Cookies Policy

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of the website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and allows us to improve our site. At Versus Arthritis, we’re committed to supporting those affected by arthritis while respecting their privacy. This cookie policy outlines how we use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience on our website and ensure transparency in our practices.

Cookie Settings

A cookie is a small data file of letters and numbers that with your permission we store on your browser or the hard drive of your device. When you use our website, it asks your browser to store the data on your device to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. These ‘first-party’ cookies are set by us. We also use third-party cookies (see below). 

When we mention ‘cookies’, we refer to both traditional cookies and other similar technologies. These include:

Session Cookies: Temporary data that vanishes when you close your browser.

Persistent Cookies: Data that has a longer lifespan as separately indicated in the Cookie List below, enhancing your experience across visits.

Third-Party Cookies: These come from our partners (like social media platform providers, research institutions or support networks) and help us understand your interactions beyond our website.

Pixels (Similar Technology): A tracking pixel is a tiny, invisible piece of code embedded on our website. It is used to track certain user activities for analytics, performance and remarketing.  For example, it allows third party partners e.g. Facebook to track user interactions with the site, such as page views, clicks, and conversions. This data helps us measure the effectiveness of our advertisements and optimise our campaigns to make sure we are reaching as many people who want to support arthritis sufferers as possible. We do not place pixels on pages targeted at under 18’s, arthritis specific or other health related pages. Use is limited to generic information and fundraising related pages. Sometimes these pixels are referred to as web beacons or pixel tags.

Cookies play a vital role in tailoring your online journey. They allow us to:

Personalise Content: We use cookies to serve you relevant information related to arthritis management, treatments, fundraising, and support.

Optimise Digital Advertising: Cookies help us display targeted messages that resonate with your arthritis journey.

Enable Social Connection: Share your stories, connect with fellow sufferers, and find strength in our community.

Analyse Traffic: By understanding how you navigate our site, we can improve its functionality for everyone.

By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. We respect your autonomy. Here’s how you can manage cookies:

Accept All Cookies: Click the friendly “Accept Cookies” button on our cookie banner.

Manage Consent Preferences: If you prefer to refine your cookies, visit our “Privacy Preference Centre’’ There, you can adjust your preferences to switch off targeting, performance, and functional cookies. If you do block or turn off these settings, you may not be able to access all or parts of our site. For more information about cookies in general, we suggest you visit www.aboutcookies.org

Cookie Settings

When you use our website or services, you consent to the use of cookies as outlined in this policy. Be assured that our cookies undergo regular review, and we exclusively employ cookies essential for enhancing the experience of users interested in arthritis information. Your data remains safeguarded throughout this process

Consent Mechanisms

Before using the Versus Arthritis website, users must consent to the use of cookies. The first time that a user tries to access our website they will encounter our cookie message ‘by clicking accept all cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts’.

How it works

A user can choose to ‘reject all cookies’, ‘accept all cookies’ or ‘access cookie settings’.

By clicking cookie settings, the user will access the privacy preference centre where they can ‘allow all’, ‘reject all’ or manage consent preferences for targeting, performance and functional cookies.  Strictly necessary cookies are marked ‘always active’, without these cookies the website will not work.

If the user selects reject all they will not be able to use the website.

The portal is powered by Onetrust, a leading provider of privacy management software and solutions. Their cookie consent product helps organisations simplify cookie compliance and consent management.

We employ the Onetrust consent portal to manage user preferences and consent related to cookies. Through this portal, users can express their choices regarding cookie usage, including opting in or out of specific types of cookies.

Our system maintains a detailed record of each user’s preferences and consent, ensuring transparency and compliance with data privacy regulations.

Users can access and modify their preferences at any time through the onetrust interface.

We provide clear instructions on how users can access the portal and manage their cookie preferences. We commit to transparency and empower users to easily manage their preferences.  We believe these are key principles in building trust and compliance with data protection laws.

