Smart Energy GB cookie notice

We use cookies, pixels and tags (which we shall collectively refer to here as "cookies") on the Smart Energy website for a variety of purposes which are described in this Cookie Policy, such as to make the website work properly and to make sure that you have the best possible experience when using it, and to show you information and advertising about the national rollout of smart meters that we think may be interesting to you. We also use Conversions API to help us accurately track website conversions, page visits and data which allows us to improve our ads.

Your consent matters

When you use the Smart Energy GB website you are asked to provide your consent to the storing and accessing of cookies on your device in accordance with the terms of this Cookie Policy. If you don't click "Accept" then we won't track your use of our website or advertising in any way, but we will keep a record of the fact that you didn't consent to our use of cookies so that we know not to track your activity.

What are cookies and what do they do?

A cookie is a very small text file. When you visit the Smart Energy GB website, a computer asks your device for permission to store this file in a part of your hard drive specifically designated for cookies. Details of the specific cookies that we use are set out in the table below.

For further information about how cookies work, including how you can check which cookies have been set on your device, you can visit the website All About Cookies.

Types of cookies we use on the Smart Energy GB website

Session cookies
We use cookies to allow the Smart Energy GB website to uniquely identify a user's browsing session on the Smart Energy GB website and to allow us to co-ordinate this information with data from our Smart Energy GB website server.

Analytics
We use Google's "analytics" cookies which, in conjunction with our web server's log files, allow us to identify individual users on an anonymous basis. These cookies can also calculate the aggregate number of people visiting the Smart Energy GB website, the user's geographic location, the date and time of a user's visit to the Smart Energy GB website, the pages a user has viewed and the time spent by users at the Smart Energy GB website. This helps us gather feedback so that we can improve the Smart Energy GB website and better serve our users and fulfil your journey.

Cross platform advertising and user recognition
We also use cookies provided by third party platforms that we advertise on, such as Meta, Twitter. These cookies operate in different ways, but they are both used to help us track when people who see Smart Energy GB advertising on Twitter and Meta, subsequently visit the Smart Energy GB website.

Functionality cookies
We also use cookies provided by third party platforms, like ReciteMe on the Smart Energy GB website to allow users to customise how our website looks for them, here are some examples of how we use functionality cookies:

Change contrast levels
Modify the font, colours, line height or spacing of text
Zoom in up to 200% without text spilling off the screen
The text will reflow in a single column when you change the size of your browser window
Navigate the website using just a keyboard
Translate the website into a different language
Listen to the website using a screen reader

Your use of third party websites and platforms such as Google, Twitter and Meta, and the privacy practices of these platforms (including the cookies that are used by them), are governed by separate terms, conditions and policies for which Smart Energy GB is not responsible. You should review the terms, conditions and policies of the relevant third party platform where you will find more details on how information about you is used on their platforms and how you can set your privacy preferences when using those platforms if you do not want them to track your activity on their platforms or share information with us about how you have interacted with our advertising.

Cookies on the Smart Energy GB website

The individual cookies we use and the purposes for which they are used are described in detail in the tables below:

Necessary Cookies

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 do not store any personally identifiable information.

Cookie Type	Cookie Name	Purpose
OneTrust	OptanonConsent	This cookie is set by the cookie compliance solution from OneTrust. It stores information about the categories of cookies the site uses and whether visitors have given or withdrawn consent for the use of each category. This enables Smart Energy GB to prevent cookies in each category from being set in the users browser, when consent is not given. The cookie has a normal lifespan of one year, so that returning visitors to the site will have their preferences remembered. It contains no information that can identify the site visitor.
OneTrust	OptanonAlertBoxClosed	This cookie is set by websites using certain versions of the cookie law compliance solution from OneTrust. It is set after visitors have seen a cookie information notice and in some cases only when they actively close the notice down. It enables the website not to show the message more than once to a user. The cookie has a one year lifespan and contains no personal information.
Anti-forgery	__RequestVerificationToken	This is an anti-forgery cookie set by web applications built using ASP.NET MVC technologies. It is designed to stop unauthorised posting of content to a website, known as Cross-Site Request Forgery. It holds no information about the user and is destroyed on closing the browser.
Cookie preference	_SessionId	This cookie is placed by Smart Energy GB and expires as soon as the browser window is closed. This cookie is used to track sessions. A session is an uninterrupted period of interaction with the smartenergygb.org website within the same browser.
Recite Me	segb-languagepersist Recite_Session Recite.Persist	These cookies are placed by Recite Me and is subject to Recite Me's privacy and cookie policy. Recite Me is a tool that provides web accessibility. It enables Smart Energy GB to trigger the ‘Enable Toolbar’ request on subsequent pages users visit. Once a user has activated the Recite Me Toolbar it will remain open as a user continues their visit throughout the website viewing multiple pages. The cookies expire after 1 year. For further information about the Recite Me tool please see: https://reciteme.com/policies/cookie-statement

