Cookie policy

Cookies are tiny files that are installed on your web browser, whether on a desktop, tablet or mobile device, when you visit a website. They let websites recognise that a user on an individual computer has previously visited the site. Cookies save information about that user session for use during future website visits.

On this page:

Cookie consent

We provide a tool that lets you choose which cookies to accept, apart from 'necessary cookies' needed to make the site work properly. Web browsers give you different ways to set up how they handle cookies. This can vary from only allowing cookies from websites that you trust to blocking all cookies.

Here are official instructions for the most popular browsers:

For more advice on managing cookies, visit the All About Cookies website.

Return to in-page menu

Changes to this policy

In line with changing legal requirements, we will update the Macular Society’s cookie policy as the need arises.

Page last updated: 22 January 2024
Next scheduled review: 22 April 2024

Return to in-page menu

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as page navigation and access to secure areas. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.

Cookie Control by Civic

This tool gives you control over the cookies you allow when you visit our website.

Cookie Purpose Duration
CookieControl This cookie records the categories of cookies that you choose to allow or block from other service providers we use. Persistent

Umbraco

Umbraco is our website technology platform. We use it to serve static web pages, online forms, site search and our shop.

Cookie Purpose Duration
n/a n/a n/a

Azure

Our site is hosted on Azure, Microsoft's cloud hosting solution.

Cookie Purpose Duration
ARRAffinity, ARRAffinitySameSite Azure Web Sites for load balancing our application and ensures that, during any browsing session, the visitor's page requests are forwarded to the same server Session

ASP NET Core

ASP NET Core is the open-source version of ASP.NET, the popular web-development framework for building web apps on the .NET platform.
Umbraco makes use of ASP NET Core functionality.

Cookie Purpose Duration
ai_session, ai_user

SessionTelemetryInitializer updates the Id property of the Session context for all telemetry items with value extracted from the ai_session cookie generated by the ApplicationInsights JavaScript instrumentation code running in the user's browser.

UserTelemetryInitializer updates the Id and AcquisitionDate properties of User context for all telemetry items with values extracted from the ai_user cookie generated by the Application Insights JavaScript instrumentation code running in the user's browser.

Session
.AspNetCore.Mvc.
CookieTempDataProvider

Determines the settings used to create the cookie in CookieTempDataProvider.

SameSite defaults to Lax. Setting this to Strict may cause browsers to not send back the cookie to the server in an OAuth login flow. SecurePolicy defaults to SameAsRequest. HttpOnly defaults to true. IsEssential defaults to false, This property is only considered when a user opts into the CookiePolicyMiddleware. If you are using this middleware and want to use CookieTempDataProvider, then either set this property to true or request user consent for non-essential cookies.

Session
.AspNetCore.Antiforgery Determines the settings used to create the antiforgery cookies. Session

Stripe

We use Stripe to process credit or debit card transactions:

  • donations
  • shop purchases
  • joining the Macular Society as a paid member
  • renewing subscriptions 
Cookie Purpose Duration
__stripe_mid Stripe is used for credit card payments. Stripe uses a cookie to remember who you are and to enable our website to process payments without storing any credit card information on its our servers. One year
__stripe_sid Stripe is used for credit card payments. Stripe uses a cookie to remember who you are and to enable our website to process payments without storing any credit card information on its our servers. One hour

Recaptcha

Cookie Purpose Duration
_GRECAPTCHA This cookie provides our forms with spam protection. reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis. Session

Custom cookies

Cookie Purpose Duration
_FPC This cookie saves, and passes entered data between forms. Session

Return to in-page menu

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage.

Adalyser

We use Adalyser to measure the effectiveness of TV advertising.

Cookie Purpose Duration
__adal_ca This cookie stores traffic source/campaign data, for the purposes of being able to see which advertising campaign drove a user to visit our site. Two years
__adal_cw This cookie stores visit timestamp data, for the purpose of tying back conversion events to earlier visits. Two years
__adal_id This cookie stores the device ID (generated), in order to uniquely identify a device. Two years
__adal_ses This cookie determines whether there is a currently active session. When this cookie expires, the session ends. Two years

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics (GA) to track website user interaction. We use this data to determine the number of people using our site, to better understand how they find and use our web pages and to see their journey through the website. Although GA records user data such as your geographical location, device, internet browser and operating system, none of this information personally identifies you to us. GA also records your computer’s IP address but Google does not grant us access to this.