Cookie Settings

Our website uses several different types of cookies which are explained here:

Strictly necessary cookies are essential for enabling basic website functionality. They allow users to navigate the site and perform essential functions including enabling you to log into secure areas of our website, use a shopping cart or make use of online donation services. These cookies are crucial for the proper functioning of the website. Specific examples include:

Session Cookies: These cookies remember user activities during a session, such as keeping users logged in or tracking items in an online shopping cart.

User-Input Cookies (Session ID): Used to store user inputs, such as form answers or shopping cart items.

Authentication Cookies: Confirm a user’s identity by tracking login credentials.

User-Centric Security Cookies: Detect authentication errors and incorrect login details.

Performance / analytical cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our digital sites and how the visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. They collect anonymous data about website usage to improve performance. They help us understand how visitors interact with our site, identify areas for enhancement, and optimise loading times. Examples include:

Load-Balancing Cookies: These basic cookies connect information between a user’s web server and our web server.

Functionality cookies enhance user experience by remembering preferences and providing personalised features. They allow us to offer a more tailored browsing experience. They are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This is what enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region). Examples include:

User Preferences Cookies: Remember user settings, such as language preferences or font size choices.

Customisation Cookies: Personalise content based on user behaviour.

Targeting / remarketing cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose, so they can show content and advertisements that you have shown interest in on our website, about us when you visit their website or digital platform. Targeting or advertising cookies track user behaviour across websites to deliver personalised advertisements. While these cookies are not strictly necessary, they help us tailor content and promotions. Examples include:

Behavioural Advertising Cookies: Collect data on user interests and preferences to display relevant advertisements.

Social Media Cookies: Integrate social media features and track interactions with social media platforms.

Tracking cookies are used to collect data on user behaviour across our website and other websites. This information helps us understand how users interact with our site and allows us to deliver personalised content and advertisements. While these cookies are not strictly necessary, they enhance your browsing experience by making it more relevant to your interests. Examples include:

Analytics Cookies: These cookies track user interactions with our website, such as page views, clicks, and conversions. This data helps us measure the effectiveness of our advertisements and optimise our campaigns.

Tracking cookies play a vital role in helping us understand our audience and improve our services. By analysing the data collected, we can enhance your experience on our website and ensure that our content and advertisements are relevant to you.

Third-party cookies, managed and established by external partners or suppliers acting on our behalf, serve the purpose of recognising your device when you explore other websites. These cookies find frequent application in website analytics or advertising endeavours.

Cloudflare cookies contribute to security, performance, and user satisfaction on the Versus Arthritis website. They play a crucial role in filtering out requests from bots. By identifying and managing bot traffic, we ensure that genuine users have a smoother experience on our website.

We also use Cloudflare cookies to further enhance security:

Clearance Cookie (Proof of Challenge Passed):

The Clearance Cookie serves as evidence that a user has successfully passed a security challenge. Once this proof is established, Cloudflare no longer issues additional challenges during subsequent interactions. This streamlined process enhances user access while maintaining security.

Origin Server Communication:

The Clearance Cookie is essential for communication with our origin server. Without it, requests may not reach the server, impacting the functionality of our website.

User Return to Customer Origin:

Cloudflare cookies allow us to direct end users back to the same customer origin (our website) for a specific period. This continuity ensures consistent experiences and efficient navigation.

Cloudflare privacy policy

Our use of Cookiebot cookies ensures compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations. These cookies help us manage user consent for cookies on our website, providing transparency and control to our visitors. Additionally, Cookiebot cookies enable us to monitor and report on cookie usage, ensuring that our website remains compliant and user-friendly.

We utilise Engaging Networks cookies to enhance our interaction with supporters and donors. These cookies help us track engagement and tailor our communications to better meet the needs of our audience. By leveraging Engaging Networks cookies, we can measure the effectiveness of our campaigns and improve our outreach efforts.

Engaging Networks privacy policy

Our utilisation of Facebook cookies enables us to strategically deliver advertisements to website visitors who possess Facebook accounts. Additionally, we harness these cookies to identify Facebook customers who share interests akin to those of our website visitors. We also employ Facebook cookies to gauge the efficacy of our advertising campaigns on the platform, ensuring optimal resource allocation.

