Cookie Policy

We want all of our services to be easy to use, useful and reliable. This includes the online services for the Single Financial Guidance Body and associated organisations:

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that is downloaded on to your computer when you visit a website. Cookies are used by many websites and can do a number of things, such as remembering your preferences, recording what you have put in your shopping basket, and counting the number of people looking at a website.

First-party cookies

First-party cookies are set by the website you are visiting, and they can only be read by that site.

Third-party cookies

Third-party cookies are set by a different organisation to the owner of the website you are visiting. For example, the website might use a third-party analytics company who will set their own cookie to perform this service. The website you are visiting may also contain content embedded from, for example, YouTube, and these sites may set their own cookies. More significantly, a website might use a third-party advertising network to deliver targeted advertising on their website. These may also have the capability to track your browsing across different sites. It is important to note that advertising cookies are not set for visitors to the Single Financial Guidance Body group of organisations (The Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise) website.

Session cookies

Session cookies are stored only temporarily during a browsing session and are deleted from the user’s device when the browser is closed.

Persistent cookies

This type of cookie is saved on your computer for a fixed period (usually a year or longer) and is not deleted when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies are used where we need to know who you are for more than one browsing session. For example, we use this type of cookie to store your preferences, so that they are remembered for the next visit.

How can I control my cookies?

Browser controls

You can use your web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) to:

  • delete all cookies
  • block all cookies
  • allow all cookies
  • block third-party cookies
  • clear all cookies when you close the browser
  • open a “private browsing” session, and
  • install add-ons and plug-ins to extend browser functionality.
BrowserGuidance
Internet ExplorerMicrosoft help – How to delete cookie files in Internet Explorer
ChromeChrome help – Manage cookies
FirefoxFirefox help – Give certain websites the ability to store passwords, set cookies and more
SafariSafari 5.1 (OS X Lion): Manage cookies
OperaOpera browser – Cookie tips

What type of cookies do we use?

First-party cookies

We use a number of cookies to support site functionality, and to analyse and compare who visits the sites within the Money and Pensions Service group and which sort of device they use. From this, we can design better services and visitor experiences. The following table shows the cookies we use, their use, when they expire and their category:

Cookie nameUseTypical contentExpiry
public-website_sessionSession identifierBAh7CEkiD3Nlc3Npb25faWQGOgZFRk kiJWY4MGQwN2Y5ZjNiZjBhZjNkMjYx ZmExNjk0MDAzZmM0BjsAVEkiE3VzZX JfcmV0dXJuX3RvBjsARiIgL2VuL2Fy dGljbGVzL21hbmFnaW5nLW1vbmV5SS IQX2NzcmZfdG9rZW4GOwBGSSIxQ0s1 Qmc4dGd1dzFDTVVxYUdXNklFUk5QaU RFVkdoSlJ2ellQczlqVnhJQT0GOwBG -21c1ddf4e19d067dcb30de32de40e a456ea1d9b5Session
_web_trackingSession identifier (cross session) sent to IPS for user trackingb9f1f00ec4c8a00d47d0b133c9cf63bf1 year
_jidSession identifier1335776339539805355Session
cookietestTells the health check whether you have cookies and Javascript enabled in your browsertrueSession
js_enabledTells the health check whether you have cookies and Javascript enabled in your browsertrueSession
HasClickedExternalLinkTells the health check if you have clicked on an external link. This is so we can warn you if you are leaving our websiteSession
qHistory_tempTemporarily remembers the answers to your questions while you are using the health check and allows us to give you your action plan. This cookie is automatically deleted so no-one else can see the answers you gave1703220120628
False#Q0A17033HAPPY
2012062817036#Session
ActionPlanStateRemember which parts of your action plan are currently expanded so if you register and come back to the health check later on it will be as you left it30 days
cm_vidHelps us track the effectiveness of our campaign advertising. They allow us to understand what visitors want to use and not to use, so we can improve the service you receiveSession
cm_medium
Helps us track the effectiveness of our campaign advertising. They allow us to understand what visitors want to use and not to use, so we can improve the service you receive
Session
cm_sidHelps us track the effectiveness of our campaign advertising. They allow us to understand what visitors want to use and not to use, so we can improve the service you receiveSession
cd_campidHelp us track the effectiveness of our campaign advertising. They allow us to understand what visitors want to use and not to use, so we can improve the service you receiveSession
cm_midHelp us track the effectiveness of our campaign advertising. They allow us to understand what visitors want to use and not to use, so we can improve the service you receiveSession
_cookie_noticeStores that you have been presented with the cookie noticey1 day
_cookie_dismiss_newsletter (Inactive)Indicates whether the sticky newsletter footer should be displayed or not. (Inactive)hide1 month (Inactive)
UZ_TI_dc_valueSaves a message to remember if you’ve taken a survey or dismissed itSession
UZ_TI_S_{id}Identifies a survey you have been shownSession
UZ_TI_S_{id}Identifies a survey you have been shownSession
_cfduidOverrides security settings if your machine is trustedSession
WT_FPCCookie set by WebTrends analytics service, used to track and report on visitor behaviour on a site for performance improvement1 year
utmzThis is one of the four main cookies set by the Google Analytics service which enables website owners to track visitor behaviour measure of site performance.6 months
__atuvcThis cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget which is commonly embedded in websites to enable visitors to share content with a range of networking and sharing platforms. It stores an updated page share count.2 years
tpas-accessibility-questionnairePermanent

