Cookie Policy
Cookie Policy
Find out what cookies are and how they are used on this website
Last updated: 17-10-2025
Like many websites, visitglasgow.com (the Service) uses small files called cookies to help provide the best possible online experience for you.
Our Cookies Policy explains what cookies are, how we use cookies, how third parties we may partner with may use cookies on the Service, your choices regarding cookies and further information about cookies.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of text sent by your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the Service or a third-party to recognise you and make your next visit easier and the Service more useful to you.
Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" cookies.
Persistent cookies continue to exist after you finish your website visit. They are eventually deleted, often after 6 months or longer. They are used to help the Service recognise when you return so that it can remember things like your preferences, or who you are.
Session cookies are deleted automatically soon after you finish your website visit, usually within 30 minutes. They are used to help the Service to remember the status of your current visit, for example, a session ID might be stored to ensure you remain logged in.
You can remove cookies from your device at any time, and your device will automatically delete expired cookies.
Types of cookies
Cookies can be set in two ways - some are set by the Service itself. Others are set by other services which may be used bring enhanced functionality.
· First-party cookies: These cookies are set directly by the Service. Only the Service can read them.
· Third-party cookies: These cookies are set by other digital services and are accessible only by those digital services. For example, if a webpage contains an embedded YouTube video, YouTube may set its own cookies to enable the video to work correctly. Some cookies are set by services used to provide a better experience for you. For example, Google Analytics is a common service used to understand how users interact with websites so the website owners can make improvements, so the website is easier to use. Some cookies are set by services for advertising purposes. For example, and advertising platform may set a cookie so that it recognises a user across different websites. It is not the Service which sets these third-party cookies.
Legal Basis for Cookie Processing
Under data protection law, we must have a valid legal basis for processing personal data through cookies. Different types of cookies rely on different legal bases:
Strictly necessary cookies
We process these cookies based on legitimate interests. We have a legitimate interest in ensuring our website functions properly and securely for all users. These cookies are essential for the website to work and cannot be switched off.
Some examples of how we use these cookies are:
· To remember your preferences (for example, whether you have given your consent for cookies to be set)
· Remembering security settings that affect access to certain content, for example, whether you are logged in.
Functional cookies
We process these cookies based on legitimate interests where they are necessary for embedded functionality you have requested (such as maps or videos). For other functional cookies that are not essential, we rely on your consent.
These cookies might be used to provide functionality and are set by third-party services that provide embedded functionality on our website, such as authentication services, maps, or other integrated features. They enable these services to work properly within our website.
For example:
· enabling embedded video
These cookies remember that you have visited the site before so that messages for new visitors are not repeated to you. These cookies enable enhanced functionality and features on our website, often through third-party services.
Performance preferences cookies
We process these cookies based on your consent. These cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it, but they are not essential for the website to function. You can choose whether to allow these cookies.
Any performance cookies we use collect anonymised data to protect your identity. We do not collect any data on age, gender, sex, political or religious beliefs, nationality, or postcodes through cookies.
Personalised marketing cookies
We process these cookies based on your consent. Some websites use advertising networks to show you specially targeted adverts when you visit. These networks may also be able to track your browsing across different sites.
Cookies are widely used in online advertising. Neither the Service nor its advertising partners can gain personally identifiable information from these cookies.
Consent management cookies
We process these cookies based on legitimate interests. We have a legitimate interest in remembering and respecting your cookie choices to comply with data protection law.
These cookies store and manage your preferences about which types of cookies we can set on your device. They help ensure we respect your choices about data collection and processing.
Legitimate interests
When we rely on legitimate interests, we have carefully balanced our interests against your privacy rights. When we rely on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time using our cookie management tools.
How you consent
When you visit the Service for the first time, you are presented with a banner on the website that asks you to decide what categories of cookies you are comfortable to consent to being set for the Service. Once you have made a choice, it is remembered each time you visit the Service, so long as you visit is less than one year since your previous visit.
You can edit or withdraw consent at any time by using the consent management function in this cookies policy (at the bottom of the policy text.
If you clear your cookies, or return to the Service more than one year since your previous visit, then the cookie we set to remember your consent decision will have been deleted and will we show you the cookie banner again and ask for your consent once more.
The cookies we set
Strictly necessary cookies
These essential cookies do things that are required for the website to function. They always need to be on.
