Last updated: 5th July 2012
This document explains what you need to know about how London 2012 uses cookies on its websites, and how to choose to manage or remove them if you wish to do so.
Summary
Cookies are small data files which are sent to a user’s computer or mobile phone from a website and are stored on the hard drive of the user’s device. They are helpful because they help to make a website work better for a user.
On London 2012 websites users can manage and/or delete cookies as they wish. Information about how to do this is provided in the section How to manage cookies.
About cookies
A cookie is a small amount of data (which often includes a unique identifier) that is sent to a user’s computer or mobile phone from a website and is stored on the hard drive of a device. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it. Many websites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to report on website traffic. Your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other websites.
How London 2012 uses cookies
Cookies on London 2012 websites are used in a number of ways. A full list of all the cookies used across London 2012 sites can be seen in the List of cookies used on London 2012 sites.
i) Analytics
London 2012 uses a range of analytics tools to collect information about how people use its sites. This helps us make sure sites are meeting users’ needs and to find out how we could improve.
Analytics cookies store information about what pages people visit, how long they are on the site, how they got there and what they click on. Information supplied by cookies help London 2012 to analyse the profile of visitors and provide them with a better experience.
Analytics cookies do not collect or store users’ personal information (for example, names or addresses), so this information cannot be used to identify individuals. London 2012 does not allow analytics companies to use or share its analytics data.
ii) Profile management
Some London 2012 sites allow users to login and retrieve personal information and account details. Some of these sites use a cookie in order to remember account information.
iii) Storing your usability and accessibility settings
Most London 2012 websites provide settings that allow you to resize text or view different colour options. If you switch them on, we store the settings in a cookie, so that they apply to each page you look at.
iv) Serving advertisements
The advertisements seen on London 2012 websites are served by a third-party ad serving provider called DoubleClick. The system uses cookies to allow monitoring of the effectiveness of the ads (for example, by using statistical analysis cookies) and make the ads more relevant to users.
Third-party cookies
Third-party cookies are not set directly by London 2012, but by third-party service or functionality providers.
London 2012 uses a number of suppliers who set cookies on London 2012 websites in order to deliver the services that they are providing (for example, website analytics or advertising).
In addition, many London 2012 websites carry embedded ‘share’ buttons to enable users of the site to easily share articles with their friends through popular social networks. These sites may set a cookie when you are also logged in to their service.
London 2012 does not control the dissemination of these cookies. For more information about the cookies used by these suppliers, including how to opt-out, view their individual privacy policies listed below.
| Cookie name | Description of cookie |
| Google Analytics |
Google Analytics stores the information collected by the cookie on servers in the United States. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. How to reject or delete this cookie |
| Ad serving (non-targeted) |
The advertisements seen on London 2012 websites are served by a third-party ad serving provider called DoubleClick. The cookies accompanying the ads allow monitoring of the effectiveness of the ads (e.g. by using statistical analysis cookies) and make the ads more relevant to you (e.g. if you use our sites from outside of the UK, you may get ads from your local country). How to reject or delete these cookies |
How to manage cookies
Internet browsers allow users to manage their cookies. They can set their devices to accept all cookies, to let them know when a cookie has been set, or never to receive cookies.
Each browser works in a different way: use the ‘Help’ menu in your browser to find out to change your cookie preferences. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you should refer to your handset manual.
Please be aware that disabling cookies completely means that certain personalised features will not then be provided to that user and therefore they may not be able to make full use of all of the website’s features.
Some cookies are not set by London 2012 websites but by other sites which provide a service or functionality on London 2012 websites. These are known as third-party cookies. Managing, deleting or blocking these cookies requires you to visit the websites of these third parties. Details are provided in the section Third-party cookies.
