Cookies
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 do not show them to you again
GOV.UK cookies are not used to identify you personally.
You’ll normally see a message on the site before we store a cookie on your computer.
Find out more about how to manage cookies.
How cookies are used on GOV.UK
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use GOV.UK. 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 GOV.UK
- how long you spend on each GOV.UK page
- how you got to the site
- what you click on while you’re visiting the site
We do not collect or store your personal information (for example 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.
Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | Used to distinguish users | 2 years |
| _gid | Used to distinguish users | 24 hours |
| _gat | Used to throttle request rate | 1 minute |
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
Our introductory message
You may see a pop-up welcome message when you first visit GOV.UK. We’ll store a cookie so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and knows not to show it again.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| seen_cookie_message | Saves a message to let us know that you have seen our cookie message | 1 month |
Welsh language
We log a cookie to remember the language you selected so you do not need to change it next time you visit.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| UserCulture | Set to remember your language preference | 1 year |
Performance Metrics
We monitor our applications performance to ensure we’re providing a fast, responsive experience.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| f5avr0693797684aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa | Used to monitor the performance of our application | When you close your browser |
| f5_cspm | Used to distinguish users | When you close your browser |