Web analytics, cookies and statistics
This page contains statistical information about West Sussex
County Council websites. It also has information about our use
of cookies on our websites.
Our use of cookies
When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful
and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet,
this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on
your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These
include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to
identify you personally.
You can visit our site and use the majority of its services
without telling us who you are or giving us any person-identifying
information.
The Council does not use cookies for the general running of the
site. However, cookies may be used on some interactive pages
to provide additional functionality or when it is absolutely
necessary to maintain the unique identification of your browser
while you use those pages.
We have conducted an audit of the cookies that are downloaded on
to users machines when using West Sussex County Council
websites:
Supporting document
Google Analytics
West Sussex County Council uses Google
Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google. Google
Analytics collects first party cookies, which are text files placed
on your computer to collect standard internet log information and
visitor behaviour. This information is sent to Google and is used
to evaluate how our website is being used. This enables West
Sussex County Council to compile statistical reports. (See
supporting documents at the bottom of this page.) A full list
of cookies used by Google Analytics and explanations on how these
work are available on the
Google code website.
West Sussex County Council does not collect (nor allow any third
party to collect) personally identifiable information of visitors
to our site. We will not associate any data gathered with any
personally identifying information. We will not link or seek to
link an
IP
address with the
identity of a computer user. In short, Google Analytics doesn't
identify who you are, but it does track your movements on our
websites.
Online forms
West Sussex County Council occasionally uses an
online form to collect visitor feedback. This is used to measure
customer satisfaction and other metrics that helps us improve the
website. This form requires cookies to be downloaded on to a
users machine. Completing this form is entirely optional.
Third party sites
We embed our video content using www.youtube.com. Information on how
this website uses cookies can be found on the Google
privacy pages.
We occasionally use www.surveymonkey.com to publish
surveys. Information on how their use of cookies is also available
on the SurveyMonkey website.
EU 'cookie' directive
From 26 May 2011 a new European Union directive requires us
to gain the consent of our users to download cookies
on to their machines.
There are various methods we could use to gain users consent.
For example, we could use pop-ups; prompting users
to tick a box to confirm they give permission for us to
download cookies on their machine. Alternatively, we could use an
online form that all users must complete before using the
website.
We consider both of these solutions as obtrusive. We
want our users find information and services quickly.
Therefore, we have taken the decision to promote how we use cookies
on our website instead. This will enable users to make an informed
decision whether they want to disable this feature.
There are links on our terms and conditions and disclaimer
pages which are in the footer of every web page
pointing to this information. We have published
promotional banners on our homepage and conducted an audit of the
cookies we use which is published on this page. We welcome your
feedback on this subject by completing the feedback form at the
bottom of this page.
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How to disable cookies
You can stop cookies being downloaded on to your
computer by selecting the appropriate settings on your
browser. However please note that if you do this you may not be
able to use the full functionality of this website.
There is more information about cookies, including how to delete
them on the website aboutcookies.org.
You may also opt
out of being tracked by Google Analytics.
Our search engine
The search engine on our website is powered by the Google search
appliance. All search requests are not passed on to any third
party, including Google. West Sussex County Council will always be
upfront about collecting personally identifiable information
through our website.
Website statistics
This analytical data is generated by Google Analytics
for the main West Sussex County Council websites. Some
reporting functionality is limited due to the launch of
the new County Council website on 7 September 2010. We only publish
the previous 6 months of data for the monthly reports. This
information can be viewed on the West
Sussex Data Store page.
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