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Cookies

Find out more about how cookies are used on GOV.UK and how to manage them.

How we use cookies

Sessions

We set a cookie to record your session activity.

Name Purpose Expires
mdtp Stores session data When you close your browser
mdtpp Stores session data When you close your browser
mdtpdf Stores session data When you close your browser
PLAY_FLASH Stores session data When you close your browser

Our introductory message

You might see a pop-up welcome message when you first visit. We store a cookie on your computer so it knows you've seen it and not to show it again.

Name Purpose Expires
seen_cookie_message Saves a message to let us know you've seen our cookie message 1 month

Our user research banner

You might see a banner about user research when you visit. We store a cookie so your computer knows when you do not want to see it again.

Name Purpose Expires
mdtpurr Saves a message that you do not want to see it again. 1 month

Measure website usage (Google Analytics)

Google Analytics software collects information about how you use the site. We do this to make site improvements and make sure it’s meeting your needs.

Google Analytics stores information about:

  • the pages you visit - how long you spend on each page
  • how you got to the site
  • what you click on while you're visiting the site

We do not pass any personally identifiable information to Google Analytics (eg your name or address) so they can’t use this information to identify who you are.

Google is not allowed to use or share our analytics data.

Name Purpose Expires
_gat This helps us identify how you use GOV.UK so we can make the site better 10 minutes
GDS_successEvents and GDS_analyticsTokens These help us identify how you use GOV.UK so we can make the site better 4 months
_ga This helps us identify how you use GOV.UK so we can make the site better 2 years
ga_nextpage_params This stores data to be sent to Google on the next page you request When you close your browser

You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies (opens in a new tab)link opens in a new window.

Comparing different versions of webpages (Optimizely)

Sometimes we use Optimizely software to test different versions of webpages to see which performs better. We do this to make site improvements and make sure it’s meeting your needs.

Name Purpose Expires
optimizelyEndUserId This helps us identify how you use GOV.UK so we can make the site better 10 years
optimizelyRedirectData This helps us identify how you use GOV.UK so we can make the site better 5 seconds

You can opt out from having Optimizely collect your information by visiting their opt out page (opens in a new tab) and entering our Developer Hub URL in their opt out form:

https://developer.service.hmrc.gov.uk/api-documentation

Our satisfaction survey (SurveyMonkey)

We use SurveyMonkey (opens in a new tab) to collect responses to our survey. If you take part, SurveyMonkey saves cookies to your computer to track your progress.

Name Purpose Expires
mbox This is used to keep your progress through the survey 30 minutes
SSOE This is used for testing different content and features on the survey website to help make it better When you close your browser
TS5159a2 and TSd0b041 These are used to manage survey traffic by sending your computer to a specific server When you close your browser
ep201 This is used to help us identify how you use the survey 30 minutes
ep202 This works with ep201 to help us identify how you use the survey 1 year

You can find out more about the cookies that SurveyMonkey uses (opens in a new tab) and how to opt out.

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Open Government Licence

All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated

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