For almost any modern website to work properly, it needs to collect certain basic information on its users. To do this, a site will create files known as cookies – which are small text files – on its users’ computers. These cookies are designed to allow the website to recognise its users on subsequent visits, or to authorise other designated websites to recognise these users for a particular purpose.
Cookies do a lot of different jobs which make your experience of the Internet much smoother and more interactive. For instance, they are used to remember your preferences on sites you visit often, to remember your user ID and the contents of your shopping baskets, and to help you navigate between pages more efficiently. Much, though not all, of the data that they collect is anonymous, though some of it is designed to detect browsing patterns and approximate geographical location to improve user experience.
Information collected by cookies is not personally identifiable.
We create the following cookies on your computer:
Authentication cookies
Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie Type and duration |
---|---|---|---|
eef_prod_csrf_token | Identity Management Service | Anonymously ensures that any interactions you make with our website are secure | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser |
eef_prod_last_activity | Identity Management Service | Anonymously monitors the last time you interacted with our site so that we can auto delete you session if left unattended | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser |
eef_prod_last_visit | Identity Management Service | Anonymously records the last visit of this page (not by you) | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser |
eef_prod_tracker | Identity Management Service | Anonymously saves the current url to allow user to click ‘back’ outside of the browser controls | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser |
Analytics cookies
We use these purely for internal research on how we can improve the service we provide for all our users.
The cookies simply assess how you interact with our website – as an anonymous user (the data gathered does not identify you personally).
This data is not shared with any third parties or used for any other purpose.
Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie Type and duration |
---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics | Used to (anonymously) distinguish users | Third-party cookie, 2 years |
_gat | Google Analytics | Used to throttle request rate. | Third-party cookie,1 Minute |
_gid | Google Analytics | Used to (anonymously) distinguish users | Third-party cookie,24 hours |
_hjCachedUserAttributes | HotJar | Used to (anonymously) capture clicks, scroll depth and other unidentifiable interactions | Third-party session cookie, 1 MinuteFirst-party session, deleted after you quit your browser |
_hjid | HotJar | Used to (anonymously) ensure user journeys on our site are distinct | Third-party cookie, 1 year |
How does the Education Endowment Foundation use cookies?
The Education Endowment Foundation collects a number of cookies from its users for various reasons, not least to track our own performance – but also to let us serve you content tailored to your own specifications, hopefully improving your overall experience of the site. Amongst other things, the cookies allow us to calculate how many visitors we have – anonymously, of course – and how long they stay on our site.
We do our utmost to respect users’ privacy. We use these cookies solely to monitor and improve our web performance and content delivery service to you, the user. We believe that your experience of the site would be adversely affected if you opted out of the cookies we use.
Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can alter the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer. Generally you have the option to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is issued or reject all cookies. Visit the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ menu on your browser to change settings, and check the following links for more browser-specific information.
Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari
To switch off third-party advertising cookies, you can turn these off by visiting the Internet Advertising Bureau’s consumer advice site here.
For more information on cookies, click here
As well as the cookies we set, we may use third party cookies and other similar technologies set by other websites when you visit them to help us to understand some simple information about the age, location and interests of the people who visit our sites. Third parties may use these technologies to collect or receive information from our website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and to target adverts.
We only ever use this information in aggregate, and never associate it with any personal information that might identify you.
You can opt out of being tracked by cookies set by third parties by using the Google ad preferences page or the opt-out tool.
You can also get more information from Google or the Your Online Choices website.
You can opt out of being tracked and the collection and use of information for Facebook ad targeting in your ad settings page on Facebook. You can also get more information from Facebook on their use of cookies and advertising policies.
You can opt out of tracking from all participating companies through the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance ‘Your Online Choices’ site. In the UK, click on the ‘Your ad choices’ menu option.
By continuing to use our sites and by using video and social media functionality, you consent to the relevant cookies being set on your device.
For general information about cookies, and how to control and disable them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
IP Analytics – Anonymity:
We anonymise your IP address as soon as data is received, before any storage or processing takes place. The last octet of your IP address is set to zero while still in memory. For example; an IP address of 51.48.129.811 would be changed to 51.48.129.0
Only after this anonymity process occurs is the request transmitted to our analytic providers, your full IP address recorded as all anonymity happens in memory processing (nearly) instantaneously after the request has been received.
By continuing to use our site, you agree to the placement of cookies on your device. If you choose not to receive our cookies, we cannot guarantee that your experience will be as fulfilling as it would otherwise be.