Third-party cookies

We use a number of cookies to support site functionality, and to analyse and compare who visits our sites and which sort of device they use. From this, we can design better services and visitor experiences. The following table shows the cookies we use, their use, when they expire and their category:

#Cookie nameUseTypical contentExpiry
1JSESSIONID.nr-data.netUsed to track anonymous user sessions.Never
2AMP_TOKENGoogle AnalyticsContains a token that can be used to retrieve a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate opt-out, in-flight request or an error retrieving a Client ID from AMP Client ID service.30 seconds to 1 year
3_gaGoogle AnalyticsThis helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you’ve visited before.2 years
4_gidGoogle AnalyticsThis helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you’ve visited before.24 hours
5_gatGoogle AnalyticsUsed to manage the rate at which page view requests are made.2018-11-19T13:00:53.000Z
6__utmbGoogle AnalyticsUsed 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.30 mins from set/update
7__utmaGoogle AnalyticsUsed 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.2 years from set/update
8__utmvGoogle AnalyticsUsed 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.2 years from set/update
9__utmtGoogle AnalyticsUsed to throttle request rate.10 minutes
10engagedGoogle AnalyticsNever
11ajs_anonymous_idHotjarCounts how many people visit the site by tracking if yhave visited before.1 year
12_hjDonePollsHotjarThis cookie is set once a visitor completes a poll using the Feedback Poll widget. It is used to ensure that the same poll does not re-appear if it has already been filled in.365 days
13_hjClosedSurveyInvitesHotjarThis cookie is set once a visitor interacts with a Survey invitation modal popup. It is used to ensure that the same invite does not re-appear if it has already been shown.365 days
14_hjMinimizedPollsHotjarThis cookie is set once a visitor minimizes a Feedback Poll widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimizes when the visitor navigates through your site.365 days
15_hjMinimizedTestersWidgetsHotjarThis cookie is set once a visitor minimizes a Recruit User Testers widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimizes when the visitor navigates through your site.365 days
16_hjDoneTestersWidgetsHotjarThis cookie is set once a visitor submits their information in the Recruit User Testers widget. It is used to ensure that the same form does not re-appear if it has already been filled in.365 days
17_hjIncludedInSampleHotjarThis session cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels.365 days
18_hjShownFeedbackMessageHotjarThis cookie is set when a visitor minimizes or completes Incoming Feedback. This is done so that the Incoming Feedback will load as minimized immediately if they navigate to another page where it is set to show.365 days
19iz_uh_psInformizelyHistory data is stored in the persistent cookie.2019-11-19T12:54:26.000Z
20iz_sd_ssInformizelySession data is stored in the session cookie.Never
21iz_uh_ps and iz_sd_ss_InformizelyThe Informizely’s survey widget stores anonymous data about a visitor that is needed for making decisions about when to show a survey, like the number of site visits and survey views. History data is stored in the persistent cookie “iz_uh_ps” and session data is stored in the session cookie “iz_sd_ss”.
22ajs_anonymous_idNew RelicCounts how many people visit the site by tracking if you have visited before.1 year
23jessionidNew RelicUsed to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.Never
24OptanonAlertBoxClosedOptimizelyIt enables the website not to show a specific message than once to a user.1 year
25OptanonConsentOptimizelyEnables prevention of cookies in each category from being set in the user’s browser, when consent is not given.1 year
26optimizelyBucketsOptimizelyUsed to store the page variants assigned to a user for A/B performance testing, to ensure the user gets a consistent experience.6 months
27optimizelySegmentsOptimizelyHolds audience segmentation information for a visitor.6 months
28optimizelyEndUserIdOptimizelyThis cooki a unique user identifier.6 montp>
29optimizelyPendingLogEventsOptimizelyUsed as a cache of a user’s actions between tracking calls. When the tracking call is made the cookie will be wiped.7 months
30whosonWhosonEnables websites to engage with visitors via text-based chat whilst they are on the site.31/12/2020
31CONSENTYouTubeThese cookies allow YouTube to collect usage information for YouTube hosted videos.20 years
32GPSYouTubeThese cookies allow YouTube to collect usage information for YouTube hosted videos.1 day
33PREFYouTubeThese cookies allow YouTube to collect usage information for YouTube hosted videos.2 years
34VISITOR_INFO1_LIVEYouTubeAllow YouTube to collect usage information for YouTube hosted videos used to collect anonymous statistics and performance data for embedded YouTube videos on our website.6 months
35YSCYouTubeThese cookies allow YouTube to collect usage information for YouTube hosted videos.Never

We use a number of suppliers who may also set cookies on their websites on its behalf. The Money and Pensions Service or organisations within this group do not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the third-party websites for more information about these. If you want us to stop using personal information we’ve collected via cookies on our websites, you should change your cookie settings. In some cases, we might decide to keep information, even if you ask us not to. This could be for legal or regulatory reasons, so that we can keep providing our products and services. We will always tell you why we keep the information.

Other useful information

A number of websites provide detailed information on cookies, including: