What is a cookie?

When you use our website, a text file called a 'cookie' is placed in a directory on your computer. This file is passed through to our web server.

Cookies allow websites to remember your preferences (for example, if you have specified that you would like the website to appear in high contrast or you would like My Darlington+ to remember your password, the cookie will remember this for you)

Cookies can be sessional (they only last for the time you are on the website) or persistent (they last for a certain length of time)

The cookies that we use cannot harm your computer in any way or give away any of your personal information.

EU ePrivacy directive

On 26 May 2011, the European Union brought in new laws which state websites must get "explicit consent" from web users where cookies are used. Websites must also tell users about cookies and what they are going to use the information for.

Because of confusion over the directive, web owners were given twelve months from this date to prepare themselves.

Session only cookies are exempt from the regulations as they are needed for a website to work properly and they do not collect or store information permanently.

More information about the directive [external link]

Cookies we use

Here is a list of the cookies we use, on this website and the third-party systems we use (for example, Facebook and Google)

Other information about cookies we use 

Online library system

Our online library system uses session cookies to maintain your current session. These cookies hold no sensitive or personal information and automatically expire after a period of inactivity.

Pay a parking fine

The system we use which allows you to pay a parking fine online uses a cookie to track session information and to store your ticket number during the payment process. This cookie expires after a short time and cannot be used to derive any information about the user or their computer

MyServices planning

MyServices uses session cookies. These hold no personal information.

Planning Portal

The Planning Portal complies with the e-Privacy directive. List of cookies on the Planning Portal [external link]

Local Motion

The Local Motion website fully complies with the e-Privacy directive.

LIS

The cookies used on the LIS website are:

• ias.UiSkin - remembers which 'look and feel' you have applied to the IAS user website (if there is more than one available)
• ias.PreferredItemCount - remembers how many items you like to see in a list by default 
• ias.fontSize - remembers any choices you have made to increase/decrease the default font size
• ias.Locale - remembers the choice you made about which locale/language to view the site in (if more than one available) 
• ias.<ThemeTreeID>_Expanded - remembers the choices you made about which themes were expanded in a tree (on a tree by tree basis – different cookies for different trees) 
• IASASPXAUTH - The built-in forms authentication cookie for ASP.NET. Used when user logs in. This is classed as an essential cookie.

We use third party widgets on our website. These widgets will have their own cookie policies,

• Flickrslidr [external link] (Site currently unavailable)
• Flood warnings widget [external link]
• Issuu [external link]