Cookies
This notice explains how we use cookies and similar technologies on our websites and mobile applications to help provide you with the best possible online experience
Your online privacy
You can visit our websites without telling us who you are or revealing any information about yourself.
West Midlands Combined Authority and our partners will treat any personal information about you securely, fairly and lawfully. We are committed to protecting your privacy.
When we ask you for personal information online it will only be in response to you actively applying for or using one of our services.
You can find full details of how we use customer information and our full Privacy Policy above.
Cookies - what are they?
A 'cookie' is a small text file that's stored on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or other device when you visit a website or use an app.
Some of the cookies are necessary for the functionality of the website and they are deleted from your device once you close your browser. These are known as session cookies. Others remain on your device until they expire or you delete them from your cache. These are known as persistent cookies and enable us to remember things about you as a returning visitor.
We use session and persistent cookies to distinguish you from other users. This information helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and it also allows us to improve our website accordingly.
We also use analytical cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
How to control and delete cookies
If you want to restrict or block the cookies we set, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘help’ function within your browser should tell you how.
Cookies - how we use them
If you delete cookies relating to this website we will not remember things about you, including your cookie preferences, and you will be treated as a first-time visitor the next time you visit the site.
We use cookies (and other similar technologies) to:
- Provide services that you request and to provide a secure online environment
- Manage our relationship with you
- Give you a better online experience and track website performance
- Help us make our website more relevant to you
Essential site cookies
These cookies remember your preferences and tailor the website to provide enhanced features. Without these cookies, we cannot remember your choices or personalise your online experience.
We use this type of cookie to:
- Make your online experience faster by remembering you between visits on your personal devices
- Remembering relevant information as you browse from page to page to save you re-entering the same information repeatedly
- Provide enhanced features, such as playing videos or allowing you to post a comment.
| Cookie name | Description |
|---|---|
| AEC |
Security cookie used by Google to ensure that requests within a browsing session are made by the user and not by other sites. This helps prevent malicious sites from acting on behalf of a user without their knowledge. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 6 months |
| CookieControl |
Stores user consent preferences for your website. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| AWSALBTG |
For continued stickiness support with CORS use cases after the Chromium update, we are creating additional stickiness cookies for each of these duration-based stickiness features named AWSELBCORS (ALB). Domain: careers.wmca.org.uk Expiry: Session |
| AWSALBTGCORS |
For continued stickiness support with CORS use cases after the Chromium update, we are creating additional stickiness cookies for each of these duration-based stickiness features named AWSELBCORS (ALB). Domain: careers.wmca.org.uk Expiry: Session |
| HSID |
Contains digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google account ID and the most recent sign-in time. Domain: google.com Expiry2 years |
| youWantTheCookieShown |
Stores user consent preferences for your website. Domain: careers.wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| youWantTheCookie |
Stores user consent preferences for your website. Domain: careers.wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| __session |
Used to manage user sessions in ArcGIS Hub. It helps maintain the user's logged-in status and track their interactions within the platform during a single browsing session. Domain: cleanair.wmca.org.uk Expiry: 30 minutes |
| ASP.NET_SessionId |
ASP.Net_SessionId is a cookie which is used to identify the users session on the server. The session being an area on the server which can be used to store session state in between http requests. Domain: governance.wmca.org.uk Expiry: Session |
| NID |
Used by Google to store user preferences and other information. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 6 months |
| SEARCH_SAMESITE |
This cookie is designed to provide protection against cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 3 months |
| SID |
This cookie helps protect user data and prevent unauthorized access. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
| SIDCC |
It helps in ensuring the security and integrity of user interactions with Google services. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 1 year |
| UMB-XSRF-TOKEN |
It stores the anti-forgery token to prevent cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: session |
| UMB-XSRF-V |
It stores the anti-forgery token to prevent cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: session |
| UMB_UCONTEXT |
Used by CMS for authentication purposes Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: session |
| UMB_UCONTEXT_C |
Used by CMS for authentication purposes Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: session |
| __Secure-1PSID |
It contains digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google Account ID. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
| __Secure-1PSIDCC |
Is used by Google for security purposes. It helps protect user data and prevent unauthorized access by storing digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google Account ID. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
| __Secure-1PSIDTS |
Is used by Google for security purposes. It helps protect user data and prevent unauthorized access by storing digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google Account ID. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
| __Secure-3PSIDCC |
Is used by Google for security purposes. It helps protect user data and prevent unauthorized access by storing digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google Account ID. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
Marketing cookies
Marketing cookies are used to track users' online activities and gather data to create targeted advertisements.