You can learn more about cookies and how to manage them at AboutCookies.org
List of cookies used on London 2012 sites:
London 2012 - www.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 2 years | This keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred |
| _utmb | 30 minutes | A timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor enters the site |
| _utmc | End of session | A timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves the site - having waited 30 minutes for another pageview to happen, and if it doesn’t, it expires |
| _utmz | 6 months | This keeps track of where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from |
| guest_id | 24 months | Identifiers of the Twitter account or guest. |
| k | 1 week | This is used for user IP tracking within Twitter to determine whether a user is logged in or logged out. |
| pid | 24 months | Used by the Tweet button for Twitter |
| external_referer | AAA | AAA> |
| js | AAA | Javascript cookie used by Twitter. |
| datr | 24 months | This identifies the web browser being used to connect to Facebook independent of the logged in visitor. This cookie plays a key role in Facebook’s security and site integrity features |
| reg_fb_gate | End of session | This contains the first Facebook page visited |
| reg_fb_ref | End of session | This contains the first Facebook page visited |
| end_user | End of session | Support for language switching |
Get Set - http://getset.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 18 months | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | 30 minutes | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmv | 18 months | Used for reporting in Google Analytics classifying the visitor. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| ci_session | 5 minutes | A cookie which stores visitor preferences for font size/style sheet and visitor details when they log into the site, and enables secure 'auto logout' should a visitor remain inactive for a period of time. |
| ACE-getset | End of session | This cookie is used for load balancing |
London 2012 Mascots - http://mascot-games.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 24 months | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmv | 18 months | Used for reporting in Google Analytics classifying the visitor. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| ACE-Insert | End of session | This cookie is used for server load balancing and session persistence. |
| accessibilityFontCookie | 1 week | This cookie used to manage the visitor's preferred font size. |
| accessibilityStyleCookie | 1 week | This cookie is used to manage the visitor's preferred screen style (normal, dyslexic, high visibility). |
Prestige Ticketing - http://prestigeticketing.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 18 months | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | 30 minutes | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| ptFont | End of session | This cookie is used to manage the visitor's preferred font size. |
| ptMain | End of session | This cookie is used to manage the visitor's preferred screen style (normal, dyslexic, high visibility). |
Learning Legacy - http://learninglegacy.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 24 months | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords were used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
London 2012 Shop - http://shop.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| CoreID6 | 20 years | This cookie used to identify the user profile. |
| cmTPSet | Persistent | This cookie is used to collect technical properties on the first page view of the session. |
| 99999999_clogin | End of session | This cookie is used to store a session ID. |
| cn_RS | End of session | This 'resend' cookie is used to persist 'link click' data to destination pages. |
| TestSess | End of session | This cookie is used for session management. |
| TestPerm | 5 hours | This cookie is used for session management. |
| 99999999_login | End of session | Used to identify user session on client site: <creation time><browser IP><client id> (Example: 1060749945017108225099999999) |
| 99999999_reset | End of session | Set to 10-digit timestamp on every request and used for session timeout |
| TestSess3 | End of session | This cookie is set to the value of CoreID6 at session start. |
| 99999999_expires | On timeout | This cookie is a timestamp value set only for 'Coremetrics Managed' third party implementations under the 'Data Collection Domain'. |
Pre-Games Training Camps - http://trainingcamps.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 18 months | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | 30 minutes | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmv | 18 months | Used for reporting in Google Analytics classifying the visitor. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| font | 1000 years | This manages the visitor's preferred font size. |
| ASP.NET_SessionId | End of session | This cookie is used for .NET sessions. |
Spectator Journey Planner - http://travel.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 18 months | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | 30 minutes | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmv | 18 months | Used for reporting in Google Analytics classifying the visitor. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| ASP.NET_SessionId | End of session | This cookie is used for .NET sessions. |
| SJP | Persistent | This cookie is used for persisting the planned journey request (e.g. location from/to, dates, accessible site style mode...). |
| SJPTestCookie | 1 second | This cookie is added and removed straight away to test if the user's browser supports cookies. |
Get Ahead of the Games - www.getaheadofthegames.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 2 years | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | 30 minutes | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmz | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| 99999999_clogin | 6 months | This cookie is used to store a ssession ID. |
| CoreID6 | 20 years | This cookie is used to identify a user profile. |
| s_cc | End of session | This cookie determines whether cookies are enabled or not. |
| s_cq | End of session | This cookie contains information about the previous link that was clicked on by the user. |
| ASP.NET_SessionID | End of session | This cookie is used to manage .NET sessions. |
London 2012 Festival Site - http://festival.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 2 years | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| ACE-Insert | End of session | Server load balancing / Session persistance |
| PHPSESSID | End of session | Session management |
| _chartbeat2 | End of session | Check for known/unknown visitors to report on new versus returning visits |
London Prepares Series Site - http://londonpreparesseries.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _utma | 2 years | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| _utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| _utmc | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| _utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
Ticket Site - http://tickets.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| __utma | 2 years | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| __utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| s_cc | End of session | Determines whether cookies are enabled or not. |
| s_cq | End of session | Read by JavaScript code; contains information about the previous link that was clicked on by the user. |
| BID | 16 years | This cookie is used for session management. |
| LANGUAGE | End of session | This cookie is used to set the language. |
