Cookies are small files saved on your computer, phone or tablet that allow us to store information about how you use The National Archives website, such as the pages you visit or any preferences you set. They help us to provide you with a better experience.
We use some essential cookies in order to make the website work, and some that are optional, including analytics cookies. We need your consent to use some of them. They cannot be used to identify you personally.
Why do we use cookies?
We use cookies to improve the services that we provide and to ensure they work for you by:
- Measuring how many people are using these services, so they can be made easier to use and there’s enough capacity to ensure they are working efficiently
- Enabling a service to recognise your device so you don’t have to give the same information several times during one task
- Recognising that you may already have provided a username and password so you don’t need to do it for every web page requested
We classify the cookies we use on our website in the following categories:
- Analytics cookies (optional)
- Functional (optional)
- Essential cookies (non-optional)
We do not use any cookies for marketing or targeting purposes.
Analytics cookies
These measure your website use and enable us to make improvements.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | This is set by Google Analytics and is used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data, and to keep track of site usage for the site’s analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. | Two years |
| _gid | Also set by Google Analytics, this is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is performing. The data collected includes the number of visitors, the source (i.e. where a visitor has come from), and the pages visited in an anonymous form. | 48 hours |
| _gat_UA (with an account number) | This is a pattern-type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It is a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high-traffic volume websites. | 24 hours |
| _ga_ (with an account number) | This is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics 4, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It is a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites. | Two years |
| _utma | This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used to distinguish users and sessions. | Two years |
| _utmb | This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used with _utmc to calculate how long a visit takes. | 30 minutes |
| _utmc | This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used with _utmb to calculate how long a visit takes. | Two years |
| _utmz | This cookie is set by Google Analytics and keeps track of where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keyword was used, and where in the world the website was accessed from. | Six months |
Functional cookies
These are not necessary to make our site work but make it easier to use the site by remembering your preferences.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| dontAutoStartResultsTour | This cookie remembers if you have opted out of the tour option on Discovery. | One year |
Essential cookies
These are necessary to make our site work. You can disable them by changing your browser preferences. However, you should be aware that doing so will mean some parts of the website will stop working for you.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| nationalarchives-PHPCookie | This cookie connects requests from the website to use PHP. It stores no personal information. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| dontShowCookieNotice | This remembers that you have hidden the cookie notification banner. | 90 days |
| cookies_policy | This saves your cookie consent settings. | 90 days |
| ASP.NET_SessionId | This cookie is set for sites developed with Microsoft.Net. When a user starts browsing a unique session ID is created, which keeps track of all the information regarding that session.This information is stored in the web server and it is identified via a GUID which is essential for any ASP.NET site to function. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| Discovery | A Discovery user account session. | 20 minutes |
| Discovery1 | A Discovery user account session. | 20 minutes |
| STSWREALM | A Discovery user account session. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| .ASPXAUTH | This cookie is a randomly generated number set on sites developed with Microsoft.Net similar to ASP.NET_SessionId described above. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| CGISESSID | This is used for the Library catalogue. Typical content: a randomly generated number. Host: tna.koha-ptfs.co.uk. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| B100Serverpoolcookie | Typical content: a randomly generated number. Host: tudorbritain.org. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| .AspNetCore.Antiforgery.9TtSrW0hzOs | This cookie is set by the Kew Booking System to allow users to register to visit The National Archives to view documents. | Expires when you exit the browser |
Third party cookies
These are cookies set by a website other than nationalarchives.gov.uk. They are set when you click on a third party link such as YouTube, Twitter and LiveChat. You cannot set your preferences for these on our site, but you can block them directly from your browser.
UK Government Web Archive
These cookies are necessary for the functioning of the UK Government Web Archive.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| ACCEPT_TRACKING_COOKIES | Typical content: True or false. | One year |
Due to the unique nature of web archiving, other certain essential cookies are required in order to accurately play back the content of websites as they were when they were archived. For example, when accessing the www.gov.uk archive some cookies from GOV.UK may be saved to your browser.
Online shop
These cookies are necessary for the functioning of the online shop.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _ab | This is used in connection with access to admin. | Two years |
| _secure_session_id | This is used in connection with navigation through a storefront. | 24 hours |
| _shopify_country | This is used in connection with the checkout. | Expires when you exit the browser |
| _shopify_m | This is used for managing customer privacy settings. | One year |
| _shopify_tm | This is used for managing customer privacy settings. | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_tw | This is used for managing customer privacy settings. | Two weeks |
| _storefront_u | This is used to facilitate updating customer account information. | One minute |
| _tracking_consent | This is used for tracking preferences. | One year |
| Cart | This is used in connection with the shopping cart. | Two weeks |
| cart_currency | This is used in connection with the shopping cart. | Two weeks |
| cart_sig | This is used in connection with the checkout. | Two weeks |
| cart_ts | This is used in connection with the checkout. | Two weeks |
| cart_ver | This is used in connection with the shopping cart. | Two weeks |
| checkout | This is used in connection with the checkout. | Four weeks |
| checkout_token | This is used in connection with the checkout. | One year |
| _atuvc | This (communication and marketing) cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget; it stores an updated page share count. | One year |
| _atuvs | This (communication and marketing) cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget; it serves a similar purpose to other cookies set by the service. | One month |
Online shop reporting and analytics
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _landing_page | This is used to track landing pages. | Two weeks |
| _orig_referrer | This is used to track landing pages. | Two weeks |
| _s | This is used for Shopify analytics. | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_d | This is used for Shopify analytics. | Expires at the end of the session |
| _shopify_fs | This is used for Shopify analytics. | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_s | This is used for Shopify analytics. | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_sa_p | This is used for Shopify analytics relating to marketing and referrals. | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_sa_t | This is used for Shopify analytics relating to marketing and referrals. | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_y | This is used for Shopify analytics. | 30 minutes |
| _y | This is used for Shopify analytics. | 30 minutes |
Visit www.shopify.ca/legal/cookies for more information.
AddThis
These cookies are set if you use the AddThis tools on the blog pages to share content via social media.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _atuvc | This (communication and marketing) cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget; it stores an updated page share count. | One year |
| _atuvs | This (communication and marketing) cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget; it serves a similar purpose to other cookies set by the service. | One month |
| sshs | This cookie stores and tracks visits across websites. | 13 months |
| ssc | This cookie stores and tracks visits across websites. | 13 months |
| notice_gdpr_pref | This is set by AddThis to record users’ preferences. | 13 months |
| notice_preferences | This is set by AddThis to record users’ preferences. | 13 months |
| uvc | This cookie stores and tracks visits across websites. | 13 months |
| loc | This is used to store location data for marketing and tracking. | 13 months |
| UID | This cookie is set to store a unique user ID for analytics. | One year |
Other cookies
The following cookies are currently set but not monitored and will be removed.
| Cookie name | What it does/typical content | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| ACOOKIE | This cookie is set by Webtrends and acts as a user session identifier for analytics data. | One year |
| WT_FPC | This is a Webtrends tracking cookie. | Two years |
| WEBTRENDS_ID | This cookie set by Webtrends analytics service and is used to track and report on visitor behaviour on a site for performance improvement. | Two years |