Cookies Policy
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help us remember your preferences, understand how you use our site, and improve your overall experience.
Some cookies are essential for our site to work properly. Others help us improve performance, personalise content, or support marketing and analytics efforts.
Why we use cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies to:
- Ensure site functionality: Keep our website secure and operational
- Improve performance: Understand how people navigate our site so we can optimise it
- Personalise your experience: Remember settings and preferences
- Support marketing and advertising: Show relevant content and measure campaign effectiveness
Types of cookies we use
Type of cookie |
Purpose |
Essential |
Required for basic site features such as page navigation and log-ins. |
Analytics and Performance |
Help us understand how visitors interact with our site (e.g. Google Analytics). |
Functional |
Enable site personalisation like remembering your preferences. |
Advertising and targeting |
Used to show you relevant ads on other websites and social platforms. |
IFGlobal cookies
The cookies we use on our website and their purposes are as set out in the following table.
Cookie name |
Vendor |
Purpose |
__cfduid |
Cloudflare |
Detection of malicious actors. |
__cf_bm |
Cloudflare |
Placed on end-user devices that access customer sites protected by Bot Management or Bot Fight Mode. This cookie is necessary for these bot solutions to function properly. |
__cfuvid |
Cloudflare |
First-party cookie used by Cloudflare, a content delivery network, to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address. |
__hs_opt_out |
HubSpot |
Used by the cookie banner to remember not to ask the visitor to accept cookies again. |
_hs_cookie_cat_pref |
HubSpot |
Saves the preferences chosen by the visitor from the cookie banner. |
laboratory-anonymous-id |
HubSpot |
Session-based cookie platform to show and group individual user sessions in an anonymous and non-identifiable way, to allow HubSpot.com to work properly. It's discarded at the end of a session. |
hs_login_email |
HubSpot |
Verifies the user's email for log-in purposes to the HubSpot product. |
hsgn |
HubSpot |
Necessary for login to the HubSpot product |
ak_bmsc |
Akami |
Used by Akamai to optimize site security by distinguishing between humans and bots. bm_sv. |
Hubspotapi |
HubSpot |
Allows the user to access the app with the correct permissions. |
Hubspotapi-csrf |
HubSpot |
Used for CSRF prevention - preventing third-party websites from accessing your data. |
Hubspotapi-lax |
HubSpot |
Test cookie HubSpot uses to identify if the user’s browser accepts SameSite Lax cookies. It helps determine if HubSpot can make the Hubspotapi cookie SameSite Lax in the future, which is currently set as SameSite None. |
Hubspotapi-prefs |
HubSpot |
Used with the Hubspotapi cookie to remember whether the user checked the remember me box (controls the expiration of the main cookie's authentication). |
Hubspotapi-strict |
HubSpot |
Similar to Hubspotapi-lax, a test cookie that HubSpot uses to identify if the user’s browser accepts SameSite Strict cookies. This determines if HubSpot can make the Hubspotapi cookie SameSite Strict in the future, which is currently set as SameSite None. |
hs_langswitcher_choice |
HubSpot |
Sets browser language for users. |
Hubspotutk |
HubSpot |
Tracks a visitor's identity. It's passed to HubSpot on form submission and used when deduplicating contacts. It contains an opaque GUID to represent the current visitor. |
gbu9uvfhph6a0mdatwbzomssrlboczvs |
E-Hawk Talon |
Used to prevent fraudulent signups on sign-up pages. Expires at the end of the session. |
AWSALB |
Amazon Web Services (AWS) |
Load-balancing cookie used by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to manage traffic distribution across multiple instances of an application. It's generated and managed by the Application Load Balancer and helps route traffic to the most appropriate server to ensure a smooth user experience, especially during periods of high traffic. |
AWSALBCORS |
Amazon Web Services (AWS) |
Used by websites to ensure a smooth and efficient user experience. It was created by Amazon as part of its web services unit for applications that use load balancers. This particular cookie acts like a traffic controller, performing the function of load balancing. |
LiSESSIONID |
Khoros |
Session management cookie, often set by sites using the Khoros platform or similar. It is used to identify a user's session on a particular community or website, ensuring that the user remains logged in across multiple pages. This cookie is typically associated with the user's session and expires when the session ends. |
LithiumVisitor |
Khoros |
Used by Khoros to compute billing visits, registered billing visits, visits, registered visits, and unique visitors metrics. The cookie is encrypted and stores when it was first issued, when it was last seen by Khoros, and a unique visitor ID (unique per visitor’s browser). |
Cookie name |
Vendor |
Purpose |
_ga |
|
The main cookie used by Google Analytics. Enables the service to distinguish one visitor from another. |
_gid |
|
Used for Google Analytics to store and update a unique value for each page visited. |
__hssc |
HubSpot |
Tracks sessions. This is used to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie. It contains the domain, viewCount (increments each pageView in a session), and session start timestamp. It expires in 30 minutes. |
__hssrc |
HubSpot |
Whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser. If this cookie doesn't exist when HubSpot manages cookies, it's considered a new session. It contains the value "1" when present. Expires at the end of the session. |
__hstc |
HubSpot |
The main cookie used for tracking visitors. Contains the domain, HubSpotutk, initial timestamp (first visit), last timestamp (last visit), current timestamp (this visit), and session number (increments for each subsequent session). Expires in six months. |
hs-messages-is-open |
HubSpot |
Used to determine and save whether the chat widget is open for future visits. It's set in your visitor's browser when they start a new chat, and resets to re-close the widget after 30 minutes of inactivity. |
__utma |
|
Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exist. This is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
_conv_r |
Convert |
Stores referral data for the current visitor. This data includes the source of the referral (e.g., domain name), the medium used (e.g., email, social media), and any search terms associated with the referral. The cookie is overwritten each time a visitor comes from a new referrer. |
Third-party cookies
Some cookies on our site are set by third-party services we use, such as:
- Analytics platforms (e.g. Google Analytics)
- Advertising networks
- Embedded video or content providers
These third parties may use their own cookies in line with their respective privacy policies.
Managing your cookie preferences
You have choices when it comes to cookies:
- Cookie Banner: When you first visit our site, you’ll be asked to set your cookie preferences via our cookie banner.
- Browser Settings: You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Visit allaboutcookies.org for guidance.
- Global Privacy Control (GPC): We recognise GPC signals to opt you out of the sale or sharing of personal data, where applicable.
- Targeted Ads: You can opt out of interest-based advertising using tools from:
- Network Advertising Initiative
- Digital Advertising Alliance
- YourOnlineChoices (EU)
Please note: Disabling cookies may affect how our site functions.
How long cookies stay on your device
Some cookies are temporary ("session cookies") and are deleted when you close your browser. Others are stored for longer ("persistent cookies") and remain until they expire or you delete them.
Changes to this policy
We may update this Cookies Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, law, or our practices. When we do, we’ll revise the "Effective Date" at the top of the page. We recommend reviewing this page regularly.
Contact us
Have questions or concerns about our use of cookies?
Email: DPO@ifglobal.com
Phone: 01425 200 200
Address: IFGlobal, The Runway, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 4FL, United Kingdom.