1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, tablet, or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used across the internet to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better browsing experience, and supply information to website owners.
Cookies serve a variety of purposes. Some are essential for a website to function correctly, while others help website operators understand how visitors use the site, remember your preferences, or deliver targeted advertising. Cookies are stored on your device by your web browser and can be read by the website that created them on subsequent visits.
There are two main types of cookies based on their lifespan:
- Session cookies: These are temporary cookies that are created when you visit a website and are deleted when you close your browser. They exist only for the duration of your browsing session and are used to facilitate basic website functionality.
- Persistent cookies: These cookies remain on your device for a set period of time (specified by the cookie) or until you manually delete them. They are used to remember your preferences and actions across multiple visits.
Cookies can also be categorised based on who sets them:
- First-party cookies: These are set by the website you are visiting (in this case, yorkcitywalls.com) and can only be read by that website.
- Third-party cookies: These are set by a domain other than the one you are visiting. They are typically used for analytics, advertising, and affiliate tracking purposes.
2. Types of Cookies We Use
York City Walls uses a limited number of cookies, organised into three categories: essential cookies, analytics cookies, and advertising/affiliate tracking cookies. Below is a detailed explanation of each category.
2.1 Essential Cookies
Essential cookies are necessary for the basic operation of our website. Without these cookies, certain features of the site would not function correctly. These cookies do not collect personal information that could be used for marketing purposes and cannot be disabled without affecting your browsing experience.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| cookie_consent | Stores your cookie consent preferences so you are not prompted repeatedly | 12 months | First-party, Persistent |
| __cf_bm | Cloudflare bot management -- distinguishes between humans and bots to protect the site from malicious traffic | 30 minutes | Third-party (Cloudflare), Session |
| __cfruid | Cloudflare rate limiting -- helps prevent abuse and denial-of-service attacks | Session | Third-party (Cloudflare), Session |
2.2 Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. These cookies collect information in an aggregated, anonymised form, helping us identify which content is most useful, how visitors navigate the site, and where we can make improvements. Google Analytics does not identify individual visitors.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Distinguishes unique visitors by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. Used to calculate visitor, session, and campaign data for site analytics reports. | 2 years | Third-party (Google), Persistent |
| _ga_[ID] | Used by Google Analytics 4 to persist session state and track interactions across pages | 2 years | Third-party (Google), Persistent |
| _gid | Distinguishes unique visitors for the current day. Used to throttle request rate and track page views within a single day. | 24 hours | Third-party (Google), Persistent |
| _gat | Used to throttle the request rate to Google Analytics, limiting data collection on high-traffic sites | 1 minute | Third-party (Google), Session |
You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking entirely by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, which is available for all major browsers.
2.3 Advertising and Affiliate Tracking Cookies
When you click on affiliate links on our site, cookies may be placed on your device by our affiliate partners or the gambling operators linked from our site. These cookies are used to track the referral so that we can receive appropriate commissions, which fund the operation of this website.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| affiliate_ref | Tracks referrals from York City Walls to affiliate partner sites for commission attribution | 30-90 days (varies by partner) | Third-party, Persistent |
| _track_id | Affiliate network tracking identifier used to attribute referrals and calculate commissions | 30-60 days (varies by network) | Third-party, Persistent |
| _click_id | Records the specific affiliate link click for accurate referral tracking | 30 days | Third-party, Persistent |
Please note that affiliate tracking cookies are set by third parties, not by York City Walls. Each affiliate partner operates under its own privacy and cookie policies. The exact cookies set may vary depending on which affiliate link you click.
3. How to Manage and Disable Cookies
You have the right to control which cookies are placed on your device. Most web browsers allow you to manage cookie settings through their preferences or settings menus. Below are instructions for the four most popular browsers used in the United Kingdom.
3.1 Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner
- Select Settings
- Click Privacy and security in the left-hand menu
- Click Third-party cookies
- Choose your preferred option: "Allow third-party cookies," "Block third-party cookies in Incognito," or "Block third-party cookies"
- To delete existing cookies, go to Privacy and security > Clear browsing data, select "Cookies and other site data," and click Clear data
For more information, visit Google Chrome cookie help.
