Cookies
SIXSTEPS.NET puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site.
Cookies are used to:
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember the notifications you’ve seen so that we don’t show them to you again
SIXSTEPS.NET cookies aren’t used to identify you personally.
You’ll normally see a message on the site before we store a cookie on your computer.
Find out more about how to manage cookies.
How cookies are used on SIXSTEPS.NET
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use SIXSTEPS.NET. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements, for example improving site search.
Google Analytics stores information about:
- the pages you visit on SIXSTEPS.NET
- how long you spend on each SIXSTEPS.NET page
- how you got to the site
- what you click on while you’re visiting the site
We don’t collect or store your personal information (for example your name or address) so this information can’t be used to identify who you are.
We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data.
Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
Universal Analytics
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | This helps us count how many people visit SIXSTEPS.NET by tracking if you’ve visited before | 2 years |
| _gat | Used to manage the rate at which page view requests are made | 10 minutes |
Google Analytics
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _utma | Like _ga, this lets us know if you’ve visited before, so we can count how many of our visitors are new to SIXSTEPS.NET or to a certain page | 2 years |
| _utmb | This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on SIXSTEPS.NET | 30 minutes |
| _utmc | This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser | when you close your browser |
| _utmz | This tells us how you reached SIXSTEPS.NET (for example from another website or a search engine) | 6 months |
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
JavaScript detection
We measure how many people visiting SIXSTEPS.NETare using JavaScript. We’re re-running a test we first used in 2013.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| JS-Detection | This tells us if you are browsing SIXSTEPS.NET while running JavaScript | 1 year |
Our introductory message
You may see a pop-up welcome message when you first visit GOV.UK. We’ll store a cookie so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and knows not to show it again.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| seen_cookie_message | Saves a message to let us know that you’ve seen our cookie message | 1 month |
Making secure connections to websites
Your browser uses cookies to make secure connections to websites with a ‘https’ URL. There are different versions for different levels of security.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| TLSVersion | Tells us the highest version of TLS your browser uses so we can decide which versions to keep supporting | When you close your browser |
YouTube videos
We use YouTube to provide videos on some pages of the site. YouTube sets cookies when you visit one of these pages.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _use_hitbox | This is a randomly generated number that identifies your browser | When you close your browser |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | Lets Youtube count the views of embedded Youtube videos | 9 months |