Performance Cookies

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.

Cookie Type	Cookie Name	Purpose
Universal Analytics (Google)	_ga _gali _gat _gid gtm-session _gcl_au	These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our website and are analytics cookies. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone, including the number of visitors to the website and blog, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited. _ga expires after 2 years. Read Google's overview of privacy and safeguarding data: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245
Microsoft Clarity	_click CLID ANONCHK SM MUID _CLCK	These cookies are used to collect behavioural analytics that turns user data into visual insights and shows which parts of our website gets the most engagement. The focus is on how visitors use our website. This cookie is an analytics cookie. You can find out how Microsoft uses the data here: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement CLID expires after 3 months.
Adalyser	__adal_id __adal_ses __adal_ca __adal_cw __adal	These cookies collect information about how you use our website. They keep track of the pages you visit and any errors you come across, for example. They don’t collect any information that could identify you, though – all the information they collect stays anonymous. We only use that information to improve how our website works, understand what interests our users and measure how effective our advertising is. They store which advertising campaign drove a user to visit, stores traffic source and campaign data, and tie back conversion events to earlier visits, stores a visit timestamp. They can also determine whether there is an active session and which conversions have taken place in this session to prevent duplicates, stores a list of events in this session. These cookies are stored for: __adal_ca - 6 months __adal_cw - 7 days __adal_id - 2 years More information can be found here: https://www.adalyser.com/en/cookies
uMarketingSuite Analytics	uMarketingSuiteAnalyticsVisitorId	This is a first-party cookie that collects information on user behaviour on our website. This information is used in order to optimize page performance on our website, It does not store direct personal information, and works by uniquely identifying your browser and browsing behaviour.
Conversion API	cee	This is a conversion API, which allows us to send events directly from our server to third-party advertising platforms. It gives added flexibility and reliability to our conversion data.
Hotjar	_hjSessionUser {site_id} _hjHasCachedUserAttributes _hjUserAttributesHash _hjUserAttributes hjViewportId hjActiveViewportIds _hjSession{site_id} _hjCookieTest _hjLocalStorageTest _hjSessionStorageTest _hjTLDTest _hjClosedSurveyInvites _hjDonePolls _hjMinimizedPolls	Hotjar uses various cookies and local storage items to track user behavior, manage sessions, and store preferences. These include session cookies like _hjHasCachedUserAttributes and _hjUserAttributesHash, which expire when the browser is closed, and persistent cookies such as _hjSessionUser{site_id} and _hjDonePolls, which last up to 1 year. Temporary cookies like _hjCookieTest and _hjSessionStorageTest validate browser capabilities and are deleted within milliseconds. Other cookies, like _hjSession{site_id}, last 30 minutes, while local storage items like _hjUserAttributes persist indefinitely without explicit expiration. These tools enable Hotjar to improve user experience and gather meaningful insights. Read Hotjar's overview of privacy and safeguarding data below: https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/6952777582999-Cookies-Set-by-the-Hotjar-Tracking-Code#tracking_code_cookies

Functional Cookies

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.