Name | Data Stored | Purpose | Duration |
ARRAffinity | Session identifier | Ensures requests from the same user session are directed to the same server for consistent performance | Session – deleted when you close the browser window |
ARRAffinitySameSite | Session identifier | Works with ARRAffinity to maintain server affinity with enhanced security settings | Session – deleted when you close the browser window |
UMB_UCONTEXT | User session information | Stores user session information for the Umbraco content management system to maintain login state and user preferences | Session – deleted when you close the browser window |
Performance preferences cookies
Performance cookies are used to measure the performance of our website and make improvements. Your personal data is not identified. You consent to or decline these cookies through the cookies consent banner. Under GDPR, we must ask for your consent before setting these cookies.
Name | Data Stored | Purpose | Duration |
_ga | The client ID is stored in the Google Analytics cookie | enables a service to distinguish one visitor from another | 2 years |
ga9L09B23Q8Q | Google Analytics 4 property-specific data | Google Analytics 4 property-specific cookie that stores and counts page views | 2 years |
gclau | Google Analytics conversion data | Google Analytics cookie used for conversion tracking and attribution | 3 months |
Personalised marketing cookies
We work with advertising partners to show you ads for our products and services across the web. You can choose whether we collect and share that data with our partners below. You consent to or decline these cookies through the cookies consent banner. Under GDPR, we must ask for your consent before setting these cookies.
Name | Data Stored | Purpose | Duration |
_fbp | store and track visits across websites | Marketing/Tracking | 3 months |
tt_viewer | Teads advertising data | Teads advertising platform cookie for displaying and measuring video advertising effectiveness | 1 year |
tfpsi | User engagement data | Tracking cookie for measuring user engagement and advertising performance | 1 year |
sjrn_ccid | Visitor tracking data across sites | Registers data on visitors from multiple visits and on multiple websites. This information is used to measure the efficiency of advertisement on websites | 1 year |
anj | Advertising targeting data | Advertising network cookie used for targeting and measuring ad effectiveness | 3 months |
ar_debug | DoubleClick debugging data | Debugging cookie for Google DoubleClick advertising platform | 1 year |
cid | Sojern customer identifier | Sojern customer identifier for travel advertising targeting | 1 year |
gadex | Sojern advertising exchange data | Sojern advertising exchange cookie for programmatic advertising | 1 year |
IDE | DoubleClick targeting data | Google DoubleClick cookie for advertising targeting and frequency capping | 13 months |
receive-cookie-deprecation | Cookie transition data | Google cookie deprecation testing and transition management | 6 months |
uuid2 | Xandr user identifier | Xandr unique user identifier for advertising targeting | 3 months |
XANDR_PANID | Xandr audience network data | Xandr publisher audience network identifier for advertising | 3 months |
xdr | Sojern cross-device data | Sojern cross-device recognition cookie for advertising attribution | 1 year |
DV | Google data validation | Google data validation cookie for advertising measurement | 1 day |
Consent management cookies
These cookies store your preferences about cookie usage and help us comply with data protection regulations.
Name | Data Stored | Purpose | Duration |
.VisitGlasgow.Consent | User consent preferences | Stores user consent preferences for cookie usage and data processing | 1 year |
Functional cookies
These cookies provide enhanced functionality and features on our website, often through third-party services.
Name | Data Stored | Purpose | Duration |
__Secure-1PSIDTS | Google authentication data | Google secure authentication cookie with enhanced security features | 1 year |
__Secure-3PAPISID | Google API authentication | Google API services authentication cookie for secure access to Google services | Up to 2 years |
__Secure-3PSID | Google session identifier | Google secure session identifier with enhanced security settings | Up to 2 years |
__Secure-3PSIDCC | Google session validation | Google secure session validation cookie | 1 year |
__Secure-3PSIDTS | Google timestamp authentication | Google secure timestamp authentication cookie | 1 year |
__Secure-ENID | Google encrypted identifier | Google encrypted identifier cookie for personalisation and security | Up to 2 years |
AEC | Google security data | Google cookie for security purposes to protect users from malicious activity | 6 months |
APISID | Google API authentication | Google API authentication cookie for accessing Google services | Up to 2 years |
HSID | Google authentication data | Google authentication cookie for user identification | Up to 2 years |
NID | Google preferences and ads data | Google cookie that stores user preferences and personalises ads on Google properties | 6 months |
SAPISID | Google secure API data | Google secure API authentication cookie | Up to 2 years |
SEARCH_SAMESITE | Google search preferences | Google search preferences cookie with same-site security settings | 3 months |
SID | Google session identifier | Google session identifier cookie | Up to 2 years |
SIDCC | Google session validation | Google session validation cookie for security purposes | 1 year |
SSID | Google secure session data | Google secure session identifier cookie | Up to 2 years |
Data retention
The data collected through cookies is retained for different periods depending on the type of cookie and its purpose:
Cookie Lifetime: Each cookie has its own expiration period, as shown in the tables above. When a cookie expires, it is automatically deleted from your device.
