Cookie Policy

Last updated September 2023

This Cookie Policy explains how Christianity Explored ("Company," "we," "us," and "our") uses cookies and similar technologies to recognise you when you visit our website at https://www.christianityexplored.org ("Website"). It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them.

In some cases we may use cookies to collect personal information, or that becomes personal information if we combine it with other information.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners in order to make their websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.

Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, Christianity Explored) are called "first-party cookies." Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called "third-party cookies." Third-party cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g., advertising, interactive content, and analytics). The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites.

Why do we use cookies?

We use first- and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Website to operate, and we refer to these as "essential" or "strictly necessary" cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Online Properties. Third parties serve cookies through our Website for advertising, analytics, and other purposes. This is described in more detail below.

How can I control cookies?

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie rights by setting your preferences on the Cookie pop-up. Necessary cookies cannot be rejected as they are strictly essential to provide you with services.

The Cookie Pop-up can be found in the notification banner and on our website. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functionality and areas of our website may be restricted. You may also set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies.

The specific types of first- and third-party cookies served through our Website and the purposes they perform are described in the table below (please note that the specific cookies served may vary depending on the specific Online Properties you visit):

How can I control cookies on my browser?

As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser to browser, you should visit your browser's help menu for more information. The following is information about how to manage cookies on the most popular browsers:

In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit:

Tracking Cookies

gtag.js cookies:The following describes each cookie set by gtag.js. To learn more about the data that Analytics collects. For more information, see: Google's Privacy & Terms & Safeguarding your data

Cookie name: _ga, Default expiration time: 2 Yrs, Description: Used to distinguish users.
Cookie name: ga_<container-id>, Default expiration time: 2 Yrs, Description: Used to persist session state.

Hubspot Cookies: This website uses HubSpot tracking code, the cookies below may be set on your browser. You can learn more about the cookies, including necessary cookies by reading: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/privacy-and-consent/what-cookies-does-hubspot-set-in-a-visitor-s-browser

__hstc

The main cookie for tracking visitors. It contains the domain, hubspotutk, initial timestamp (first visit), last timestamp (last visit), current timestamp (this visit), and session number (increments for each subsequent session). It expires in 6 months.

hubspotutk

This cookie keeps track of a visitor's identity. It is passed to HubSpot on form submission and used when deduplicating contacts. It contains an opaque GUID to represent the current visitor. It expires in 6 months.

__hssc

This cookie keeps track of sessions. This is used to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie. It contains the domain, viewCount (increments each pageView in a session), and session start timestamp. It expires in 30 minutes.

__hssrc

Whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser. If this cookie does not exist when HubSpot manages cookies, it is considered a new session. It contains the value "1" when present. It expires at the end of the session.

Facebook/Meta Pixel

Name: _fbp

About this cookie: when the Facebook pixel is installed on a website, and the pixel uses first-party cookies, the pixel automatically saves a unique identifier to an _fbp cookie for the website domain if one does not already exist. The Facebook pixel is an analytics tool that allows measuring the effectiveness of Facebook advertising by understanding the actions people take on the website. It can be used to: Make sure ads are shown to the right people.
The main purpose of this cookie: Marketing/Tracking (Marketing)
Expires/Max-Age: It expires after 3 months and 1 week.

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/

What about other tracking technologies, like web beacons?

Cookies are not the only way to recognise or track visitors to a website. We may use other, similar technologies from time to time, like web beacons (sometimes called "tracking pixels" or "clear gifs"). These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that enables us to recognise when someone has visited our Website or opened an email including them. This allows us, for example, to monitor the traffic patterns of users from one page within a website to another, to deliver or communicate with cookies, to understand whether you have come to the website from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website, to improve site performance, and to measure the success of email marketing campaigns. In many instances, these technologies are reliant on cookies to function properly, and so declining cookies will impair their functioning.

How often will we update this Cookie Policy?

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Please therefore revisit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.

The date at the top of this Cookie Policy indicates when it was last updated.

Where can I get further information?

If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at info@christianityexplored.org or by post to:

Christianity Explored
St. Paul's Church
Robert Adam Street
London
W1U 3HW