3.2 Mozilla Firefox
- Open Firefox and click the three-line menu icon in the top-right corner
- Select Settings
- Click Privacy & Security in the left-hand menu
- Under "Enhanced Tracking Protection," choose Standard, Strict, or Custom
- In the Custom option, you can specifically choose which types of cookies to block
- To delete existing cookies, scroll down to "Cookies and Site Data" and click Clear Data
For more information, visit Firefox cookie help.
3.3 Apple Safari
- Open Safari and click Safari in the menu bar at the top of the screen
- Select Settings (or Preferences on older versions)
- Click the Privacy tab
- Under "Cookies and website data," you can select Block all cookies to prevent all cookies, or manage cookies on a site-by-site basis
- To delete existing cookies, click Manage Website Data, then Remove All or select specific sites to remove
Note: Safari blocks most third-party cookies by default through its Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) feature.
For more information, visit Safari cookie help.
3.4 Microsoft Edge
- Open Edge and click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner
- Select Settings
- Click Cookies and site permissions in the left-hand menu
- Click Manage and delete cookies and site data
- Toggle Block third-party cookies on or off according to your preference
- To delete existing cookies, go to Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data, select "Cookies and other site data," and click Clear now
For more information, visit Microsoft Edge cookie help.
4. Impact of Disabling Cookies
You are free to disable some or all cookies at any time. However, please be aware that doing so may affect your experience on our website and on other websites you visit.
If you disable or block cookies on our site, the following may occur:
- Essential cookies: If essential cookies are blocked, certain features of the website may not function correctly. For example, your cookie consent preferences may not be remembered, meaning you could be prompted to accept cookies on every visit.
- Analytics cookies: If you block analytics cookies, your visit will not be recorded in our analytics data. This does not affect your browsing experience in any way, but it does reduce our ability to understand how visitors use the site and make improvements.
- Affiliate tracking cookies: If you block affiliate tracking cookies, referral clicks may not be tracked correctly. This does not affect the services you receive from any gambling operator, but it does affect our ability to receive commissions that fund this website. You will still be able to access all content on our site regardless of your affiliate cookie settings.
Disabling cookies on our site does not prevent you from reading our reviews, guides, or any other content. All editorial content is freely accessible regardless of your cookie settings.
5. Third-Party Cookies
In addition to our own cookies, third-party services used on this website may set their own cookies on your device. We do not have direct control over these third-party cookies, but we have selected our third-party partners carefully and ensure they comply with applicable data protection legislation.
The main third-party services that may set cookies when you visit our site are:
- Google Analytics (Google LLC): Sets analytics cookies to measure website traffic and usage patterns. Google's privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy.
- Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc.): Sets essential security cookies to protect our website from malicious traffic and bots. Cloudflare's privacy policy is available at cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.
- Affiliate networks: Various affiliate tracking networks may set cookies when you click affiliate links on our site. Each network operates under its own privacy policy.
- Google Fonts (Google LLC): While Google Fonts does not typically set cookies, the connection to Google's servers to load fonts may transmit certain technical data. Google's privacy policy applies.
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these third-party services to understand how they process your data. If you have concerns about third-party cookies, you can block them using the browser instructions provided in section 3 above.
6. Do Not Track Signals
Some web browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature that sends a signal to websites requesting that your browsing behaviour not be tracked. There is currently no universally accepted standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals, and our website does not currently respond to DNT signals in a standardised way.
However, you can manage your tracking preferences using the cookie management methods described in section 3 of this policy. You can also use browser extensions and tools specifically designed to block tracking, such as the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
7. Updates to This Cookie Policy
We may update this cookie policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use, changes in technology, or changes in applicable law. Any updates will be posted on this page, and the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy will be revised accordingly.
We encourage you to review this cookie policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies. If we make material changes to this policy, we will make reasonable efforts to provide notice on our website.
Your continued use of this website after any changes to this cookie policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
8. Further Information and Contact
If you have any questions about this cookie policy, the cookies we use, or how to manage your cookie preferences, please contact us:
- Email: [email protected] (subject line: "Cookie Policy")
- Contact form: yorkcitywalls.com/contact/
For more information about your rights under UK data protection law, please refer to our Privacy Policy. For broader information about cookies and online tracking, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provides a useful guide at ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies/.
For information about our terms of service, affiliate relationships, and other legal matters, please see our Terms and Conditions.