| Cookie name | Description |
|---|---|
| APISID |
Used to personalize Google ads on websites based on recent searches and interactions, particularly when you interact with the YouTube video player. Domain: .google.com Expiry:2 years |
| DSID |
Used to personalize Google ads on websites based on recent searches and interactions, particularly when you interact with the YouTube video player. Domain:.doubleclick.net Expiry:2 weeks |
| _gcl_au |
Used by Google AdSense for experimenting with advertisement efficiency across websites using their services. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 3 months |
| _fbp |
For continued stickiness support with CORS use cases after the Chromium update, we are creating additional stickiness cookies for each of these duration-based stickiness features named AWSELBCORS (ALB). Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: Session |
| IDE |
It helps in delivering targeted ads based on your previous interactions with ads and websites. This cookie tracks the effectiveness of ads and ensures that you see ads relevant to your interests. Domain: .doubleclick.net Expiry:13 months |
| _scid |
Used to help identify a visitor for Snapchat. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| _scid_r |
Stores user consent preferences for your website. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| _tt_enable_cookie |
Tracking cookie used by TikTok to identify a visitor Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| MUID |
Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. These cookies are used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes. Domain: .clarity.ms Expiry: 1 year |
| SAPISID |
Used by Google to display personalized advertisements on Google sites, based on recent searches and previous interactions. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
| SSID |
Is used by Google Ads Optimization to deliver personalized advertisements Domain: .google.com Expiry: 2 years |
| X-AB |
This cookie is used by the website’s operator in context with multi-variate testing. This is a tool used to combine or change content on the website. This allows the website to find the best variation/edition of the site. Domain: sc-static.net Expiry: 24 hours |
| __Secure-1PAPISID |
Is used by Google Ads for targeting purposes. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 24 hours |
| __Secure-3PAPISID |
Is used by Google Ads for targeting purposes. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 13 months |
| __Secure-3PSID |
Is used by Google for targeting purposes. Domain: .google.com Expiry: 13 months |
| _ttp |
Set by TikTok and is used for enhancing and personalizing the advertising experience on the platform. Domain: .google.com, .tiktok.com Expiry: 13 months |
Analytics cookies
These cookies collect aggregated information and are not used to identify you.
We use this type of cookie to understand and analyse how visitors use our online services and look for ways to improve them. For example, a cookie might tell us that lots of people give up on an application process at a particular step – so we can try to make that step easier to complete.
The analytics cookies we use include:
- Google Analytics, which uses cookies to help us analyse how our visitors use the site. Find out more about how these cookies are used on the Google privacy site.
- Adobe Analytics, to improve our websites and services. This service and the cookies it uses help us understand the popularity of our content and make better consumer experiences
- Adalyser, which is an analytics platform we use to measure response to TV advertising.