Cookie Purpose Duration
_ga This cookie contains a unique identifier used by Google Analytics to determine that two distinct hits belong to the same user across browsing sessions. One year
_gid This contains a unique identifier used by Google Analytics to determine that two distinct hits belong to the same user across browsing sessions. One day
__utma This  is used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. Two years
__utmt This is used to throttle the request rate. 10 minutes
__utmb This is used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. 30 minutes
__utmc This is not used in ga.js. It is set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the__utmbcookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit.  
__utmz This stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. Six months
__utmv This is used to store visitor-level custom variable data. The cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. Two years

Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager to manage efficiently all the third-party code we add to our website. This code is required by the traffic analysis and online advertising services we use.

Cookie Purpose Duration
gat_UA-164642617-1 This is our account ID, used to control the request rate. Session
_dc_gtm_ This is used to control the request rate. One mo
_gac_ This contains campaign-related information for the user. 90 days
_gat This is used to control the request rate. One minute
_gcl_au This is used for storing and tracking conversions. Persistent

Hotjar

We use Hotjar to analyse how well particular pages or sections of our website are working.

Cookie Purpose Duration
_hjClosedSurveyInvites This cookie is set once a visitor interacts with an External Link Survey invitation modal. It is used to ensure that the same invite does not reappear if it has already been shown. One year
_hjDonePolls This is set once a visitor completes a survey using the On-site Survey widget. It is used to ensure that the same survey does not reappear if it has already been filled in. One year
_hjMinimizedPolls This cookie is set once a visitor minimizes an On-site Survey widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimized when the visitor navigates through your site. One year
_hjShownFeedbackMessage This is set when a visitor minimizes or completes Incoming Feedback. This is done so that the Incoming Feedback will load as minimized immediately if the visitor navigates to another page where it is set to show. One year
_hjid This stores the unique user ID. One year
_hjRecordingLastActivity This should be found in Session storage (as opposed to cookies). This gets updated when a visitor recording starts and when data is sent through the WebSocket (the visitor performs an action that Hotjar records). Session
_hjTLDTest When the Hotjar script executes, we try to determine the most generic cookie path we should use, instead of the page hostname. This is done so that cookies can be shared across subdomains (where applicable). To determine this, we try to store the _hjTLDTest cookie for different URL substring alternatives until it fails. After this check, the cookie is removed. Session
_hjUserAttributesHash User Attributes sent through the Hotjar Identify API are cached for the duration of the session in order to know when an attribute has changed and needs to be updated. Session
_hjCachedUserAttributes This cookie stores User Attributes which are sent through the Hotjar Identify API, whenever the user is not in the sample. These attributes will only be saved if the user interacts with a Hotjar Feedback tool. Session
_hjLocalStorageTest This cookie is used to check if the Hotjar Tracking Script can use local storage. If it can, a value of 1 is set in this cookie. The data stored in_hjLocalStorageTest has no expiration time, but it is deleted almost immediately after it is created. <100 miliseconds
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the data sampling defined by your site's pageview limit. 30 minutes
_hjIncludedInSessionSample This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit. 30 minutes
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress The cookie is set so Hotjar can track the beginning of the user's journey for a total session count. It does not contain any identifiable information. Session

Clarity

We use Clarity to analyse how well particular pages or sections of our website are working, using heatmaps, session recordings and more.

Read more about Clarity cookies.

_clck Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site is attributed to the same user ID. 1 year
_clsk Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording. 1 day
CLID Identifies the first-time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity. 1 year
ANONCHK Indicates whether MUID is transferred to ANID, a cookie used for advertising. Clarity doesn't use ANID and so this is always set to 0. 10 minutes
MR Indicates whether to refresh MUID. 7 days
MUID Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. These cookies are used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes. 1 year
SM Used in synchronizing the MUID across Microsoft domains. Session



VWO

We sometimes use VWO for A/B testing, to analyse how well particular pages or sections of our website are working. VWO uses persistent visitor-level and local storage cookies to understand visitors’ behaviour and track visitor journeys on the website to deliver the best experience. 

Read more about VWO cookies.

