Cookies notice
The GCS website (gcs.civilservice.gov.uk) 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
You can find out more about how to manage cookies, including how to delete and block them, on the Information Commission Officer’s (ICO) website.
How cookies are used on the GCS website
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use this site. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.
Google Analytics stores information about:
- the pages you visit on the site
- how long you spend on each page
- how you got to the site
- what you click on while you’re visiting the site
It doesn’t collect or store your personal information (e.g. 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:
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years |
| _gat | 10 minutes |
| _gid | 24 hours |
You may opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
Cookies message
You may see a banner when you visit the GCS website inviting you to accept cookies or review your settings. We’ll set cookies so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and not to show it again, and also to store your settings.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| seen_cookie_message | Lets us know if you’ve seen our cookie message | 1 year |
| cookie_policy | Saves your cookie consent settings | 1 year |
YouTube videos
We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode.
| Name | Expires |
|---|---|
| GPS | 30 minutes |
| PREF | 2 years |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 9 months |
| YSC | When you close your browser |
| remote_sid | When you close your browser |
Read YouTube’s Privacy Policy.