Cookie Policy

Details about cookies on Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site.

Cookies are small text files containing a string of characters that can be placed on your computer or mobile device that uniquely identify your browser or device. Cookies tell us if your computer or device has visited the site before. They help us understand how the site is being used, help you navigate between pages efficiently, help remember your preferences, and generally improve your browsing experience.

Cookies help us remember what notifications we send you and make our general communications relevant to you and your interests. Changes made to this policy can be identified by the ‘last updated’ date at the bottom of this page. Any changes to how your cookie data is processed will be promptly reflected in this policy and will immediately apply to you and your data. If these changes affect how your data is processed, the Civil Service Commission will take reasonable steps to let you know.

Accepting all cookies via our website banner activates those cookie settings that are listed as optional on the settings page (that is, not ‘strictly necessary’). Your activation of all optional cookies lasts for 3 months and the banner will appear again. This gives you the opportunity to regularly re-visit and adjust your decision. Find out more about how to manage cookies, including how to delete and block them, on the Information Commission Office’s website. To learn more about how we protect and process your information see our Privacy Notice.

 

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies do things like remember your preferences and the choices you make, to personalise your experience of using the Civil Service Commission.

Cookies message

You may see a banner when you visit Civil Service Commission 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.

NamePurposeExpires
seen_cookie_messageLets us know if you've seen our cookie message1 year
cookie_policySaves your cookie consent settings1 year
 

 

Messages across Civil Service Commission

We might display a message on all Civil Service Commission pages to tell you about an important event or situation. We’ll save a cookie that will let us know how many times you’ve seen it, or if you’ve dismissed it.

NamePurposeExpires
global_bar_seenRemembers the number of times you've seen the message, or if you've dismissed it12 weeks
 

 

Contacting Civil Service Commission

NamePurposeExpires
govuk_contact_referrerThis lets us know the last page you visited before using the contact [Service name] form1 day
 

 

Cookies that measure website use

We use Google Analytics software (Universal Analytics) to collect anonymised 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. We do not allow Google to use or share the data about how you use this site.

Google Analytics stores information about:

  • how you got to the site
  • the pages you visit on this site and how long you spend on them
  • what you click on while you’re visiting the site

Google Analytics sets the following cookies.

NamePurposeExpires
_gaThis helps us count how many people visit Civil Service Commission by tracking if you've visited before2 year
_gidThis helps us count how many people visit Civil Service Commission by tracking if you've visited before24 hours
_gatUsed to manage the rate at which page view requests are made10 minutes

You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

 

Cookies that help with our communications

Some Civil Service Commission pages may contain content from other sites, like YouTube or Flickr, which may set their own cookies. These sites are sometimes called ‘third party’ services. This tells us how many people are seeing the content and whether it’s useful.

In addition, if you share a link to a Civil Service Commission page, the service you share it on (for example, Facebook) may set a cookie. We have no control over cookies set on other websites - you can turn them off, but not through us.

 

YouTube videos

We use YouTube to show videos on some Civil Service Commission pages. YouTube sets cookies when you visit one of these pages.

NamePurposeExpires
_use_hitboxThis is a randomly generated number that identifies your browserWhen you close your browser
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVELets YouTube count the views of embedded YouTube videos9 months
 

Twitter

If you click on our homepage timeline Twitter may receive information including the homepage URL, your IP address, browser type, operating system, and cookie information.

Twitter will never associate this web browsing history with users' names, email addresses, phone numbers, or Twitter handles, and they delete, obfuscate, or aggregate it after no longer than 30 days. Twitter sets the following cookies:

NamePurposeExpires
_twitter_sessThis allows the Twitter feed to function on our homepageWhen you close your browser
ct0These cookie allows users to share content from our website, in retweets and replies6 year
external_refererUsed to identify you to Twitter, if you do not have a Twitter account or never accessed the Twitter.com website directly then it will assign a unique code to track your visit to the feed1 week
guest_idThis cookie is used for targeting specific content and messages to the user 2 year
personalization_idThis cookie is used for targeting specific content and messages to the user2 year

Twitter also own the cdn.syndication.twimg.com domain which places the following language cookie, enabling Twitter to determine the language settings of your browser, to better show you relevant information in the right language.

NamePurposeExpires
lang This stores language preferences to serve content in the users preferred languageWhen you close your browser
 

 

Website registration (WordPress)

This website is built using the WordPress content management system. WordPress uses the following cookies to enable registered users to log into the website:

NamePurposeExpires
Wordpress_test_cookieThis site uses a number of WordPress plugins to aid functionality, and this cookie ensures they are enabledWhen you close your browser
cookie_policyThis is used to indicate when a website administrator is logged in When you close your browser
 

 

Change your cookie options

You can change which cookies you’re happy for us to use.

Last updated 24 April 2020

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