Cottage on the Coast

Ard Na Still, The Stell, Kirkcudbright

Cookie Policy

How do we use cookies?

We are committed to keeping your personal information private. Our website uses cookies to remember form information (to prevent you from having to retype in information you have already typed in).

This website also uses Google Analytics which collects anonymous data about what pages have been viewed. This information helps us find out what areas of the website need to be improved and which areas are working well. The data also lets us know what services are most important to our customers which can help us improve our services to you.

We use a third party booking system by a company called Super Control which takes payment and bookings on their own secure servers. You can visit their website here www.supercontrol.co.uk

Information about cookies

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes a unique identifier that is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to here as a "device") browser from a website's server and is stored on your device's hard drive. Each website or third party service provider used by the website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website or third party service provider to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites or other third party service providers. A cookie will contain some anonymous information such as a unique identifier and the site name and some digits and numbers. It allows a website to remember things like your preferences or what's in your shopping basket.

What is a browser?

A browser is an application that allows you to surf the internet. The most common browsers are Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. Most browsers are secure and offer quick and easy ways to delete information like cookies. Please see the section below Change your Browser Settings'

Change your Browser Settings'

You can choose how cookies are handled by your device via your browser settings. The most popular browsers allow users to

a) accept all cookies, 
b) to notify you when a cookie is issued, or
c) to not receive cookies at any time.

If you choose not to receive cookies at any time, the website may not function properly and certain services will not be provided, spoiling your experience of the website. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.

Types of Cookie

First Party Cookies

First party cookies are set by the website you are visiting and they can only be read by that site.

Third Party Cookies

Third party cookies are set by other organisations that we use for different services. For example, this website uses external analytics services and these suppliers may set cookies on our behalf in order to report what's popular and what's not. The website you are visiting may also contain content embedded from, for example, YouTube or Facebook and these sites may set their own cookies.

Session Cookies

Session Cookies are stored only for the duration of your visit to a website and these are deleted from your device when your browsing session ends.

Persistent Cookies

This type of cookie is saved on your device for a fixed period. Persistent cookies are used where we need to know who you are for more than one usage session. For example, if you have asked us to remember preferences like your username.

Flash cookies

Many websites use Adobe Flash Player to deliver video and game content to their users. Adobe utilise their own cookies, which are not manageable through your browser settings but are used by the Flash Player for similar purposes, such as storing preferences or tracking users.

Flash Cookies work in a different way to web browser cookies; rather than having individual cookies for particular jobs, a website is restricted to storing all data in one cookie. You can control how much data, if any, may be stored in that cookie but you cannot choose what type of information is allowed to be stored. You can manage which websites can store information in Flash cookies on your device via the website storage settings panel on the Adobe website.

Web beacons, clear GIFs, page tags and web bugs

These are all terms used to describe a particular form of technology implemented by many websites in order to help them to analyse how their site is being used and, in turn, to improve your experience of their site. They may also be used to target any advertising being served on the web page you are viewing.

A web beacon (or similar) usually takes the form of a small, transparent image, which is embedded in a web page or an email. They are used in conjunction with cookies and send information such as your IP address, when you viewed the page or email, from what device and your (broad) location.

How do we use cookies?

Cookies enable us to identify your device, or you when you have logged in. We use cookies that are strictly necessary to enable you to move around the site or to provide certain basic features such as remembering form data when the wrong captcha has been filled in. We also use cookies to help us to improve the performance of our website to provide you with a better user experience. Typically, we use cookies to deliver the following services throughout the pages of our websites:

  • To ensure that if you are purchasing a product or service via our websites, your experience is smooth and secure;
  • To record what pages have been visited on the website and the popularity of various elements of the website so that we can ensure that it works properly at points of high usage.

Analytics on our Websites

Google Analytics provide anonymised statistical information for us. They process IP addresses and information from cookies used on our sites so we know how many page views we have, how many users we have, what browsers they are using (so we can target our resources in the right way to maximise compatibility for the majority of our users) and, in some cases, in which country, city or region they are located.

If you would like to opt out of Google Analytics cookies, please do so by clicking on the link below:
Google Analytics:https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout


Ard Na Still, The Stell, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries & Galloway, DG6 4TH