Cookies Policy

Table of Contents

How we use cookies

Donegal County Childcare Committee use cookies to keep track of visitor interaction with our website which assists us in structuring our content to improve a user’s experience.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Cookies help us provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

By using our website you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with this cookie policy.

What are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your computer, tablet, smartphone, or other device that help websites recognize you and record information about your visit. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual, can help to display the information on a website in a way that matches your interests and is relevant to you. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer, or any personal information about you, they are simply a record of your visit to the Donegal County Childcare Committee website.

Types of Cookies

First Party Cookies

One of the key attributes of a cookie is its ‘Host’ – this is the domain name of the site that ultimately sets the cookie, and therefore is retrieved by on a subsequent visit. If the host name is the same as the domain in the browser address bar when it is set or retrieved, then it is a First Party Cookie.

First party cookies are only set or retrieved by the website while you are visiting it, so they cannot be used to track activity or pass data from one site to another. However the owner of that website can still collect data through their cookies and use that to change how the website appears to the user, or the information it displays. Of course they can also collect the data and use it outside their website, and even sell it on to other organisations. However, if they do this it must be explained in the site’s privacy policy.

Third Party Cookies

If the host domain for a cookie is different to the one in the browser bar when it was downloaded, then it is a third party cookie. They are usually placed in a website vis scripts or tags added into the web page. Sometimes these scripts will also bring additional functionality to the site, such as enabling content to be shared via social networks.

Online advertising is the most common use of third party cookies. By adding their tags to a page, which may or may not display adverts, advertisers can track a user (or their device) across many of the websites they visit. This allows them to build up a ‘behavioural profile’ of the user, which can then be used to target them with online ads based around their ‘calculated’ interests. Use of cookies for this purpose is often seen as intrusive and an invasion of privacy. Such activity is one of the drivers behind the development of new privacy laws, especially the EU Cookie Law.

Session Cookies

These are temporary cookies, which only exist in the period you access the website (or more strictly, until you close the browser after accessing the website). Session cookies help the Donegal County Childcare Committee website remember what you chose on the previous page, therefore avoiding having to re-enter information. On our website, these cookies do not contain personal information, and cannot be used to identify you.

Persistent Cookies

These are cookies, which remain on your device after you have visited our website. These cookies help us identify you as a unique visitor (by storing a randomly generated number). The length of time a cookie will remain on your device will depend on the type of cookie. On our website, these cookies do not contain personal information, and cannot be used to identify you.

We have listed cookies used on Donegal County Childcare Committee websites based on the International Chamber of Commerce guide for cookie categories:

  • Strictly necessary – these cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around our sites and use their features, such as accessing secure areas of the website.
  • Performance– these cookies collect information about how visitors use our websites in order to improve them. For example, they tell us which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from any of our pages. All of the information that these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous – it does not identify individual visitors.
  • Functionality – these cookies allow our websites to remember choices you make (such as your user name, and search and browser preferences) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. These cookies cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
  • Targeting– these cookies collect information about your browsing habits in order to make advertising relevant to you and your interests.

Donegal County Childcare Committee Cookie Policy Detail

We do not store personally identifiable information in cookies we create, but we do use encrypted information gathered from them to help improve your experience of the site. Please note that cookies cannot harm your computer.

Google Analytics cookies

We use Google Analytics to help us understand how the site is being used. The data that is collected as part of Google Analytics includes IP addresses and other technical details such as browser type, operating system, device type. This is transmitted to and stored by Google for a period of 24 months afterwhich it is destroyed by Google.

YouTube cookies

We embed videos from YouTube 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. To find out more please visit YouTube’s embedding videos information page.

Configure browser to accept or reject cookies

Most browsers are set to automatically accept cookies. If you’re using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari you should be able to configure your browser to restrict or block cookies, or you may wish to delete them, by changing your browser settings. Below are instructions to change your browser settings for the most commonly used browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Click the ‘Tools’ icon in the top right hand corner and select ‘Internet options’. In the pop up window select the ‘Privacy’ tab. This tab will allow you to change the security of your browser and the restrictions on cookies.

Google Chrome

Click the spanner in the top right hand corner and select ‘Settings’. From here select ‘Under the hood’ and change the settings under ‘Privacy’.

Mozilla Firefox

From the drop down menu in the top left hand corner select ‘Options’. In the pop up window select the ‘Privacy’ tab. From here you can adjust your cookie settings.

Safari

From the settings drop down menu in the top right hand corner select ‘Preferences’. Select the ‘Security’ tab and from here you can adjust your cookie settings.

Each browser is different, so check the ‘Help’ menu of your particular browser (or your mobile phone’s handset manual) to learn how to change your cookie preferences. If you choose to disable cookies, you will still be able to browse the site and use it for research purposes.

If you’re not sure of the type and version of web browser you use to access the Internet:

For PCs: click on ‘Help’ at the top of your browser window and select the ‘About’ option

For Macs: with the browser window open, click on the Apple menu and select the ‘About’ option

 

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