Cookie policy

How we use cookies

Be Part of Research uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on the website. Cookies are small information files saved on your phone, tablet or computer when you visit a website.  If you continue without changing your browser settings, we will accept this as your consent to receive these cookies.

However, if you wish to, you can change your browser settings to block or remove cookies at any time. Go to About Cookies for information on how to do this.

Cookies can improve your experience by:

  • Enabling our service to recognise your device, so you do not need to give the same information repeatedly
  • Recognising when you have already given a username and password, so that you do not need to do so for every subsequent web page you visit
  • Letting us measure how many people are using the services we provide, so we can make them easier and faster to use
  • Enabling us to analyse data, anonymously, so we can better understand how people use the service
  • You can learn more about cookies at Gov.UK Cookies
  • Cookies cannot be used to identify you personally

See below for further details about cookies you may encounter while visiting the Be Part of Research website. These details include what information is being held, how long you can expect it to be stored, and how your experience of our website will change if you block individual cookies from being sent to your device.

On the Be Part of Research site, we use cookies for three purposes.

The first two are to anonymously track your data and to secure your session when you are logged into our site. Both of these cookies are first party cookies, that is, they are not tracked across multiple sites.

The third is to view the demographics of users to our service. This is done via a third party cookie, that is a cookie that is tracked across multiple sites, called DoubleClick.

  • We use Google Analytics for anonymous tracking of how you use this site. The Google Analytics cookie stores information such as when you visited the site, whether you have been to the site before, what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got there and what you click on.

  • There is no personally identifiable information contained within this cookie, such as your name or address, so this information cannot be used to identify who you are. But it will use your computer's IP address to determine your geographical location.

  • The cookie measures numbers and volumes of visitors in order to make sure users’ needs are met, and to understand how the services we provide could do better.

  • We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data.

  • Google Analytics cookies expire 38 months after your last visit to this site.

  • Full details on the cookies set by Google Analytics are published on the Google website.

  • Google also publishes a browser add-on, which allows you to choose that information about your website visit is not sent to Google Analytics.

  • We use a third-party cookie (a cookie that our website doesn’t store on your device, but is able to access), DoubleClick to track the demographics of visitors to this site. This does not contain any personally identifiable information. It allows us to estimate the age, sex and approximate location of visitors to this site. We use this information to inform service improvements only and not for advertising purposes. For more information about this cookie, visit the Google Advertising Privacy FAQ. Specific information on how this cookie works, can be found in the Google Privacy policy under “Information Google Collects

  • Google Analytics cookies expire 38 months after your last visit to this site

  • Full details on the cookies set by Google Analytics are published on the Google website. Google also publishes a browser add-on which allows you to choose that information about your website visit is not sent to Google Analytics 

We also use a ‘login session’ cookie, known as JSESSIONID, which controls and recognises your secure session while you are using this site. This cookie expires when you log out or leave the site.

Essential cookies do things like storing your session when you login and maintain security. They are needed for the website to work properly and we do not need to ask permission to use them.

We use Google Analytics and Hotjar cookies to measure how you use Be Part of Research.

These cookies collect information about:

  • How you got to our site (e.g. via a search engine or via a link)

  • The pages you visit and how long you spend on each page

  • What you click on while you're visiting Be Part of Research

The data stored in Google Analytics and Hotjar is anonymous and we do not allow Google or Hotjar to use or share the data about how you use Be Part of Research.

These cookies may be set by third party websites and do things like anonymously measure how you view YouTube videos or how you share content on social media accounts. As these cookies are set by the third party service providers, we cannot turn them off on the Be Part of Research website. You can, however, choose not to view our videos on the website and/or use the “Addthis” share buttons on the Be Part of Research website to ensure no cookie data is stored for these services on your device, or alternatively change your browser settings to reject cookies.

Essential cookies

This table shows the purpose and expiration of essential cookies on the BEPARTOFRESEARCH.NIHR.AC.UK website
If you are Using assistive technology use the relevant table shortcuts for your programme
Cookie name Purpose Expiration
BPoRcookie Tracks cookies used on service End of session
BPoRGDPRconsent Stores cookie use preferences 180 days
currentUrl Tracks the site the user has arrived from Never
lastNonLoginUrl Tracks the site the user has arrived from Never
previousUrl Tracks the site the user has arrived from Never
JSESSIONID The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application End of session
opvc dotCMS. Once-Per-Visit-Cookie. Re-generated each time a user visits the BPoR site. End of session
sitevisitscookie dotCMS. Tracks the number of times a user has visited the site. Relies on the dmid to track the unique user. 5 years
dmid dotCMS. Identifies a unique site visitor over multiple site visits. 5 years


Cookies that measure website use

This table shows the purpose and expiration of cookies that measure website use on bePartOfResearch.ac.uk
If you are Using assistive technology use the relevant table shortcuts for your programme
Cookie name Purpose Expiration
_ga The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. 13 months
_gid Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. 1 day
_gat_UA-125366174-2 A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. 1 minute
_hjFirstSeen Hotjar sets this cookie to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether it was the first time Hotjar saw this user. 30 minutes
_hjIncludedInSessionSample Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit. 2 minutes
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. 2 minutes
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress Hotjar sets this cookie to detect the first pageview session of a user. This is a True/False flag set by the cookie. 30 minutes
_hjDonePolls Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor completes a poll using the Feedback Poll Widget. It is used to ensure that the same poll does not reappear if it has already been filled in. 1 year
CONSENT YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. 2 years
hjViewPortId Stores user viewport (screen size) details, such as size and dimensions and session duration. End of session
_hjMinimizedPolls Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set once a visitor minimises a Feedback Poll Widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimised when the visitor navigates through the Be Part of Research site. 1 year
_hjRecordingEnabled Set when a recording starts. Read when the Recording module is initialised to see if the user is already in a recording in a particular session and session duration. End of session
_hjRecordingLastActivity Set in session storage as opposed to cookies. Updated when a user recording starts and when data is sent through the WebSocket (the user performs an action that HotJar records) and session duration. End of session
_hjSessionUser_1287460 Hotjar - Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID. 1 year
_hjSession_1287460 Hotjar - Holds current session data. Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session. 30 minutes
_gat This cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites. 1 minute


Communications and marketing cookies

This table shows the purpose and expiration of communications and marketing cookies used on bePartOfResearch.ac.uk
Cookie name Purpose Expiration
YSC YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. End of session
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. 6 months
yt-remote-device-id YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. Never
yt-remote-connected-devices YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. Never
yt.innertube::requests This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. Never
yt.innertube::nextId This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. Never


When you first visit the Be Part of Research website you will be invited to accept or reject the additional cookies we use. Once you have accepted or rejected the cookies your preferences will be saved for six months and you will not be asked to reconfirm your cookie preference.

If you reject additional cookies, they will be turned off for your visit and the following 6 month period, during which time your data will not be shared with Google Analytics or HotJar. At the end of the six month period you will be asked to consent to using these cookies again.

If you would like to reset your cookie preferences at any time you can do so by clearing cookies from your browser settings. Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:

To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer's website.

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.  Here is Version 2.0 of the Cookie Policy.