Many websites use cookies to enhance your user experience by allowing the site to "remember" you, either for the duration of your visit (using a 'session cookie') or for repeat visits (using a 'persistent cookie').

 

Cookies perform various functions, such as enabling smooth navigation between pages, storing your preferences, and generally improving your experience on a website. They facilitate faster and easier communication between you and the site. Without cookies, a website would treat you as a new visitor each time you navigate to a different page – for example, if you enter your login details and then move to another page, the site wouldn't recognize you and wouldn't be able to keep you logged in.

 

Some websites also use cookies to tailor their advertising or marketing messages based on your location and/or browsing habits.

 

Cookies can be set by the website you are visiting ('first-party cookies') or by other websites that run content on the page you are viewing ('third-party cookies').

 

What is in a Cookie?

 

A cookie is a simple text file stored on your computer or mobile device by a website’s server, and only that server can retrieve or read its contents. Each cookie is unique to your web browser and contains some anonymous information, such as a unique identifier, the site name, and a series of digits and numbers. This allows a website to remember things like your preferences or what’s in your shopping cart.

 

How to Control Cookies

 

All popular modern browsers offer users a degree of control over cookies. Users can set their browsers to accept or reject all cookies or specific ones. Additionally, users can configure their browsers to notify them each time a cookie is offered. If you use a different type of browser, please contact us for assistance.

 

You can also manage Adobe Local Shared Objects, commonly known as LSOs or Flash cookies, but not through your browser. Instead, Adobe's website provides tools to manage Flash cookies on your computer. Firefox users can also download an add-on to detect and delete Flash cookies.

 

How to Delete Cookies

 

If you prefer not to receive certain types of cookies on www.theflightsguru.co.uk, you can use this tool to opt out of them. We will need to place a cookie to remember your preferences the next time you visit the website from the same browser. Currently, it is not technically feasible for us to allow you to carry your settings across different browsers or devices, so you will need to adjust these settings in each browser you use.

 

Please also be aware that while we strive to honor your choices, there is a possibility that not all cookies will be captured. If this is a concern, we recommend adjusting your cookie settings directly through your browser. Your browser's help function can provide guidance on how to do this.

 

What is the purpose of cookies?

 

Cookies facilitate faster and easier communication between users and websites. Without cookies, it would be challenging for a website to allow visitors to fill a shopping cart or remember their preferences and registration details for future visits.

 

Websites primarily use cookies because they save time and make the browsing experience more efficient and enjoyable. They often use cookies to collect statistical information about their users. Cookies enable websites to monitor users' browsing habits and analyze them for marketing purposes, such as identifying which products or services interest users and delivering targeted advertisements.

 

Types of Cookies

 

Cookies come in various flavours:

 

 Session, or transient cookies - Session cookies are never stored on the hard drive and do not collect any information from the user's computer. They expire at the end of the user's browser session and can also become unavailable after the session has been idle for a specified length of time, usually 20 minutes.

 

 Permanent, persistent, or stowed cookies - Cookies that are stored on the user's computer and are not deleted when the browser is closed are called persistent cookies. Persistent cookies can retain user preferences for a specific website, allowing those preferences to be used in future browsing sessions.

 

These cookies can be used to identify individual users, enabling websites to analyze users' browsing habits within the site. They can also provide information about the number of visitors, the average time spent on a particular page, and overall website performance. Persistent cookies are typically designed to keep track of users for an extended period, sometimes lasting several years.

 

 Flash cookies - If you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer (which most computers do), small files might be stored on your device by websites that use Flash media, such as video clips. These files are known as Local Shared Objects (LSOs) or Flash cookies, and they can be used for the same purposes as regular cookies (technically known as HTTP cookies).

 

Flash cookies can also back up data stored in a regular cookie. Therefore, when you delete cookies using your browser controls, your Flash cookies remain unaffected. As a result, a website that previously set a cookie on your device might still recognize you on your next visit if it has backed up the deleted cookie information to a Flash cookie.

 

You can manage Flash cookies. Adobe's website offers tools to control Flash cookies on your computer, and Firefox users can download an add-on to detect and delete Flash cookies.

 

Are cookies dangerous?

 

No, cookies are small pieces of text. They are not computer programs and cannot be executed as code. Additionally, they cannot be used to spread viruses. Modern versions of both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers allow users to set their own limits on the number of cookies stored on their hard drives.

 

Can cookies threaten user's privacy?

 

Cookies are stored on the computer's hard drive and cannot access it—meaning they cannot read other data saved on the hard drive or obtain a user's email address. They only contain and transmit data to the server that users themselves have disclosed to a specific website.

 

A server cannot set a cookie for a domain it is not a part of. However, users often discover cookies in their computer files from sites they have never visited. These cookies are typically set by companies that provide internet advertising services for other websites. As a result, it's possible that user data, such as browsing habits, may be shared with third-party websites without the user's awareness or consent. This is a primary reason why people often decline or are wary of cookies.