Cookies
We use cookies (little bits of information stored on your computer) on this site to help improve our service and give a better experience to you.
By using our site you are allowing us to store these cookies, and below you can find out why we use them and find information on how you can disable them.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site.
A cookie typically contains the name of the website it belongs to and the lifespan of the cookie.
What cookies do we use?
Gateshead.gov.uk uses cookies in several places - we've listed them below with details of why we use them and how long they will last
Google Analytics
These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.
We never store any personal data such as your name or address so the information we collect can never be used to identify you. Google does not share your analytics information with anyone else.
The following cookies are set by Google Analytics:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years |
| _gid | 24 hours |
| _gat | 1 minute |
| __utmzzses | Session |
| initialTrafficSource | 720 days |
Hotjar
Our website uses Hotjar so we can better understand user experience. It allows us to see how long people spend on the website, what pages users visit, what links they click and what forms they fill in. All data is anonymised so this information can not be used to identify you. Occasionally we will also run simple polls using Hotjar to understand if people liked our website or particular pages.
The following cookies are set by Hotjar:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| _hjSessionUser{site_id} | 365 days |
| _hjSession{site_id} | 30 minutes |
| _hjSessionTooLarge | Session |
| _hjSessionRejected | Session |
| _hjSessionResumed | Session |
| _hjid | 365 days |
| _hjRecordingLastActivity | Session |
| _hjTLDTest | Session |
| _hjUserAttributesHash | Session |
| _hjCachedUserAttributes | Session |
| _hjLocalStorageTest | Under 100ms |
| _hjIncludedInPageviewSample | 30 minutes |
| _hjIncludedInSessionSample | 30 minutes |
| _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress | 30 minutes |
| _hjFirstSeen | Session |
| _hjViewportId | Session |
| _hjRecordingEnabled | Session |
YouTube
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 |
|---|---|
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 6 months |
| YSC | When you close your browser |
| IDE | 25 days |
Postcode setting cookies
When you use 'My Gateshead' and save your postcode we save cookie to your computer so you don't have to enter your postcode again the next time that you visit.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| UPRN | 1 Month |
Language setting cookies
When you use the 'Family Information Services Directory' we save a cookie to your computer to remember your language settings (English).
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| PELanguage Cookie | 1 Day |
Cookie control
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| gi_consent_analytics | 30 days |
| gi_consent_advertising | 30 days |
| gi_consent_saved | 30 days |
| gi_consent_socialmedia | 30 days |
Form cookies
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| GATESHEADSESSIONID | Session |
| goss-formsservice-clientid | Session |
Site alerts cookies
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| _ghgovalert{ARTICLEID} | 24 hours |
Recite Me cookies
The Recite Me assistive technology toolbar allows users to customise the way they interact with our website. Tools available include a screen reader, reading tools (ruler, screen mask, magnifier, margins, and a dictionary), styling options and language translations.
Recite only use cookies for a handful of things, which includes:
- Access tokens - these are a form of session-ID that is used for API requests to validate users, there is no data transferred other than a true or false value
- Preferences - UI preferences are normally saved on our server but may be stored in a cookie as a fall back if this process fails.
- Activate Persistance - We use cookies to activate persistence, so once a user has activated the Recite Me Toolbar it will remain open as a user continues their visit throughout your website viewing multiple pages.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| Recite_Session | Session |
How to disable/delete cookies
All recent versions of popular browsers give users some control over cookies. You can set your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies or accept/reject cookies for certain websites.
The website aboutcookies.org offers comprehensive information on how you can control cookies in all of the popular browsers.
How to control cookies (opens new window)