Targeting Cookies

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 do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Cookie Type	Cookie Name	Purpose
Yahoo	A3	The purpose of this cookie is to measure, optimise and build audiences for advertising campaigns that appear across Yahoo. They have a lifespan of 1 year.
Doubleclick	IDE *_cookie	This domain is owned by Doubleclick (Google). The main business activity is: Doubleclick is Googles real time bidding advertising exchange.
TheTradeDesk	TDCPM TDID	This cookie collects information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website. It is an advertising cookie. You can find out how TheTradeDesk uses the data here: https://www.thetradedesk.com/us/privacy TDCPM expires after 1 year. TDID expires after 1 year.
YouTube Cookies	CONSENT* YSC* VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE*	We embed videos on our website from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos which use the privacy-enhanced mode. Read more at YouTube’s embedding videos information page: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/171780?hl=en-GB CONSENT - expires after 17 years. YSC - expires at the end of your session. VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE - expires after 6 months.
Cookie Preference	OAID	Associated with the OpenX banner advertising platform for publishers. Records whether specific ads have been displayed. Reportedly used for performance only rather than user targeting. As a first party cookie it cannot be used to track across domains.
Yahoo	B	The purpose of this cookie is to measure, optimise and build audiences for advertising campaigns that appear across Yahoo. They have a lifespan of 1 year.
Teads Pixel	_tt_viewer ar_debug	This cookie is placed by Teads Pixel and is subject to Teads privacy and cookie policy available here: https://www.teads.com/privacy-policy/ Teads is an advertising cookie. It enables Smart Energy GB to keep visitor information during a rolling 28 days window. We will also retain the data used for re/targeting purposes up to 12 months from the date of collection.
Snapchat	_scid_r _screload	This cookies are set by Snapchat. They may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, and work by uniquely identifying your browser and browsing behaviour. If you block these cookies, you will experience less relevant advertising elsewhere on the internet.

Social Media Cookies

These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

Cookie Type	Cookie Name	Purpose
Twitter	t.co personalization_id	This cookie is placed by Twitter and is subject to Twitter's privacy and cookie policy. It enables Smart Energy GB to learn how our users have interacted with Smart Energy GB's advertising on Twitter. It also enables Smart Energy GB to identify users who have used their mobile device to view Smart Energy GB's advertising on Twitter and later came to the Smart Energy GB website on a desktop computer. We store the information that we collect for 90 days and may use it to show further Smart Energy GB advertising to users who have previously seen our advertising. If you have visited our website after seeing our advertising then we will keep the data for 180 days so that we can show you more advertising. For further information about the Twitter Conversion Tracker please see: https://business.twitter.com/en/help/campaign-measurement-and-analytics/conversion-tracking-for-websites.html
Reddit Pixel	_rdt_uuid	This cookie is placed by Reddit and is subject to Reddit's privacy and cookie policy. It enables Smart Energy GB to measure, optimise and build audiences for Smart Energy GB's advertising campaigns which appear on Reddit. In particular, it enables Smart Energy GB to see how our users move between devices when accessing the Smart Energy GB website and Reddit, to ensure that Smart Energy GB's Reddit advertising is seen by our users most likely to be interested in such advertising by analysing which content a user has viewed and interacted with on the Smart Energy GB website. We store the information that we collect for 90 days and may use it to show further Smart Energy GB advertising to users who have previously seen our advertising. If you have visited our website after seeing our advertising then we will keep the data for 180 days so that we can show you more advertising.
Meta Pixel	_fbc _fbp	This cookie is placed by Meta and is subject to Meta's privacy and cookie policy. It enables Smart Energy GB to measure, optimise and build audiences for Smart Energy GB's advertising campaigns which appear on Meta. In particular it enables Smart Energy GB to see how our users move between devices when accessing the Smart Energy GB website and Meta, to ensure that Smart Energy GB's Meta advertising is seen by our users most likely to be interested in such advertising by analysing which content a user has viewed and interacted with on the Smart Energy GB website. We store the information that we collect for 90 days and may use it to show further Smart Energy GB advertising to users who have previously seen our advertising. If you have visited our website after seeing our advertising then we will keep the data for 180 days so that we can show you more advertising. For further information about the Meta please see: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/742478679120153?id=1205376682832142
NextDoor Pixel	pixelId	The purpose of this cookie is to measure, optimise and build audiences for advertising campaigns that appear across NextDoor.
Pinterest Pixel	_pin_unauth ar_debug	The purpose of this cookie is to measure, optimise and build audiences for advertising campaigns that appear across Pinterest. They have a lifespan of 1 year.

Blocking our use of cookies

You can change your mind and withdraw your consent to our use of cookies at any time by blocking our cookies using the settings in your web browser. You can find information about how to do this on the All About Cookies website.