Cookies

What are cookies?

Cookies are small files, which are automatically stored by your web browser (eg Chrome or Safari) on your computer or your phone. Websites generate and read cookies to find out information about the people visiting them, for example it helps websites recognise if you have visited the site before.

Why do we use them?

The main reason we use cookies on the Meningitis Trust website is to provide us with information which helps us make the website better. We are constantly working on making our site easier to access to make sure as many people as possible are aware of the signs and symptoms of meningitis and the work we do to support those affected. Tracking how many people are viewing certain pages can help us ensure our key messages are presented clearly.

What cookies does the Meningitis Trust website use?

We use a few cookies which are run by other websites, the list below outlines which third party cookies we use and why.

Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to help us make the website easier to navigate. It helps us understand how the site is being used and what information people are looking for. It also allows us to track how many unique users we have, and how often they visit the site.  All the user data is anonymous.

Sharing buttons
At the bottom of some of our articles are sharing buttons which help people post pages to their Facebook wall or Twitter feed. We use sharing buttons to help us spread key messages to a wide audience via social media. It also helps us measure the success of key messages. All the user data is anonymous.

YouTube
We use YouTube analytics to track how successful our videos are. It helps us see how many people are watching our videos and how long they watch them for. Using YouTube analytics helps us pinpoint how to make our messages clearer and our videos better. All the user data is anonymous.

Issuu
We use Issuu analytics to track the success of some of our printed publications. The data we get helps us see how many people are reading our publications, what pages they read and how long they spend reading them. Using analytics helps us pinpoint how to make our messages clearer and our publications better. All the user data is anonymous.

Registration cookies
When you register on the Meningitis Trust website, to leave a comment on an article or to join our online forum, the website generates cookies which can tell if you are signed in or not. Our servers use these cookies to work out which email account you are signed in with, and if you are allowed access to a particular part of the website.

How can I turn cookies off

You can turn cookies off, it’s just a matter of turning off the settings in your web browser. But if you choose to do this if could affect how well the website runs on your computer.

You can click on the links below to find out how to turn off cookies in the following browsers.

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari

We do not recommend turning cookies off when visiting our site, it means you won’t be able to register to take part in our forum discussions and you won’t be able to comment on articles either.

if you have any questions about cookies or internet privacy on the Meningitis Trust website you can email our Digital Team.