What are Cookies?

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes, and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

Overall, cookies help Lost Universe to 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.

What cookies are generally used for?

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being browsed. This data about webpage traffic can then be analysed and, as a result, improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. This information is used for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Session Cookies

Session Cookies are used by the server to store information about user page activities so users can easily pick up where they left off on the server's pages.  They are usually removed when the browser is closed.

Persistent Cookies

Persistent Cookies are used to store user preferences. These changes make the site easier to navigate and/or allow users to leave a part of their “personality” at the site.  These cookies expire after a certain period or can be removed manually.

First Party

These are cookies issued from the site you are visiting.  We use a number of suppliers to provide the services we offer, but the majority of cookies we place on your machine fall under this category.

Third Party

These are cookies issued that are different from the site you are visiting e.g. a Facebook feed on a page.

 

Opting out of cookies

•    There are a number of options available so that you do not have to store any cookies at all.

•    You can set your browser so that it will not accept and store any cookies.

•    You can allow only certain trusted sites to store cookies on your computer.

It is worth bearing in mind that if you decide to delete all of your cookies, then you will likely have to re-enter all of your usernames and passwords on all of the sites that you visit, which will take you longer when shopping.  The Lost Universe website, though, will operate to your preference setting and you can choose to shop with or without cookies.

The Information Commissioner’s Office http://www.ico.gov.uk provides further useful and practical information on cookies and their use.