Cookie Policy
Cookie Notice
This Cookie Notice explains how Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S, we, us) uses cookies and other similar technologies on our website www.des.mod.uk (Website). This Cookie Notice explains the types of cookies we use and why. It also explains how you can change your cookie preferences.
You should read this Cookie Notice alongside our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy
- What are cookies and other tracking technologies?
Cookies are small pieces of data (alphanumeric files) that are placed on your device when you visit websites. They are commonly used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information about your use of the website and display content that is relevant to you. Other, similar, technologies can also be used to achieve these outcomes. This could include, for example, SDK tools (which are used on mobile apps), tracking pixels, social media plug-ins, HTML local storage, Local Shared Objects and device fingerprinting techniques. In this Cookie Notice, we will use the term “cookies” to refer to both cookies and similar technologies.
- Why do we use cookies?
We use cookies for a variety of purposes. For example, to enable you to navigate between webpages efficiently and to allow our Website to remember your preferences. Cookies can track browsing behaviour to help us to understand how our website is used so that we can improve them. Cookies can also help ensure that any content that you see on our website and other websites are more relevant to you and your interests.
- What cookies do we use and how long will they stay on my device?
Where we place cookies on your device, these are called first-party cookies.
We may also use third-party cookies. These cookies are set by third-party domains and are set for cross-site or app tracking and analytics. The Website may also contain links to third-party websites. If you follow a link to any of these third-party websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy and cookie polices and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check such policies before you submit any personal data to these third-party websites.
Some cookies will stay on your device only for as long as you are accessing our website during a single browsing session and so are temporary. These are known as session cookies. Other cookies are stored on your device for longer periods to enable our website to “remember” you and your preferences. These are known as persistent cookies.
Some of the cookies we use are strictly necessary for our website to operate effectively. Others are not necessary but are used for a variety of purposes which are outlined in the table below.
Strictly necessary cookies
These are cookies which are essential for our website to operate. For example, cookies that are used to help a webpage load quickly.
Here are the strictly necessary cookies we use and why:
| Cookie name | Purpose | Expiry period | Who places the cookie? |
| eupubconsent | Strictly necessary | 1 year | This cookie is used by the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework to store the user’s consent to the data collection Purposes. The cookie holds an encrypted consent string that vendors participating in the framework can read and determine the user’s consent. |
Performance cookies
These cookies help us to improve the way our website works. For example, they gather information that allows us to count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website.
Here are the performance cookies we use and why:
| Cookie name | Purpose | Expiry period | Who places the cookie? |
| _ga | Performance cookie | A few seconds | This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics – which is a significant update to Google’s more commonly used analytics service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the site’s analytics reports. By default it is set to expire after 2 years, although this is customizable by website owners. |
| _gid | Performance cookie | 1 day | This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics. This appears to be a new cookie and as of Spring 2017 no information is available from Google. It appears to store and update a unique value for each page visited. |
Targeting cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Here are the targeting cookies we use and why:
| Cookie name | Purpose | Expiry period | Who places the cookie? |
| _gat_gtag | Targeting cookie – first-party | A few seconds | Google Analytics |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Targeting cookie – third-party | 6 months | Google recaptcha |
| personalization_id | Targeting cookie – third-party | 2 years | This domain is owned by Twitter. The main business activity is: Social Networking Services. Where Twitter acts as a third-party host, it collects data through a range of plug-ins and integrations, that is primarily used for tracking and targeting. |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | Targeting cookie – third-party | 6 months | YouTube – This cookie is used as a unique identifier to track viewing of videos. |
| CONSENT | Targeting cookie – third-party | 18 Years | YouTube is a Google owned platform for hosting and sharing videos. YouTube collects user data through videos embedded in websites, which is aggregated with profile data from other Google services in order to display targeted advertising to web visitors across a broad range of their own and other websites. |
| YSC | Targeting cookie – third-party | Session | YouTube is a Google owned platform for hosting and sharing videos. YouTube collects user data through videos embedded in websites, which is aggregated with profile data from other Google services in order to display targeted advertising to web visitors across a broad range of their own and other websites. |
| test_cookie | Targeting cookie – third-party | A few seconds | This domain is owned by Doubleclick (Google). The main business activity is: Doubleclick is Google’s real time bidding advertising exchange. |
| Lang | Targeting cookie – third-party | Session | This domain is owned by Twitter. The main business activity is: Social Networking Services. Where Twitter acts as a third-party host, it collects data through a range of plug-ins and integrations, that is primarily used for tracking and targeting. Twitter does not currently provide information on the use of specific cookies. |
| personalization_id | Targeting cookie – third-party | 2 years | This domain is owned by Twitter. The main business activity is: Social Networking Services. Where Twitter acts as a third-party host, it collects data through a range of plug-ins and integrations, that is primarily used for tracking and targeting. |
| Mc | Targeting cookie – third-party | 1 year | This domain is owned by Quantcast. The main business activity is: Market and Audience Segmentation, Targeted advertising services. |
| _fbp | Targeting cookie – third-party | 90 days | Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third-party advertisers. |
Functionality cookies
These cookies allow the website to remember choices you have made such as your username, language, the region you are in. They therefore provide a more enhanced and personalised experience.
Here are the functionality cookies we use and why:
| Cookie name | Purpose | Expiry period | Who places the cookie? |
| iutk | Functional cookie | 6 months | This domain is owned by Issuu – issuu.com. The main business activity is: Digital Publishing Platform |
- How to change your cookie preferences
The first time you visit our Website, you will be displayed with a banner providing you with information about cookies and linking to this Cookie Policy and informing you that by continuing your navigation you will accept to the placing of cookies on your terminal.
Unless you have adjusted your browser settings so that it will refuse cookies, our systems will issue cookies each time you access the Website.
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the blue shield icon in the bottom left of the screen at the bottom of this webpage. You can then adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’ and then click ‘Save and close’. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
Alternatively, most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:
If you use a smart phone, you can usually prevent cross-site tracking and block cookies in the settings section on your device. You may also be able to visit websites without leaving a history by turning private browsing on. You should visit the support section of the website of your device for more information on how to do this.
- Changes to this Cookie Notice
We will inform you of any changes to this Cookie Notice by posting them on this page and updating the cookie table above or contacting you through other communication channels.
This version of our Cookie Notice was uploaded on 04 November 2021.
- Contact Us
If you have any further questions in relation to this Cookie Notice, please contact us on our Website Feedback form.
