__utmc on www.cipr.co.uk

About this cookie:

This is one of the four main cookies set by the Google Analytics service which enables website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. It is not used in most sites but is set to enable interoperability with the older version of Google Analytics code known as Urchin. In this older versions this was used in combination with the __utmb cookie to identify new sessions/visits for returning visitors. When used by Google Analytics this is always a Session cookie which is destroyed when the user closes their browser. Where it is seen as a Persistent cookie it is therefore likely to be a different technology setting the cookie.

There is no specific information about this cookie from this host provider. If you have any information about how this cookie is used by this host, please get in touch.

About this cookie’s host: This domain is owned by X (formerly Twitter). The main business activity is: Social Networking Services. Where X (formerly Twitter) acts as a third party host, it collects data through a range of plug-ins and integrations, that is primarily used for tracking and targeting.

Related general information about __utmc:

Targeting/Advertising Cookies

These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator's permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organisation.

More about cookie classifications.

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 via 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.

For example, if you visit a site that has a YouTube video in one of its pages. This has been included by the website owner, using a piece of code provided by YouTube. YouTube will then be able to set cookies through this code, and know that you have watched that video, or even just visited the page the video is in.

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 Cookie

Session Cookies are only stored temporarily in the browser's memory, and are destroyed when it is closed down, although they will survive navigating away from the website they came from.

If you have to login to a website every time you open your browser and visit it - then it is using a session cookie to store your login credentials.

Many websites use session cookies for essential site functions, and to make sure pages are sent to the browser as quickly and efficiently as possible.