What are cookies
Cookies are small text files created when a user’s browser loads a website. The website sends information to the browser which then creates the cookie. Every time the user goes back to the same website, the browser retrieves and sends the cookie to the website’s server. The main purpose of cookies is for the server to remember who the user is between clicks. Without cookies, websites are unable to personalise content displayed to individual users.
This page describes what information we gather, how we use it, and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also tell you how you can prevent these cookies from being stored.
For more general information about cookies, please visit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie
Disabling cookies
You can disable cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser ‘Help’ for how to do this). However, please be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of our website. You will also find that certain parts of the website will not work correctly, this is especially important if you want to ‘Log in’ or use the ‘Join the PDA’ section of the website.
We recommend that you do not disable cookies.
The cookies we set
If you create an account with us, we will use cookies for the management of the sign-up process and general administration. We use cookies when you are logged in so that we can remember your site preferences. These cookies will usually be deleted when you log out, however in some cases they may remain afterwards to remember your site preferences.
This prevents you from having to log in every single time you visit a new page. These cookies are typically removed or cleared when you log out, to ensure that you can only access restricted features and areas when logged in.
The PDA website offers email subscription services and cookies may be used to remember if you are already registered, and whether to show certain notifications which might only be valid to subscribed/unsubscribed users.
This site offers e-commerce or payment facilities and some cookies are essential to ensure that your order is remembered between pages so that we can process it properly.
From time to time we offer user surveys and questionnaires to provide you with interesting insights, helpful tools, or to understand our user base more accurately. These surveys may use cookies to remember who has already taken part in a survey, or to provide you with accurate results after you change pages.
When you submit data through a form such as those found on contact pages or comment forms, cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.
To provide you with a great user experience on this site, we provide the functionality to remember your preferences by setting cookies so that this information can be called whenever you interact with a page.
Third Party Cookies
In some special cases we also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. The following section details which third party cookies you might encounter through this site.
This site uses Google Analytics, which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solution on the web. It helps us to understand how our visitors use the site and identifies ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site, and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content. The information gathered is anonymised and we do not use analytics to personally identify individuals.
For more information on Google Analytics’ privacy and cookie policies, please visit :
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245
From time to time we test new features and make subtle changes to the way that the site is delivered. When testing new features, we may use cookies to ensure that you receive a consistent experience whilst on the site. We also ensure that we understand which optimisations our users appreciate the most.
As our members join online, it’s important for us to analyse data such as how many of the visitors to our site complete their applications. This is the kind of data that these cookies will track. This helps us to monitor the ease of use of our site and ensure we offer users the best experience possible.
Several partners advertise on our behalf. Affiliate tracking cookies allow us to see if visitors have come to the site through one of our partners. This enables us to monitor how effective our partners are performing.
Facebook Pixel Privacy Policy
Conversion tracking allows us to measure the success of PDA Facebook ads. This reports what actions people take on our website after viewing one of our Facebook ads and reports if any conversions were made. The Facebook Pixel allows us to make sure our ads are being seen by the right people, see the actions people take on our website and measure the results of ads.
Please note, no personal information is contained or collected as a result of using a Facebook Pixel.
If you wish to opt out of Facebook’s interest-based ads, follow the instructions provided by Facebook.
More Information
If you have any questions regarding our use of cookies, please contact our Data Protection Officer:
Head of Operations and Improvement
The Old Fire Station
69 Albion Street
Birmingham
B1 3EA
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0121 694 7000