Data Processing: The information collected by cookies may be processed and stored by us and our partners for longer periods than the cookie lifetime itself. For example:
Analytics data collected by Google Analytics is retained for 26 months after collection
Advertising data collected by our marketing partners is typically retained according to their own retention policies, usually between 12-24 months
Essential website data is retained only as long as necessary to provide the service you requested
Your Control: You can delete cookies from your device at any time through your browser settings, which will stop the cookie from collecting new information. However, data already collected may continue to be processed according to the retention periods above.
Regular Review: We regularly review the data we hold and delete information that is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.
For more information about how long specific partners retain your data, please refer to their privacy policies: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Sojern, and Teads.
Third-party data sharing
When you visit our website, some of the cookies we use share information with third-party partners to provide services and functionality. Here's what information is shared and with whom:
Analytics partners
Google Analytics: Receives anonymised information about your website usage, including pages visited, time spent on site, and general location data. This helps us understand how our website is used and make improvements. Their legal basis for receiving this data is your consent to performance cookies.
Advertising partners
Facebook/Meta: Receives information about your website visits to help show you relevant advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. Their legal basis for receiving this data is your consent to marketing cookies.
Google DoubleClick: Receives browsing behaviour data to deliver targeted advertising and measure campaign effectiveness. Their legal basis for receiving this data is your consent to marketing cookies.
Microsoft Advertising (Xandr): Receives user interaction data for advertising targeting and performance measurement. Their legal basis for receiving this data is your consent to marketing cookies.
Sojern: Receives travel-related browsing data to show you relevant tourism and travel advertisements. Their legal basis for receiving this data is your consent to marketing cookies.
Teads: Receives website engagement data for video advertising delivery and measurement. Their legal basis for receiving this data is your consent to marketing cookies.
Service providers
Google Services: Various Google services receive authentication and functionality data to enable embedded features like maps, videos, or other Google-powered tools on our website. Their legal basis for receiving this data is legitimate interest, where you have requested the embedded functionality.
Azure (Microsoft): Receives technical data necessary for website hosting and performance. Their legal basis for receiving this data is legitimate interest.
Data types shared
The information shared typically includes browser identifiers, website usage patterns, and general location data. We do not share personally identifiable information like names, email addresses, or phone numbers through cookies.
Your control of third-party data sharing
You can control what data is shared by managing your cookie preferences. Declining marketing cookies will prevent most advertising data sharing, while functional cookies enable the embedded services you see on our website.
International data transfers
Some of the cookies on our website are set by companies based outside the UK and European Economic Area, including the United States. When you accept these cookies, your information may be transferred to and processed in countries that may not have the same data protection standards as the UK. These transfers are made with appropriate safeguards in place, such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions, to ensure your personal data remains protected in accordance with UK and EU data protection requirements.
How We Use Cookie Data
We only use the information collected by cookies for the specific purposes stated in this policy. We do not:
Use analytics cookies for advertising purposes
Share marketing cookie data beyond the stated advertising partners
Combine cookie data in ways that weren't disclosed to you
Use essential cookies for tracking or marketing
If we want to use cookie data for new purposes, we will update this policy and, where required by law, seek your fresh consent.
Children's privacy
Under UK GDPR, and in many EU member states, children under 13 require parental consent for data processing. In some EU member states, this age may be 16.
If you are under 13 years old, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission before using this website or providing any personal information to us.
If you are 13-15 years old, you should discuss with your parent or guardian before accepting cookies on this website, especially marketing cookies that track your browsing.
What does this mean (explanation for younger readers): Cookies are small files that help websites work and remember things about your visit. Some cookies help the website work properly (these are always on), while others are used to show you advertisements or understand how people use the website (you can choose whether to have these).
For parents and guardians: We take children's privacy seriously. If you have concerns about your child's use of this website or our cookie practices, please contact us at info@glasgowlife.org.uk. You can help your child manage cookie settings through their web browser or our cookie preference centre.
What are your choices regarding cookies?
If you would like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, you can do this for any website by visiting the help pages of your web browser.
Please note, however, that if you delete cookies or refuse to accept them, you might not be able to use all the features we offer, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our pages might not display properly.
At the end of this cookie policy, we provide a mechanism for you to accept or refuse cookies for the Service. Using this method rather than your browser's in-built blocking will enable you to block categories of cookies but keep others active. This will help you to preserve the functionality of the site.
To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
If you have questions or concerns about how we use cookies, please write to us at info@glasgowlife.org.uk.