Privacy & Cookies
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is committed to employing best practice in all its activities.
Visitors to NPL's website can be assured that protection of privacy and confidentiality are given the highest consideration.
Anonymous information is collected through the monitoring of server log files, such as the number of visitors to the website in a given period, but it is purely statistical and cannot be used to identify an individual user. We use IP addresses from log files to analyse trends and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.
Visitors interested in NPL can provide contact details via fill-in forms available on the site. Visitors cannot be contacted unless such information is given. Visitors are also invited to give additional company information but a decision not to do so does not affect any subsequent negotiations or discussions.
Any queries relating to NPL's collection or use of personal information should be sent to the NPL Data Protection Officer.
E-mail: datapro@npl.co.uk
Cookies on the NPL site
We do not store any personally identifiable information about our visitors via cookies.
When you visit the NPL website, if your browser is using the standard settings and it is accepting cookies, you are giving consent for cookies on the NPL site to be stored on your computer. If you do not wish for this to happen, you can disable them in the settings of your browser.
What are cookies?
The NPL website uses cookies. Cookies are small, text-only strings of data which store information on the hard drive of your local computer or mobile device. Some cookies store data just for the time you are on the site. These are called session cookies and are not stored on your computer after you have left the site.
These cookies do not contain any personal data about you individually. Most internet browsers are pre-set to accept cookies but if you prefer not to receive cookies, you can adjust your browser to refuse cookies, or to warn you when they are being used. Visit http://www.aboutcookies.org for more information on managing cookies.
Cookies set on the NPL site
In the light of new legislation NPL is providing a register of the cookies which are currently deployed on our site:
Google Analytics:
We use Google Analytics to collect information about site usage and performance. This helps us better understand our users and their needs so that we can continue to improve the services we provide. We also use this information to report to funders such as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The analytics cookies collect information such as the number of visits to the site, pages visited and international traffic. This information is anonymous and cannot be used to identify you personally.
|
Name |
Description |
Longevity |
Domain |
|
__utma |
Stores non-personal data about visits to the site for statistical reporting |
Long term typically 2 years |
npl.co.uk |
|
__utmb |
Stores non-personal data about visits to the site for statistical reporting |
Short - typically 1 day |
npl.co.uk |
|
__utmc |
Stores non-personal data about visits to the site for statistical reporting |
During visit only |
npl.co.uk |
|
__utmz |
Stores non-personal data about visits to the site for statistical reporting |
Typically 6 months |
npl.co.uk |
You can opt out of Google Analytics monitoring here
Kiss metrics
We use this software to run surveys on the NPL site occasionally. This information allows us to monitor and improve the features on our site. Any data collected by these surveys is anonymous and no-one can be personally identified from it.
|
Name |
Description |
Longevity |
Domain |
|
ki_u |
Stores non-personal data about responses to site surveys |
Long-term typically 20 years |
npl.co.uk |
|
ki_t |
Stores non-personal data about responses to site surveys |
Long-term typically 4 years |
npl.co.uk |
You can view Kiss Insights Privacy Policy here
AddThis
An AddThis social sharing toolbar is found on icon bar at the bottom of the site. It allows visitors to share our content on the social network of their choice. None of the data that is collected from this service is personally identifiable.
|
Name |
Description |
Longevity |
Domain |
|
_atuvc |
Allows user to see accurate share numbers in AddThis widget. |
Long-term typically 2 years |
npl.co.uk |
You can opt out of AddThis data collection here
Session cookie
A cookie is set by our content management system to manage some of the user data for the session only.
|
Name |
Description |
Longevity |
Domain |
|
PHPSESSID |
Set by the NPL CMS |
During visit only |
npl.co.uk |
Publications download
|
Name |
Description |
Longevity |
Domain |
|
npl_doc_download |
Cookie set when signing up to download NPL PDFs. Allows user to download PDFs without entering their details for 6 months. |
6 months |
publications.npl.co.uk |
Cookies set by third-party services
On some areas of the site we use third party multimedia services to support our work. Often these will be embedded material hosted on other sites or services provided by external sites. These external sites may present you with cookies. NPL doesn't control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.
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Service |
Usage |
More information |
|
AddThis |
Social sharing toolbar found in icon bar |
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YouTube |
Display embedded video on the site |
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Scribd |
Display embedded documents on site |
|
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Flickr |
Display slideshows or individual images hosted on Flickr |
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Facebook 'like' feature |
Allows users to 'like' NPL content on Facebook |
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Twitter button |
Allows users to tweet NPL content onto Twitter |