# Cookies notice

[View original page](https://www.communications.gov.uk/cookies-notice/)

Publisher: Government Communications

The Government Communications website (communications.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 don’t show them to you again

You can find out more about how to manage cookies, including how to delete and block them, on the [Information Commission Officer’s (ICO) website](https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies/).

## How cookies are used on the Government Communications website

### Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use this site. 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 the site

- how long you spend on each page

- how you got to the site

- what you click on while you’re visiting the site

It doesn’t collect or store your personal information (e.g. your name or address) so this information can’t be used to identify who you are. We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data.

Google Analytics sets the following cookies:

Name
Expires

_ga
2 years

_gat
10 minutes

_gid
24 hours

_ga_ZB8GLD6N60
2 years

You may [opt out of Google Analytics cookies](https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout).

### Cookies message

You may see a banner when you visit the Government Communications website inviting you to accept cookies or review your settings. We’ll set cookies so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and not to show it again, and also to store your settings.

**Name**
**Purpose**
**Expires**

seen_cookie_message
Lets us know if you’ve seen our cookie message
1 year

cookie_policy
Saves your cookie consent settings
1 year

### YouTube videos

We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode.

Name
Expires

GPS
30 minutes

PREF
2 years

VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
9 months

YSC
When you close your browser

remote_sid
When you close your browser

Read [YouTube’s Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy).

## Citations

- https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies/
- https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
- https://policies.google.com/privacy