Dementia Support Line
How we use cookies
This page contains information about the cookies used by this website and other Alzheimer’s Society online platforms.
- How we use personal information
- You are here: How we use cookies
- Website links policy
- How we use information about supporters
- How we use information about volunteers
- How we use information about employees
- How we use information about service users
- How we use information about governance participants
When you use our website, we add cookies to your device via your browser to give you the best experience of our website. By using our website we assume that you consent to our use of cookies.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text marker file sent by websites to your device browser to remember who you are and to track your use and preferences.
Cookies are not viruses or spyware so will not damage your computer.
Learn more about cookies on aboutcookies.org.uk
How we use cookies
Category of cookies | Function | How we use |
|---|---|---|
Necessary cookies | To enable essential functioning of our website to enable features to operate | They cannot be switched off in the Society’s systems and are usually only set in response to actions made by you making a request, for example logging in, filling in web forms or setting your privacy preferences. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. |
Performance cookies | To help us better understand how you engage with the website | These cookies allow us to count visits to our website and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to understand which of our website pages are the most and least popular, and to see how visitors move around our site. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. |
Functionality cookies | To track and remember choices | These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. Functional cookies may be set by the Society or by third party providers whose services we have added to our website pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. |
Targeting or advertising cookies | To help target cost effective advertising | These cookies may remember that you have visited our website and this information could then be shared with other organisations (e.g. advertisers or our email marketing platform) so that you may then see our adverts relating to our work on other websites that you visit or receive tailored emails from us about our work. This information may be used by those the advertising companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other websites. These cookies do not store directly personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device and they may collect personal data in the form of an IP address. As with IP addresses generally, it may be possible for other organisations to identify you from that information by adding it to other information available to them about you. If you do not allow these cookies you will experience less targeted advertising. You may still see our adverts elsewhere online or receive other emails from us that you’ve subscribed to but these will not be connected to your previous activity on our website. |
What information do we collect using cookies?
Ways we may use cookies to record information include:
- which pages of our website you visit and engage with and the amount of time you spend on our site, and whether you have visited our website before or are a new visitor
- the type of device and browser you use, and the geographic location associated with your IP address or device such as country, region etc.
- how you came to our website
- any error messages that you receive on the site
- measuring the success of emails we send or our tv adverts, so that we can understand what stories and content people like the most.
Remove or disable cookies
We are working on ways to give you more choice about which cookies are set when you browse our sites. In the meantime, to block cookies, you should change the settings in your web browser. You can also delete cookies that have already been sent.
Click on ‘help’ in your web browser and search for ‘cookies’ or click on the appropriate link below for the web browser that you are using:
- Firefox - Enable and disable cookies that websites use to track your preferences
- Safari - Managing Cookies
- Google Chrome - Manage cookies
- Internet Explorer - How to manage cookies in Internet Explorer 9, How to delete cookie files in Internet Explorer
You can find out more about cookies and how to delete them on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.
Cookies we use
This section lists the cookies used by Alzheimer’s Society.
Google Analytics
These cookies are provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics enables us to evaluate and monitor the use of our website allowing us to understand our visitor's behaviour and allow us to make improvements.
In addition, they may be used to deliver more relevant adverts to you when using Google products and services based on your visit to the Alzheimer's Society website.
Cookie details
Cookie name | What it's used for | How long it's kept on your device |
|---|---|---|
__utma | To determine unique visitors to our site 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. | Session |
__utmb | This cookie is used to establish and continue a user session with our site | 30 minutes |
__utmc | Operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user | Session |
__utmz | This cookie stores the type of referral used to reach the 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. | Session
|
__utmx | This cookie stores the variation this visitor is assigned to for each experiment, so the visitor has a consistent experience on your site. See the Google Optimize Help Centre for more information. | Session |
_dc_gtm_UA-2332956-1 | This cookie is used to throttle request rates to the server and keep the site running speedily. | One minute |
_ga | This is used to distinguish users. | Two years |
mf_[website-id] | 1st party cookie, session lifetime: A cookie for identifying the current session on a website. | Session |
mf_user | 1st party cookie, persistent: A cookie for checking if the user is new or returning. | 90 days |
Google AdWords
We also make use of AdWords remarketing functionality. This allows us to target people who have previously visited our site with display advertising. In order to do this, we make use of AdWords remarketing tags that set information within a doubleclick.net cookie. Google serve their ads based on a visitor's interests and you can find out more information by visiting Google Ad Preferences.
We also use Google's doubleclick.net cookie for conversion tracking purposes, to track the performance of our AdWords campaigns. If you visit certain pages on our website within 30 days of clicking on one of our ads, Google (and Alzheimer's Society) will be able to tell that your visit was a result of a click on one of these ads.
Third party cookies
If you use tools or services on our website that are delivered by other organisations, they may put cookies on your device.
The tools and services on our website from other organisations are:
- Google forms, maps and YouTube videos - see YouTube's embedding videos information page and Google’s Privacy Policy for more information
- Meta Pixel. These cookies are provided by Meta. Meta Pixel enable us to evaluate and monitor the use of our website allowing us to understand our visitor's behaviour and allow us to make improvements. In addition, they may be used to deliver more relevant adverts to you when using Meta products and services based on your visit to the Alzheimer's Society website. Meta Pixel cookies are included when you consent to Targeting cookies. More information about Meta cookies.
- Embedded Twitter feeds
- Videos through Vimeo
- Heatmaps, feedback polls, form tracking and surveys through Hotjar and Mouseflow
- Surveys through Ethnio
- Our website is run through Drupal
- Registering supporters for events through Enthuse
- Registering for fundraising events through Cvent
- Online donations through goDonate, which is provided by WPNC. The donation form uses Google reCAPTCHA, which is a tool that helps protect sites from spam and abuse. Read Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for more information.
- Our online shop uses an e-commerce platform supplied by Shopify
- Our online community Dementia Support Forum is through Xenforo
- We measure response to TV advertising through Adalyser
- Research grant applications are processed through CC Grant Tracker
- Discounts and offers to our events through Tradedoubler
- Email communications through DotDigital. This includes tracking of email performance so we can understand our visitors’ behaviour and improve our email communications. In addition, they may be used to send you more relevant emails, either an additional email or by sending you relevant content within another email, based on the pages you visited on the Alzheimer’s Society website.
- Audio advertising through Allowlist - Octave (octaveip.com) using Privacy Policy - AdsWizz, and Veritonic (privacy policy)
- Targeted overlays (pop-ups) through Intent.ly