Facebook privacy policy

Reviewing your off Meta technologies:

Should you only wish to disconnect from Facebook tracking via their pixel technology, rather than disabling all our tracking cookies, you can do so via The Facebook help centre which details how Facebook users can ‘control or disconnect the information that businesses send to Meta’.

We leverage Google’s Marketing Platform cookies to gauge the impact of our digital advertising campaigns. This ensures that our investment in digital advertising remains cost-effective. Additionally, these cookies enable us to strategically serve advertisements to visitors who have explored our websites while controlling the frequency of advertising displays. We also utilise Google Analytics cookies to measure how visitors interact with our websites. This valuable insight allows us to enhance user experiences and evaluate the effectiveness of our digital advertising efforts.

Google privacy policy

Hotjar is similar to Google Analytics, it serves as an analytics tool that enables us to track visitor behaviour on our website. By understanding user interactions, we enhance the overall user experience and ensure seamless navigation to meet their needs.

Hotjar privacy policy

LinkedIn cookies are employed to connect with professionals who visit our website and to deliver targeted advertisements based on their professional interests. These cookies also help us analyse the performance of our LinkedIn campaigns and ensure that our marketing efforts are reaching the right audience. By leveraging LinkedIn cookies, we can enhance our engagement with potential clients and partners.

LinkedIn privacy policy

Our use of Microsoft cookies helps us enhance user experience and deliver targeted advertisements. These cookies allow us to track user interactions with our website and optimise our content and marketing strategies. Additionally, Microsoft cookies assist us in measuring the effectiveness of our campaigns and ensuring that our resources are allocated efficiently. 

Microsoft privacy policy

We utilise OneTrust cookies to enhance your browsing experience and improve our services. These cookies serve various purposes, including Consent Management, Personalisation and user experience, compliance and legal requirements, analytics and performance, and security and fraud prevention.

OneTrust privacy policy

We incorporate Shopify cookies to enhance our website’s functionality and user experience. These cookies allow us to monitor visitor behaviour, improve navigation, and ensure that essential features, such as secure logins and personalised preferences are seamlessly accessible. By leveraging these cookies, we optimise our resources and provide a better online journey for our supporters. 

Shopify privacy policy

We utilise a Sterling Lotteries cookie to track the source of the user.

Sterling Lotteries privacy policy

We use Stripe cookies to ensure security of your electronic payment details.  The cookies enable payment on our website without storing user card information.

Stripe privacy policy

We utilise X cookies to engage with our audience and promote our content on the platform. These cookies help us identify Twitter users who have visited our website and tailor our advertisements to their interests. Furthermore, Twitter cookies assist us in measuring the success of our promotional efforts and refining our strategies accordingly.

X privacy policy

Our use of YouTube cookies helps us engage with our audience through video content and advertisements. These cookies allow us to identify YouTube users who have visited our website and tailor our video recommendations and ads to their interests. Additionally, YouTube cookies assist us in measuring the effectiveness of our video campaigns and optimising our content strategy to better serve our community.

YouTube privacy policy

This is a list of links to the privacy policy of all other third-party cookies, managed and established by external partners or suppliers acting on our behalf.

The cookies used on our website are listed here:

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, then some or all of these services may not function properly.

These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They uniquely identify your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

These cookies are set through our site by our analytics and advertising partners. They are used to collect information about your browsing habits and activities across different websites. This data helps us understand how you interact with our site and allows our partners to deliver more relevant advertisements to you. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not be able to monitor your activity and provide personalised content, and you may experience less targeted advertising.

These pixels are set through our site by our advertising and analytics partners. Only the Meta pixel uniquely identifies your browser and internet device. Like tracking cookies, these can be turned off via the ‘tracking cookies’ toggle in the privacy preference centre. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

If you have any queries or comments about this cookie policy, please contact us via dpo@versusarthritis.org

Updates

This cookie policy may be updated, please check it regularly if you need to have an up-to date understanding of the use of cookies used on our website.

Additional information about cookies

Further information about cookies and how to control their use is available from All About Cookies and Your Online Choices.