Cookie Usage Policy

What information is being collected?

When you visit our website we use cookies to collect data on how you browse our site. A cookie is a small file placed on your computer's hard drive. It enables our website to identify your computer as you view different pages on our website. Cookies allow websites and applications to store your preferences in order to present content, options or functions that are specific to you. They also enable us to see the following information:

• How many people use the website and how many come back again

• Which pages they tend to visit

• Which country they are from 

• The type of device they used to view the website

• What time of day the visit took place

• How they arrived at the site - via organic search, paid search, social media or by entering in our domain name directly 

 

The kinds of cookies we use:

We use three kinds of cookies on our website:

1. Session (Transient) cookies: these cookies are erased when you close your browser, and do not collect information from your computer. They typically store information in the form of a session identification that does not personally identify the user.

2. Persistent (Permanent/Stored) cookies: these cookies are stored on your hard drive until they expire (i.e based on a set expiration date) or until you delete them. These cookies are used to collect identifying information about the user, such as web surfing behavior or user preferences for a specific site.

3. Third Party Cookies: Some cookies on this website are set by Google. An example of a cookie set by Google is NID and it contains a unique ID that Google uses to remember your preferences such as your preferred language. By following us on Facebook, you will be prompted to log into your own social media accounts. This means that cookies may be placed in your browser by these social media platforms. You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-parties for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Our privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, other websites.

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How will this information be used?

We use this information to:

• Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package. Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.

• Test content on our website by showing different content to different users to see which is the most appealing.

• To recognise when you return to our website. We may show your relevant content, or provide functionality you used previously.

•  Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.

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Why is this information being collected?

We may use these cookies to help improve the performance of our website and to gain better insight into ad placement and customer behaviour.

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How long do we keep this data?

You are able to delete cookies from your web browser at any time. If you don’t delete them, the cookies will naturally expire.

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Controlling cookies

You can use your web browser’s cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies.

However, please note that doing this may affect how our website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to you. Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.

 

How is this information secured?

This information can only be accessed via a password protected Google Analytics account. Google are also protected under the EU privacy shield and comply with all necessary requirements for data protection.

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Who will this information be shared with?

This data would only ever be shared with a consultant we may bring in to help analyse our web traffic and suggest improvements to our site.

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How will us collected this information effect you?

You won't notice any difference when browsing and using our website. 

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Links from Our Site

Our website may contain links to other websites.Please note that we have no control of websites outside the www.hardwicksgardencentre.com domain. If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy. Always be wary when submitting data to websites. Read the site's data protection and privacy policies fully.