Cookie Purpose Duration
First Party Cookies  

 

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_

goal_{GOALID}

This cookie is created when a campaign goal is triggered. This cookie, when created, will always have a value of 1

100 Days

_vis_opt_test_cookie This cookie is created to detect if the cookies are enabled on the visitor’s browser or not. It also helps in tracking the number of browser sessions a visitor has gone through. The value of this cookie is always 1 Expires on browser close

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_

combi

This cookie is created when a visitor is chosen for a particular variation for a test. This cookie makes sure that visitors see the same variation when they revisit the page in the future. Here the Control has a value of 1, Variation #1 has a value of 2, Variation #2 has a value of 3, and so on

100 Days

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_

exclude

This cookie is created when a visitor has been excluded from a Test Campaign due to the traffic percentage specifications. The value is always 1 100 Days

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}_

split

This cookie is created when one of the variations is chosen for the visitor, but the visitor is not yet redirected to the variation page. It exists so that VWO can verify that the variation page corresponds to the chosen variation after landing on the page. The value is >=2 (as 1 corresponds to Control and it’s not created in case the Control is chosen)
This cookie is created only for Split URL campaigns.
100 Days

_vis_opt_s

This cookie tracks session created for a visitor, i.e., the number of times the browser was closed and reopened. The value is >=1, followed by a pipe sign. For example, the value of 2 indicates that the visitor restarted the browser once while 3 means twice

100 days

_vis_opt_out

This cookie indicates that the visitor should not be made part of any campaign. Its value is 1

10 years

_vwo_uuid

This cookie generates a unique id for every visitor and is used for the report segmentation feature in VWO, and it also allows you to view data in a more refined manner

10 Years

_vwo_uuid_{CAMPAIGNID}

This cookie is created for each cross-domain campaign. It generates a unique id for every visitor and is used for the report segmentation feature in VWO, and it also allows you to view data in a more refined manner

10 Years

_vwo_ds

This cookie stores persistent visitor-level data for VWO Insights Depends on the retention period of the account 

_vwo_sn

This cookie stores session-level information 30 mins and reset again to 30 mins on visitor activity

_vwo_uuid_v2

This cookie calculates unique traffic on a website

366 Days

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}

_combi_choose

This cookie stores the chosen combination. It’s a temporary cookie that gets deleted when the campaign changes are applied Persists until campaign changes are applied

_vwo_referrer

This cookie stores referral info allowing VWO to identify the original Traffic source in case of the Split URL campaign
This cookie is created only for Split URL campaigns but can be read by all campaign types.

15 secs

_vwo

 

This cookie is a jar of all the cookies. It is currently created only for the Safari browser. In the future, it would replace all the cookies. The actual expiry of a cookie doesn’t matter as it stores the expiry of cookies set in it and keeps on expiring them

Expires in 2096 Years

wingify_push_db_status

This cookie stores the subscription sync status of the subscriber with VWO Engage’s Server

10000 Days

wingify_push_subscription

_id

 

This cookie stores the subscription ID to uniquely identify the subscriber generated by the browser

10000 Days

wingify_push_subscription

_endpoint

This cookie stores the subscription endpoint of the subscription object specific to the browser(Chrome/Firefox)

10000 Days

pushcrew_opt_out

This cookie is used for opting-out 

10000 Days

wingify_push_do_not_show

_notification_popup

This cookie stores the information if the first-step opt-in should show up or not. Valid only for 2 Step Opt-in

14 Days

pshcrw_update_subId

This cookie is used for retrying the storage of subscriptions with VWO Engage’s Server. Used only in cases when the server is not reachable due to network issues

10000 Days

wingify_push_subscription

_status

This cookie stores the information if the visitor is subscribed or unsubscribed to VWO Engage

10000 Days

wingify_push_subscriber

_lang

This cookie stores the subscriber's browser language

10000 Days

wingify_donot_track

_actions

This cookie persists the information that subscriber actions should be tracked

10000 Days

wingify_do_not_show

_chicklet

This cookie is used to decide if the chicklet for opting to notifications should be shown or not

10000 Days

_wingify_pc_uuid

This cookie stores the subscriber ID to uniquely identify the subscriber. VWO generates this randomly

10000 Days

wingifyEcomData-*

This cookie is persisted when the subscriber becomes part of Shopify segments created through VWO Engage App

10000 Days

wingify_push_gcm_id

This cookie stores the FCM ID of the customer to identify which FCM key was used for subscribing

10000 Days

wingifyRetrySegment-*

This cookie is persisted when wingifySegment-* cookie cannot be synced with VWO Engage Server

10000 Days

wingifySegment-*

This cookie is persisted only when the subscriber is part of a segment that the visitor creates from the VWO Engage App 

10000 Days

pshcrw_v_k

This cookie stores the public VAPID Key of the customer to identify which VAPID key was used for subscribing

10000 Days

wingify_push_subscriber

_id

This cookie stores the subscriber ID to uniquely identify the subscriber. VWO generates this randomly

10000 Days

_vwo_global_opt_out

This cookie is persisted when a visitor opts out of vwo on all websites in a given browser. 

