Cookies
Details about cookies on the Gambling Commission website
The Gambling Commission website puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your phone, tablet or computer to collect information about how you browse the site.
Accepting all cookies via our website banner activates those cookie settings that are listed as optional on the settings page (that is, not ‘strictly necessary cookies’ or ‘third party websites’ cookies). Your activation of all optional cookies lasts for 1 year and the banner will appear again. This gives you the opportunity to regularly re-visit and adjust your decision.
To learn more about what cookies are, our use of cookies and how we protect and process your information see our Privacy policy.
Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies do things like remember your preferences and the choices you make, to personalise your experience of using the Gambling Commission website service.
Cookies message
You may see a banner when you visit the Gambling Commission website inviting you to accept cookies or review your settings. We’ll set cookies so that your computer knows you’ve seen it 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 |
| gc-website-676377656273697465 | Saves your session information | 4 hours |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Used to manage site security | 6 months |
| ARRAAffinity | Used to manage site security | At the end of the session |
| ARRAAffinitySameSite | Used to manage site security | At the end of the session |
Cookies that measure website use
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics software (Google Analytics 4) to collect anonymised 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.
We do not allow Google to use or share the data about how you use this site.
Google Analytics stores information about:
- how you got to the site
- the pages you visit on this site and how long you spend on each page
- what you click on while visiting the site.
Google Analytics sets the following cookies.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | This helps us count how many people visit the Gambling Commission website service by tracking if you've visited before | 400 days |
| _gid | This helps us count how many people visit the Gambling Commission website by tracking if you've visited before | 1 day |
| _ga_0HH6YRTMN9 | Used by Google Analytics to find and track an individual session with your device | 400 days |
You can read Google’s overview of data practises within Google Analytics (opens in new tab).
Microsoft Clarity
We also use Microsoft Clarity to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioural metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve the site. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.
Microsoft Clarity sets the following cookies.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _clck | Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site is attributed to the same user ID | 1 year |
| _clsk | Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording | 1 day |
| CLID | Identifies the first-time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity | 1 year |
| ANONCHK | Indicates whether MUID is transferred to ANID, a cookie used for advertising. Clarity doesn't use ANID and so this is always set to 0 | 10 minutes |
| MR | Indicates whether to refresh MUID | 7 days |
| MUID | Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. These cookies are used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes | 390 days |
| SM | Used in synchronizing the MUID across Microsoft domains | At the end of the session |
YouTube videos
Some website pages may contain content from other sites, like YouTube, which may set their own cookies. These sites are sometimes called ‘third party’ services. This tells us how many people are seeing the content and whether it’s useful.
In addition, if you share a link to one of our website pages, the service you share it on (for example, Facebook) may set a cookie. We have no control over cookies set on other websites – you can turn them off, but not through us.
YouTube sets the following cookies.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _use_hitbox | This is a randomly generated number that identifies your browser | When you close your browser |
| VISITOR_INF01_LIVE | Lets YouTube count the views of embedded YouTube videos | 9 months |
Last updated 17 July 2023.