Website services

For those who use this service we recommend that the introductory screen should be changed by the WPS subscriber to inform the user that this service uses cookies as part of its essential function, whether or not the user says 'Yes' in accepting the survey.

We recommend that the way to achieve this is that the introductory screen should  tell the visitor about the survey and then offer:

• Yes, I'll take the survey - sets a cookie 
• No thanks, not this time - sets a cookie 
• Close window - doesn't set a cookie 

Note: Setting a cookie by 'Yes' or 'No' will prevent this invitation appearing again. If you just close the window, you are likely to see it again when you visit the site.

The pop-up should link to page that explains about cookies and to rest of the website's privacy and cookie policy.

It might also point out that the information from the survey is important for improving the website (ie, the same point that it should also make in its cookie policy page)

Policy changes


We reserve the right to update and make changes to this privacy notice.

Contact us

If you have any comments or questions regarding this policy or the Website performance service, then please contact us at: Insight@socitm.net.

For more information about how our subscribers use the information collected on their websites, please see their privacy policy.

This privacy and cookie policy was last updated on 12 June 2012.

Original advice about Website performance service (June 2011)

The following guidance is given to local authorities that subscribe to our Website performance service. It may be of wider interest in certain aspects of guidance.

Overview

The Website performance service provides information to participating subscribers about the total number of unique visitors to their sites, as well as other information about the reasons visitors are going to the site, how they got there, what the experience was like and whether they are likely to visit again. The information is collected through a short exit survey added to participating subscribers' websites and launched as every fifth visitor leaves the site. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete. Supporting software collects the answers and analyses results in a variety of ways, allowing subscribers to look at findings from their own website and compare them with findings from the rest of the subscriber group. The survey is administered by Socitm Insight (www.socitm.net) and is provided by rol solutions ltd (www.rol.co.uk).

Privacy

The technology used is not intended to collect personally identifiable information. In some limited circumstances some personally identifiable information may be captured, for example when personal information such as an email address is incorporated into a URL string. However, if the user chooses to enter a post code as part of the survey then that information could allow the user's location to be narrowed down to (typically) around 17 households. The user may also choose to enter contact details in one or more of the comments boxes. In this case the subscribing authority will receive this information as part of the monthly reporting. Note that as the reporting is monthly a response from the subscribing authority cannot be guaranteed. Any personally identifiable information inadvertently captured will never be used by rol or Socitm to advertise, promote or market goods or services to you.

Collection and use of information

We embed a piece of code (sometimes referred to as "1x1 clear pixel," "Web beacon" or "clear GIF") in the pages of subscriber websites in order to gather statistical site usage information. The types of statistical information we may gather on behalf of our subscribers include the number of visitors to their websites and details on browsers (including Internet Protocol 'IP' addresses or browser configurations). We use this information to provide our subscribers with detailed reports and analyses of the traffic to their websites. All of this information is provided to subscribers on a completely anonymous basis. The optional survey requests additional demographic, non-personally identifiable information. Your participation in a survey is always voluntary, and, therefore, you have a choice as to whether or not to provide the requested survey information. We use the information collected in the survey to provide our subscribers with a detailed understanding of their internet audience. We may also combine the information collected on our subscribers' websites with other data and research tools to perform additional research and analyses concerning internet audience demographics, behaviour and use.

Cookies

The Socitm Insight Website performance service uses cookies(*) to determine whether a customer has participated in the WPS survey on a subscriber's website or has rejected taking part. The survey uses this information to prevent the same customer using the same user account on the same computer from being asked to participate in the survey again during the current survey year. The cookies are placed from the subscriber's domain and are set to expire one year after placement.

Cookies

(*) A cookie is a small text file containing a random and unique identifier (e.g., #12345) that is sent to your browser from a web server and then stored onto your computer's hard drive. Through modification of browser preferences, a user can elect to accept all cookies, receive notification when a cookie is set or decline all cookies. Alterations to these settings may, however, affect the functionality of certain websites.

• Note 1: If the customer clears cookies, either manually or automatically at the end of a session then they may be invited to participate again the next time they visit the subscriber's website.
• Note 2: If a customer visits a subscriber's website from a different system or using a different user name then they may be invited to participate again.
• Note 3: If a customer has cookies turned off then the system will never invite them to participate in the survey.

The system places multiple cookies, all of which only contain a true or false value. These are listed below. In all cases the last character of the cookie name [x] is replaced by the version of the survey, currently 7.
Socitm_include_me[x] - indicates that a customer has accepted the survey and is either in the process of completing it or has completed it. The customer will not be asked to participate in this version of the survey again.
Socitm_exclude_me[x] - indicates that a customer has rejected the survey and will not be invited to participate in this version of the survey again until the cookie expires. This cookie is also placed when the system processes the code to invite a customer to participate but detects the socitm_include_me[x] cookie while doing so and does not present the survey again as a result.
Socitm_exclude_alt[x] - indicates that a customer should be excluded from an alternate survey. This cookie is placed when the system processes the code to invite a customer to participate in an alternate/additional survey but detects the
socitm_include_me[x] cookie while doing so and does not present the alternate survey as a result. Note this cookie will be placed whether or not the subscriber's implementation includes alternate surveys.
The only use made of the cookies is to prevent customers being invited to participate multiple times in the same survey. They contain no personally identifiable information.

Opting out


If you wish to opt out of the survey then please select the 'No - not at this time' link on the survey introduction screen when it appears. This action will place cookies(*) on your computer that, providing they are not removed, will prevent you, when using the same user account on that computer, from being requested to take part in the survey until the question set is changed which normally occurs once per year.

Note that if you use a different computer, or a different account on the same computer, then you may be given the opportunity to take part in the survey. If you use browser settings to prevent cookies from being placed then you will not be invited to participate in the Website performance service.