100 days

_vwo_ssm

This cookie is used for testing and is created only on sites that use the HTTP protocol. This is used to check if VWO can create cookies on them, post which this cookie is deleted.

3650 days

Third Party Cookies

 

 

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}

_goal_{GOALID}_{ACCID}

This cookie is created when a campaign goal is triggered. When created, this cookie always has a value of 1

100 Days

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}

_combi_{ACCID}

This cookie is created when a visitor is chosen for a particular variation of a test. It ensures that visitors see the same variation when they revisit the page. Here the Control always has the value of 1, Variation #1 always has the value of 2, Variation #2 has the value of 3, and so on

100 Days

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}

_exclude_{ACCID}

This cookie is created when a visitor has been excluded from a campaign due to the traffic percentage specifications. The value of this cookie is always 1

100 days

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}

_split_{ACCID}

This cookie is created when one of the variations is chosen for the visitor, but the visitor is not yet redirected to the variation page. Using this, VWO verifies that the variation page corresponds to the chosen variation after landing on the page. The value will always be >=2 as it won’t be created in case the control is chosen 

100 days

_vwo_uuid_{CAMPAIGNID}

_{ACCID}

This cookie is created for each cross-domain campaign. It generates a unique id for every visitor and is used for the report segmentation feature in VWO. It also allows you to view data in a refined manner

10 Years

_vis_opt_exp_{CAMPAIGNID}

_combi_choose_{ACCID}

This cookie stores the chosen combination. It’s a temporary cookie that gets deleted when the campaign changes are applied

Persists until campaign changes are applied

_vwo_global_opt_out

This cookie is persisted when a visitor opts out of vwo on all websites in a given browser. 

100 days

Return to in-page menu

Social cookies

We use some social sharing plugins, to allow you to share certain pages of our website on social media. These plugins place cookies so that you can correctly view how many times a page has been shared.

Facebook

We place advertising on Facebook to raise awareness of macular disease, to solicit donations and to encourage people to join the Macular Society.

Cookie Purpose Duration
_fbp This is used by Facebook to track visits across websites to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real-time bidding from third party advertisers. Three months

Tawk.to

We embed a third-party chatbot service called GriefChat on our Bereavement Support page. GriefChat runs on the tawk.to platform.

Cookie Purpose Duration
__tawkuuid This cookie is used to collect information about how the visitor interacts with the live chat function on the website. Six months
TawkConnectionTime This allows the website to recoqnise the visitor, in order to optimize the chat-box functionality. Session

Return to in-page menu

Marketing cookies

Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. They help advertising platform providers display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user, and thereby more valuable for publishers and third-party advertisers.

Facebook

Facebook Remarketing allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs and only display ads that are relevant to you in relation to the following purposes:

  • Fundraising via donations, lottery and events
  • Reach our members and existing supporters to communicate important messages
Cookie Purpose Duration
_fr Provided by Facebook, this pixel matches Facebook user profiles anonymously, enable retargeting on the Facebook platform, as well as the creation of lookalike audiences. This pixel allows Macular Society to analyse marketing efforts, and serve the most relevant advertising to the correct audience. Three months

Twitter

Twitter allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs.

Cookie Purpose Duration
Mbox This cookie is for marketing on developer.twitter.com Two years
__ncuid This cookie is for doubleclick integration and/or analytics One year
Twtr_pixel_opt_in This cookie allows you to share pages and content and for advertising to collect information about users browsing behaviour for marketing purposes including digital display and social media advertising.

14 days

Twid This cookie is for authentication One year
Auth_token This cookie is for account login and authentication Four  years
Kdt This cookie is to authenticate a known device Six  months

Guest_id

This cookie is used for authentication Two years
Ads_prefs

This cookie is to opt-out of ads tracking

Four years
Ct0 This cookie is for authentication 

Four  years

Cd_user_id This cookie is for help center functionality on help.twitter.com Three months
Eu_cn This cookie is for cookie notices Four months
Dnt This cookie is for opt-out of ads personalisation Four  years
Personalization_id This cookie tracks activities off Twitter for a personalized experience One year
D_prefs This cookie is for your cookie preferences Four  months
Guest_id_marketing This cookie is for marketing when logged out One year
Guest_id_ads This cookie is for advertising when logged out One year

LinkedIn

LinkedIn allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs.

