Whenever you browse the web, sites will automatically download files onto your computer in order to help them to display properly. These may include image files to help you load the site’s graphics or html files to help tell the browser how to organise the page. Most users don’t know anything about these files and do not notice them being downloaded, or when they are automatically deleted a few months later. However, there’s also another type of file called the browser cookie, which helps improve your experience in other ways. A browser cookie is a tiny text file that stores basic information about you for the website to remember.
One of the main benefits of this is that it saves you time. If you are using a basic shopping site, for instance, you may not wish to enter your name and address every time you shop. Thankfully, cookies can be used to remember this information so that you don’t have to re-enter it. This website, for instance, uses cookies to save half completed loan applications so that even if you are interrupted during the process of applying for a loan you don’t have to start all over again the next time you log on.
Some people tend to worry about the ability of cookies to store personal information due to the fact that a small minority of webmasters has, in the past, abused this ability. Unlike some other websites, we are explicit in promising never to provide your information to any third-party without your permission unless the law requires us to do so. This means that we never sell information gathered using cookies and we only use it for a very limited set of purposes including storing loan applications that have been abandoned half way through. Cookies will also delete themselves automatically after a set period of time so that you can be sure this information does not remain stored for an indefinite period of time.
One other use of cookies is to help us track basic information about user behaviour on our website, including how long people stay on each page, which browser they are using and where in the world they come from. All of this information is useful in helping us to optimise the website and our marketing campaigns for the kinds of visitors that we receive. Our website will look different in different browsers, for instance, so it is important we know which our users use so that we can make sure our website displays correctly.
Overall, then, cookies are nothing to worry about when used responsibly and they even help improve the way you experience out website. We operate with a clear policy on how cookies are used and we are also fully compliant with UK law when it comes to the way we acquire and use your personal information. The general public anxiety about the use of cookies is unnecessary when dealing with a website that deals in an above manner with its customers and makes commitments to only use them for the purpose they were intended.