sharp.dft.gov.uk puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site. Cookies are used to:
  • measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
  • remember the notifications you’ve seen so that we don’t show them to you again
  Find out more about how to manage cookies.

How cookies are used on the SHARP website

You may see a pop-up welcome message when you first visit sharp.dft.gov.uk. We’ll store a cookie so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and knows not to show it again.
Name Purpose Expires
wordpress_test_cookie Saves a message to let us know that you’ve seen our cookie message 1 month

Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use sharp.dft.gov.uk. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements, for example improving site search. Google Analytics stores information about:
  • the pages you visit on sharp.dft.gov.uk
  • how long you spend on each sharp.dft.gov.uk page
  • how you got to the site
  • what you click on while you’re visiting the site
  We don’t collect or store your personal information (for example your name or address) so this information can’t be used to identify who you are. We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
Universal Analytics
Name Purpose Expires
_ga This helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you’ve visited before 2 years
_gid This helps us count how many people visit by tracking if you’ve visited before 24 hours
_gat Used to manage the rate at which page view requests are made 10 minutes
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
Google Analytics
Name Purpose Expires
_utma Like _ga, this lets us know if you’ve visited before, so we can count how many of our visitors are new to sharp.dft.gov.uk or to a certain page 2 years
_utmb This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on sharp.dft.gov.uk 30 minutes
_utmc This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser When you close your browser
_utmz This tells us how you reached sharp.dft.gov.uk (for example from another website or a search engine) 6 months
   

YouTube videos

We also use YouTube to provide videos on some pages of the site. YouTube sets cookies when you visit one of these pages.  
Name Purpose Expires
_use_hitbox This is a randomly generated number that identifies your browser When you close your browser
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE Lets Youtube count the views of embedded Youtube videos 9 months