.gov.uk
    • JSESSIONID
      esdal.dft.gov.uk
      halogenonline.dft.gov.uk
      halogenuseradmin.dft.gov.uk
    • NCRSess
      chargepoints.dft.gov.uk
    • PHPSessID
      plugincargrant.dft.gov.uk
      talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk
    • SESS
      sharp.direct.gov.uk
    • VisitorID
      shop.dft.gov.uk
    • xgovTest
      carfueldata.dft.gov.uk
      vanfueldata.dft.gov.uk

has_js

  • Purpose: This cookie records whether your browser has JavaScript enabled – this facilitates an enhanced user experience as JavaScript-enhanced features can be made available to users
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: Randomly generated number
  • Expires: When user exits browser
  • Relevant sites:
    • sharp.direct.gov.uk

plloginoccured, ptLastLoginAuthSource

  • Purpose: These cookies are used to send the same user’s request to the same server where possible for the duration of their session
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: Randomly generated number
  • Expires: When user exits browser
  • Relevant sites:
    • hasupplychain.dft.gov.uk
    • partnernetdev.dft.gov.uk

style, styleside

  • Purpose: These cookies are used to remember your preference for increasing/decreasing the font size as you navigate around the site
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: Null
  • Expires: When user exits browser
  • Relevant sites:
    • carfueldata.dft.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk/drivingchallenge
    • www.dft.gov.uk/vca/

ZDEDebuggerPresent

  • Purpose: This cookie is set by Zend Debugger software – which is the PHP extension which is installed on the web server to enable the debugging of scripts
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: php,phtml,php3
  • Expires: When user exits browser
  • Relevant sites:
    • plugincargrant.dft.gov.uk

3. Third-party cookies

We use a number of suppliers who may also set cookies on their websites’ on its behalf.

Cookies for measuring website usage

We use Google Analytics to collect information about how people use this site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting its users’ needs and to understand how we could do it better.

Google Analytics stores information about what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on. We do not collect or store your personal information (e.g. your name or address) so this information cannot be used to identify who you are. We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Further information is available at Cookies & Google Analytics.

Google Analytics cookies: _utma, _utmb, _utmc, _utmz

  • Purpose: To record how many people are using the DfT website and how they move around the site once they’ve arrived:
    • _utma tracks how many times (if any) you have visited the DfT website before
    • _utmb and _utmc are connected, and track how long you stay on the site
    • _utmz tracks identifies where you’ve come from e.g. from a search engine or from another website
  • Benefit: So service is available when you want it and fast, we measure numbers and volumes of visitors
  • Data stored by cookies: No personal information about you, just information about your computer and your browser
  • Duration of cookies:
    • _utma: Expires 2 years after your last visit to this site
    • _utmb: Expires 30 minutes after your visit, or after 30 minutes of inactivity
    • _utmc: Expires when you close your browser
    • _utmz: Expires 6 months after it was last set
  • Relevant sites:
    • dft.gov.uk
    • maps.dft.gov.uk
    • sharp.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk/drivingchallenge

Speed Trap cookies

Speed Trap collects information about how people use our campaign sites. By understanding how people use the website, we can improve the information provided. This also ensures that the service is available when you want it and fast. We use a number of different methods of gathering this data, including services provided by the following companies.

usy46gabsosd

  • Purpose: This cookie collects information on which pages are viewed during this visit
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: Randomly generated number
  • Expires: When user exits browser
  • Relevant sites:
    • talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk/drivingchallenge

directgovCSAuvt

  • Purpose: This cookie records information about the first and last times you visited the website and the total number of visits you have made
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: Randomly generated number
  • Expires: One year
  • Relevant sites:
    • talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk/drivingchallenge

directgovCSADBID

  • Purpose: This cookie enables the website to record unique visitors
  • Benefit: To remember your selections or preferences that you’ve already made when looking at information or using a service
  • Typical content: Randomly generated number
  • Expires: One year
  • Relevant sites:
    • talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk
    • think.direct.gov.uk/drivingchallenge

Cookies set by other websites through this site

We want to provide interesting and engaging content on our website. On a number of pages we use ‘plug ins’ or embedded media, eg we embed YouTube videos in many pages.

The suppliers of these services may also set cookies on your device when you visit the pages where we have used this type of content. These are known as ‘third-party’ cookies.

SurveyMonkey: ep201, ep202, TSc1209a, TS54026e, TS39fa47, P_14552132, P_19807288

  • Purpose: We sometimes link to online surveys created using Survey Monkey – these cookies may be set if you follow one of these links to complete a survey; information gathered through their cookies helps them measure use of their site – cookie data allows SurveyMonkey to track usage behavior and compile data that they can use to improve their service
  • Benefit: When we provide links to third party services you find useful, they may place a cookie on your device to make their service easier to use
  • Data stored by the cookie: None contains personal information; all data is used in aggregate form
  • Duration of cookie: All expire when you close your browser, except ep202, which expires after 366 days

YouTube cookie: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE

  • Purpose: To track visitor views of YouTube videos embedded in DfT web pages
  • Benefit: When we provide links to third party services you find useful, they may place a cookie on your device to make their service easier to use. YouTube is owned by Google: Google’s privacy policy
  • Data stored by cookie: Unique identifier, no personal information (data is only used in aggregate)
  • Duration of cookie: Expires after 241 days

4. How to control and delete cookies

We 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 our 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 machine as well as more general information about cookies.

Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of our website.

If you wish to view your cookie code, just click on a cookie to open it. You’ll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.

For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.

To opt-out of third-parties collecting any data regarding your interaction on our website, please refer to their websites for further information.