| Cookie name | Description |
|---|---|
| __RequestVerificationToken |
This is an anti-forgery cookie set by web applications built using ASP.NET MVC technologies. It is designed to stop unauthorised posting of content to a website, known as Cross-Site Request Forgery. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: Session |
| CLID |
This cookie helps identify the first time Clarity saw a user on any site using Clarity, allowing for accurate tracking of user session data across different sites. Domain: www.clarity.ms Expiry: 1 year |
| _clck |
This cookie is installed by Microsoft Clarity to store information of how visitors use a website and help in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| _clsk |
This cookie is installed by Microsoft Clarity to store information of how visitors use a website and help in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| _ga |
Google Analytics: ID used to identify users Domain:.wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 year |
| _ga_* |
Google Analytics: Used to identify and track an individual user session. Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 2 years |
| _gat_* |
Google Analytics: Used to set and get tracking data Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 hour |
| _gid |
Google Analytics: ID used to identify users for 24 hours Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 24 hours |
| _dc_gtm_ |
Google Analytics: Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests Domain: .wmca.org.uk Expiry: 1 minute |
| __adal_ca |
Adalyser: Store which advertising campaign drove a user to visit Domain: .wmca.org.uk Type: Persistent |
| __adal_cw |
Adalyser: Tie back conversion events to earlier visits Domain: .wmca.org.uk Type: Persistent |
| __adal_id |
Adalyser: Uniquely identify a device Domain: .wmca.org.uk Type: Persistent |
| _ScCbts |
Adobe: This cookie helps in collecting data about user interactions on a website, such as page views, clicks, and other user behaviors Domain: .wmca.org.uk Type: Session |
| _hjSessionUser_* |
Hotjar: This cookie stores a unique user ID, which is specific to the site on the browser. This ID helps in tracking user behavior across multiple sessions on the same site Domain: .wmca.org.uk, .hotjar.com Type: 1 year |
| _hjSession_* |
Hotjar: This cookie holds current session data, which includes information about the user's interactions during their visit Domain: .wmca.org.uk, .hotjar.com Type: Session |
| _hp2_id.* |
Hotjar: This cookie stores a unique user ID, which helps in tracking user behavior across multiple sessions on the same site Domain: .hotjar.com Type: 14 months |
| _hp2_props.* |
Hotjar: This cookie stores properties set by the addEventProperties API, which includes details about user interactions and events on the website Domain: .hotjar.com Type: 14 months |
| _hp2_ses_props.* |
Hotjar: This cookie stores session properties, including timestamps and cookie domain/path Domain: .hotjar.com Type: 30 minutes |
| MR |
Used by Microsoft for tracking and analytics purposes. It helps us understand user interactions with Bing services and improve the overall user experience. Domain:.c.bing.com Type:18 months |
| MR |
Is used by Microsoft Clarity for tracking and analytics purposes. It helps us understand user interactions with Clarity services and improve the overall user experience. Domain:.c.clarity.ms Type:18 months |
| _ajs_anonymous_id |
This cookie stores a unique anonymous ID for each user, which helps in tracking user behavior across multiple sessions on the same site Domain:.hotjar.com Type:1 year |
Third party cookies
Please note that during your visits to The West Midlands Combined Authority's websites you may notice some cookies that are not related to The West Midlands Combined Authority or The West Midlands Combined Authority contractors. When you visit a page with content embedded from, for example, YouTube, you may be presented with cookies from these websites. The West Midlands Combined Authority does not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the third party websites for more information about these.
The third-party companies we partner with include:
- Twitter - we may use Twitter’s conversion tracking and tailored audiences products. We and third parties collect user data through their application for purposes of conversion tracking and serving ads targeted to users’ interests. We do not select targeting criteria that could reveal sensitive information about users and don’t subject users to advertising that isn't relevant to our brand. Users can opt out of interest-based advertising through ‘Do Not Track’ functionality in your web browser or through such other methods that Twitter may specify here:https://support.twitter.com/articles/20170405
- Orlo - We may use tracking associated with Orlo, a social media monitoring Dashboard. This allows us to monitor campaign effectiveness of social media click through and conversions on activities on our website. If you would like to disable tracking please visit Stop Tracking at https://orlo.tech/
- Facebook - Facebook provide us with certain features and tools (e.g., pixels, SDKs and APIs) that have been added to our website to allow us to send data about actions that people take on our website ('Event Data') to Facebook to track conversions ('Conversion Tracking') and to create custom audiences of people who have visited our website ('Custom Audiences from your Website').
To read more about Terms For Conversion Tracking, Custom Audiences From Your Website, and Custom Audiences From Your Mobile App visit https://www.facebook.com/customaudiences/app/tos/
How do I change my cookie settings?
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the ‘C’ icon. You can then adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’, then clicking ‘Save and close’. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
How to reject cookies
The West Midlands Combined Authority will not use cookies to collect personal identifiable information about you and we recommend that you allow the use of cookies. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set on The West Midlands Combined Authority website, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
For more information about 'cookies' and how to reject them, please see the Interactive Advertising Bureau's website: http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
Questions regarding our Privacy Policy should be addressed to the Data Protection Officer at The West Midlands Combined Authority, 16 Summer Lane, Birmingham B19 3SD.