Cookie Purpose Duration
S_tslv Used to retain and fetch time since last visit in Adobe Analytics Six  months

Gpv_pn
Used to retain and fetch previous page visited in Adobe Analytics Six  months
Lms_ads Used to identify LinkedIn Members off LinkedIn for advertising 30 days
_gcl_au

Used through Google Analytics to understand user interaction with the site and advertising Three months
VID ID associated with a visitor to a LinkedIn microsite which is used to determine conversions for lead gen purposes One year
Bcookie Browser Identifier cookie to uniquely identify devices accessing LinkedIn to detect abuse on the platform Two years
Li_gc

Used to store consent of guests regarding the use of cookies for non-essential purposes Two years
Li_mc

Used as a temporary cache to avoid database lookups for a member's consent for use of non-essential cookies and used for having consent information on the client side to enforce consent on the client side Two years
Lidc To facilitate data center selection 24 hours
_guid Used to identify a LinkedIn Member for advertising through Google Ads 90 days
Lms_analytics Used to identify LinkedIn Members off LinkedIn for analytics 30 days
Aam_uuid Set for ID sync for Adobe Audience Manager 30 days
Liap Used by non-www.domains to denote the logged in status of a member One year
Lang Used to remember a user's language setting to ensure LinkedIn.com displays in the language selected by the user in their settings. Session
AMCV_14215E3D5995C57C0A495C55%40AdobeOrg Indicates the start of a session for Adobe Experience Cloud Session
AnalyticsSyncHistory Used to store information about the time a sync took place with the lms_analytics cookie 30 days
UserMatchHistory Used for id sync process. It stores the last sync time to avoid repeating the syncing process in a frequent manner 30 days

Google

We use Google AdWords Remarketing to advertise across the Internet. AdWords remarketing will display relevant ads tailored to you based on what parts of the TriggerApp website you have viewed by placing a cookie on your machine. The cookie is used to say “This person visited this page, so show them ads relating to that page.” Google AdWords Remarketing allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs and only display ads that are relevant to you. We use advertising on Google to raise awareness of macular conditions and the Macular Society.

Cookie Purpose Duration
_drt_id BCSI-CS-5B059C53EB35D97E ug We sometimes use third-party agencies to advertise and bring traffic to certain parts of the site, for example where we have a specific campaign. These cookie are placed by one of our third-party agencies to allow them to track the activities of visitors that have come to the site from their adverts. At least one session
__Secure-3PSIDCC This is a targeting cookie. It builds a profile of the website visitor's interests in order to show relevant and personalised Google advertising. Two years
__Secure-3PSID This is used by for targeting purposes to build a profile of the website visitor's interests in order to show relevant and personalised Google advertising. Two years
SID This is used for security purposes to store digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google account ID and most recent sign-in time. It allows Google to authenticate users, prevent fraudulent use of login credentials, and protect user data from unauthorised parties. This can also be used for targeting purposes to show relevant and personalised ad content. One year
SIDCC This security cookie protects a user's data from unauthorized access Persistent
__Secure-3PAPISID This is used by for targeting purposes to build a profile of the website visitor's interests in order to show relevant and personalised Google advertising. Two years
SSID This is used to store information about how you use the website and any advertising that you may have seen before visiting this website. It also helps to customise advertising on Google properties by remembering your most recent searches, your previous interactions with an advertiser's ads or search results and your visits to an advertisers website. One year
APISID This is used by for targeting purposes to build a profile of the website visitor's interests in order to show relevant and personalised Google advertising. Two years
SAPISID This is used by for targeting purposes to build a profile of the website visitor's interests in order to show relevant and personalised Google advertising. Two years
HSID This is used for security purposes to store digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google account ID and most recent sign-in time which allows Google to authenticate users, prevent fraudulent use of login credentials, and protect user data from unauthorised parties. This can also be used for targeting purposes to show relevant and personalised ad content. One year
1P_JAR This collects website statistics and track conversion rates. 30 days
SEARCH_SAMESITE This allow servers to mitigate the risk of CSRF and information leakage attacks by asserting that a particular cookie should only be sent with requests initiated from the same registrable domain. Five months and two days
CONSENT This cookie is used to track consent to cookie use.  
NID This is used to store preferences in a unique Google ID to remember your information. This includes your preferred language (for example, English), how many search results you wish to have shown per page (such as 10 or 20), and whether or not you wish to have Google's SafeSearch filter turned on. These preferences can be used for optimised and/or personalised advertising on Google networks One year

Return to in-page menu