Cookies

A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user's web browser while the user is browsing that website. Every time the user loads the website, the browser sends the cookie back to the server to notify the website of the user's previous activity. Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember stateful information (such as items in a shopping cart) or to record the user's browsing activity (including clicking particular buttons, logging in, or recording which pages were visited by the user as far back as months or years ago).
 
What cookies do we use?

Google Analytics Cookie Usage on This Website
 
Google Analytics is a tool that helps website owners measure how users interact with website content. 
 
Cookie Name
Expiration Time
Description
_ga
2 years
Used to distinguish users.
 
 
Cookie Name
Default Expiration Time
Description
__utma
2 years from set/update
Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmb
30 mins from set/update
Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmc
End of browser session
Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the__utmb cookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit.
__utmz
6 months from set/update
Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmv
2 years from set/update
Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the_setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated_setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
 
 
Session Cookie

Our site uses a session cookie which is essential for the site to function properly. By this point, the cookie will already have been set. You may delete and block all cookies from our site, but this may cause it to stop working properly.
 
 Name of cookie    
 How long does it stay on my machine?
 osCsid
 20 minutes or until you close your browser  


Other Cookies

 
 Name of cookie      Purpose
 utmexit, sha, key5, __utma, __utmz  Used for the SSL Trust Logo
 datr  Used by Facebook

Any Questions?

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