| SID | End of session | This cookie is used for session management. |
| STYLESHEET | End of session | This cookie is used to set the preferred stylesheet. |
| CMPS | End of session | This cookie is used for Visa credit/debit card processing. |
Recruitment Site -http://locogrecruitment.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| __utma | 2 years | A Google Analytics cookie which keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. |
| __utmb | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site. |
| __utmc | End of session | A Google Analytics cookie which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site. |
| __utmz | 6 months | A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from. |
| JSESSIONID | End of session | This cookie is used for session management. |
| NREUM | End of session | This cookie is used for session management. |
Memorabilia Site- http://memorabilia.london2012.com
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| isynlang | End of session | This cookie sets language and country. |
| isynsharedsession | End of session | This cookie is used for session management. |
| isyntrk-sitessn | 1 hour | This cookie is used for session management. |
Google+
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| NID | 6 months | A unique identifier used by Google applications to store user preference information. |
| HSID | 10 years | A unique identifier used by Google applications to store user preference information. |
| SSID | 10 years | A unique identifier used by Google applications to store user preference information. |
| APISID | 10 years | A unique identifier used by Google applications to store user preference information. |
| SAPISID | 10 years | A unique identifier used by Google applications to store user preference information. |
| SID | 10 years | A unique identifier used by Google applications to store user preference information. |
| BEAT | 1 day | A persistent cookie that is used to track Google+ (+1) status |
| ULS | End of session | A session cookie used to track Google+ (+1) status |
| _utma | 12 months | This keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to Google+, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred |
| _utmb | 30 minutes | A timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor enters the site |
| _utmc | End of session | A timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves the site - having waited 30 minutes for another pageview to happen, and if it doesn’t, it expires |
| _utmz | 6 months | This keeps track of where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world Google+ was accessed from |
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| k | 1 week | Twitter image server cookie |
| guest_id | 24 months | Identifies whether the visitor is a user or guest of Twitter |
| original_referer | . | This cookie is used to supply the feed on this site. |
| _utma | 12 months | This keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to Twitter, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred |
| _utmb | 30 minutes | A timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor enters the site |
| _utmc | End of session | A timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves the site - having waited 30 minutes for another pageview to happen, and if it doesn’t, it expires |
| _utmz | 6 months | This keeps track of where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world Twitter was accessed from |
| _utmv | 2 years | Used for user-defined reports in Google Analytics classifying the visitor |
| _twitter sess | End of session | Defines a unique ID associated with the current user linked to Twitter |
| auth_token | End of session | On login |
| auh_token_session | End of session | On login |
| secure_session | End of session | On login |
| twll | 10 years | On login |
| lang | End of session | On login |
| pid | 24 months | Used by Twitter (from the share buttons that are embedded in some of our pages) |
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| datr | 24 months | This identifies the web browser being used to connect to Facebook independent of the logged in visitor. This cookie plays a key role in Facebook’s security and site integrity features |
| reg_fb_gate | End of session | This contains the first Facebook page visited |
| reg_fb_ref | End of session | This contains the last Facebook page visited |
| wd | End of session | This identifies the browser window dimensions |
| lsd | End of session | This contains a random value that is set when a Facebook user logs out in order to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks |
| c_user | Set by visitor | This contains the user ID of the currently logged in visitor. The lifetime of this cookie is dependent on the status of the "keep me logged in" checkbox. If the checkbox is set, the cookie expires after 30 days of inactivity, otherwise the cookie is a session cookie and will therefore be cleared when the browser exits |
| csm | End of session | This cookie is used to integrate the user's Facebook's Like status with the London 2012 site |
| lu | 2 years | This is used to manage how the login page is presented to the visitor. The lifetime is the same as c_user |
| s | End of session | |
| locale | 1 week | This contains the display locale of the last logged in visitor on this browser. This is set after the visitor logs out |
| sct | Set by visitor | This contains a timestamp representing the time at which the visitor logged in. This cookie is used to distinguish between multiple sessions created at different times. The lifetime is the same as c_user |
| xs | Set by visitor | This contains the session number, a session secret and an optional "secure" flag (if visitor has enabled secure browsing feature). The lifetime is the same as c_user |
AddThis
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _atuvc | 24 months | This allows the user to see the updated share count of a page (if they share a page and return to it before AddThis' share count cache is updated) |
| psc | 2 years | These cookies collect non-personally identifiable information from AddThis for analytics purposes. |
| uit | 1 day | These cookies collect non-personally identifiable information from AddThis for analytics purposes. |
| uid | 2 years | These cookies collect non-personally identifiable information from AddThis for analytics purposes. |
| uvc | 2 years | These cookies collect non-personally identifiable information from AddThis for analytics purposes. |
Doubleclick.net
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _gads | 24 months | This integrates the DoubleClick advertising platform with Google Analytics |
| PREF | 12 months | Google's safebrowsing api / g+ |
IMR Worldwide
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| V5 | 2 years | This is is a tracking cookie used by analytics company and official partner Neilsen |
| IMRID | 2 years | This is is a tracking cookie used by analytics company and official partner Neilsen |
Chartbeat
| Cookie name | Expires after | Description of cookie |
| _chartbeat2 | End of session | Check for known/unknown visitors to report on new versus returning visits |
Local Shared Objects (Flash Cookies)
London 2012 uses the Adobe Flash Player to deliver some of its content, including video and games. To improve user experience, Local Shared Objects - or Flash Cookies as they are commonly known - are used to provide features such as saving preferences. Flash cookies are stored on a user's terminal much the same as cookies are, but it is not possible to manage them at browser level in the same way as other website cookies.
More information
To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit AboutCookies.org.