Cookie Policy

Definition of “Cookie”

A cookie is a message given to a web browser by a web server. Your web browser then stores the message in a text file on your computer. Each time the browser requests a page from the server, this message is sent back. A cookie’s main objective is to identify users and personalise their visit by customising web pages, for example by welcoming them by name next time they visit the same website. A website using cookies will usually invite you to provide personal information such as your name, email address and interests. You can set your browser not to accept cookies however in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result.

Cookies and the EU Directive

From 26 May 2012 the Information Commissioner’s Office requires that UK websites comply with the EU legislation regarding use of cookies on websites. The new European Union directive requires us to confirm with our visitors that they are happy with our use of cookies when they visit our website.

First Party and Third Party Cookies

When a cookie is placed on your computer, it is given an owner. Where the cookie owner is the site who placed the cookie, this is called a first party cookie, and this is the default. Where a cookie is placed on behalf of another website, this is a third party cookie. We use both first and third party cookies, which may be placed when you visit any part of our acfcarfinance.co.uk domain. First party cookies are only accessible by an acfcarfinance.co.uk domain, although the information they contain may be transmitted to a third party, as defined below.

Cookies on our Website

Like many other companies, we use cookies on our website. We use them for a number of purposes which are defined below. Most of these cookies are persistent cookies so, even when you leave our site, the cookie’s data remains on your computer for a set amount of time. If you come back before that time limit expires we will be able to read the previous cookie data, and in some cases refresh the cookie to extend the time period. The information we retrieve from the cookie may help us to better serve your needs.

By using our website you are agreeing to our use of cookies as described on this page. If you wish to turn off cookies, either from our website or from all websites, your browser will allow you to change your cookie preference settings. Please see you browsers Help documentation for further information on this.

• ACF Car Finance Cookies

  We use a number of first party cookies to enable us to tailor our website for our visitors. These are:

  • t: this cookie holds a tracking number which tells us where you came from when visiting our site. We use this to assess the performance of affiliates or campaigns. This cookie lasts for 30 days.
  • applied: this cookie holds “true” if you have completed our application form, and will remain on your computer for 90 days.
  • desktop: this cookie will be set to “1” if you have visited our mobile website but chosen to view our desktop website instead. This cookie lasts for 182 days.
  • source: this cookie is used to indicate that you have visited us from an affiliate. It is set to the name of the affiliate, and will remain on your computer for 30 days.
  • show-cookie: when you first arrive on our site we will show you a Cookie Policy link in a dropdown at the top of the page. We then set this cookie, which stops the Cookie Policy link dropdown from being displayed throughout the rest of your visit. This cookie will be deleted when you close your browser.

• Google Cookies

  We use a service called Google Analytics to provide meaningful reports and statistics about the users of our websites. On behalf of Google Analytics we set a number of first party cookies. These cookies do not collect personal data about our visitors, and do not allow us to personally identify you, but help us to see how many visitors came from other websites and search engines, and how users interact with our website. The non-identifiable information generated by the cookies about your use of our website (including your IP address) is transmitted to Google, and these cookies will stay on your computer for 30 days from your last visit.

  These cookies are:

  • __utmz: this tracks where a visitor came from (search engine, search keyword, link).
  • __utma: this tracks each user’s frequency of visits, and the time of the first, the previous, and the current visit.
  • __utmb, __utmc, __utmx, __utmxx: these are used to track how long you stay on a site - when a visit starts and approximately ends.

  You can see an overview of the Google Analytics cookies at http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html. Please note that we have no control over the linked website and are not liable for your use of it.

• Expression Engine Cookies

  Our website is based upon a Content Management System called ExpressionEngine. This system places a number of cookies based upon your visit to our website to provide some very basic usage statistics. These cookies are:

  • exp_last_activity: the date on which you last looked at a page. This cookie lasts one year.
  • exp_last_visit: the date on which you last arrived on our website. This cookie also lasts one year.
  • exp_tracker: the last five pages you visited - this cookie expires as soon as you close your browser.

Other Third Party Cookies

A number of other cookies are used on our website to enhance your user experience. As these are third party cookies, they are not under our direct control, and you should therefore visit the parent website to find out how to opt-out of these cookies. Details of these cookies are provided below.

• AddThis Cookies

  We use a service called AddThis, which we use to link our pages to a number of Social Media services. Although the AddThis cookies do not collect personal information about our users, it does collect general information that includes which web page you came from, which type of browser you are using, and your geographic location. AddThis uses this information to provide analytics to help website owners to better understand their visitors.

  AddThis may set the following cookies:

  • _atuvc: used to update any social media counts (such as Facebook “Likes”). This cookie lasts for two years.
  • psc: used in recording user sharing and social activity. This cookie lasts for two years.
  • uid: provides a uniquely assigned machine-generated user ID. This cookie lasts for two years.
  • uit: used for login time tracking. This cookie lasts for 24 hours.
  • uvc: measures how often AddThis see a user. This cookie lasts for two years.

  You can see an overview of the AddThis cookies at http://www.addthis.com/privacy/. Please note that we have no control over the linked website and are in no way liable for it.

 

• DoubleClick

  DoubleClick is a subsidiary of Google that develops and provides Internet advertising services. It is used on our website to monitor how many sales are attributed from marketing through Google’s AdWords program. Doubleclick use two cookies:

  • id: assigning a string of letters and numbers which together create a non-identifiable ID.
  • test_cookie: used to test if your browser accepts cookies. This lasts for 24 hours.

  You can see Google’s Privacy Policy at http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/policies/privacy/. Please note that we have no control over the linked website and are in no way liable for it.

 

• Tradedoubler

  TradeDoubler is used on our website to provide a link to Experian’s Credit Expert credit reporting system. TradeDoubler uses the following cookies to track leads and sales which are generated via this link:

  • BT: a behavioural targeting cookie. This cookie lasts for one year.
  • TD_PIC: a post impression cookie that holds information about advert views. Adverts are not used on our website. This cookie lasts for four days.
  • TD_UNIQUE_IMP: a unique impression cookie which contains programs of viewed adverts together with the time of the advert view. Adverts are not used on our website. This cookie lasts for one year.

  You can read TradeDoubler’s Privacy Policy and Cookie opt-out at http://reports.tradedoubler.com/pan/displayTextKey.action?textKey=CMS_PUBLIC_162_CONTENT. Please note that we have no control over the linked website and are in no way liable for it.

 

• Twitter

  We use Twitter on our website to provide a twitterfeed and also to allow visitors to sign up to our tweets. Through this there are a number of Twitter cookies on our website, depending on whether or not you are logged in to Twitter when you visit our website:

  • _twitter_sess: a temporary cookie which will be deleted when your browsing session ends.
  • guest_id: a temporary ID if you aren’t logged in. This cookie lasts for two years.
  • k: used to determine whether you are logged in to Twitter. This cookie lasts for one week.
  • js: a cookie to indicate whether you have javascript switched on. This cookie lasts for one month.
  • original_referer: a cookie which tells Twitter which site you have come from. This cookie will remain until you close your browser.
  • As well as these cookies, Twitter also make use of the Google Analytics cookies __utma, __utmb, __utmc and __utmz, as described in the Google Analytics section above.

  You can read Twitter’s Privacy Policy at http://twitter.com/privacy. Please note that we have no control over the linked website and are in no way liable for it.