Cookie Policy

About this policy

This policy explains what cookies are, consenting to cookies, the types of cookies we use and why, how you can control cookies from our website, and how to contact us.

The Postal Museum (“we,” “us,” “our”) websites referred to in this policy are:

• Main website: postalmusuem.org
• Catalogue: catalogue.postalmuseum.org
• Shop: shop.postalmuseum.org (hosted on Shopify)
• Ticketing: webhoppostalmuseum.recreatex.be (hosted on Recreatex)

We use a number of cookies across our websites to improve user experience. This page explains:

• What cookies are
• Types of cookies we use
• How you can control the use of cookies from our website
• Further information and contacting us
• How to make a complain

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files of letters and numbers with an expiry date which are stored in your browser on your computer or mobile device. A cookie is created when the browser you use to look at web pages loads a particular website. The website sends information to the browser which then creates a text file (cookie). Every time you return to the same website, your browser retrieves and sends this file to the website’s server. Computer cookies are created not just by websites, but also by other sites that run ads, widgets, or other elements on the page being loaded. When the cookie reaches its expiry date, your browser discards it.

A cookie records information relating to your internet activity such as whether you have visited our website before. It stores the information on your device (your computer/tablet/phone). The cookies we use on our website don’t collect personally identifiable information about you and we only disclose anonymised aggregated usage data to third parties.

A persistent cookie stays on your device even after you close your browser, remembering your settings and preferences for future visits. You can clear them by going into your browser settings and deleting your cookies.

The cookies we send to your device only relate to your use of our website; they don’t have any other effect on your device.

The types of cookies we use

We collect five types of cookies. Below, we explain what these are and why we use them. We also explain how long we store them for. This can vary from a session to set of minutes, hours or days. A session starts when you launch a website and ends when you leave it or close your browser window.

Necessary cookies

These cookies are necessary for our website to work properly, which is why they can’t be switched off. They do not store any personally identifiable information but mean that our website can remember you as you browse around.

They are used to:

• test if your browser supports necessary cookies (session / 15 minutes whichever is longer)
• help us manage web traffic by directing you to the least busy server (1 hour)
• help us meet our legal obligations by storing your consent preferences (1 day)
• remember your cookie consent preferences (2 years)
• remember you if you create an online account (1 year)
• prevent automatic logout during period of inactivity (1 hour)
• enable secure online checkout and payment (1 hour)
• enable secure checkout and payment functionality on our website (session)
• store a unique session id and maintain your session data across multiple web pages
• store your preferences for language and region (1 year)
• store your country of origin and correct transaction currency (14 days)
• store your preferences if a merchant has set up privacy rules in your region (1 year)
• identify and block bots from our website (6 months)
• identify trusted web traffic and improve website security (session)
• verify that you have passed a security check, allowing you to access the website (1 year)
• determine if your browser can display emojis properly (session)
• help with fraud prevention (1 year, 1 month, 4 days)

Functional cookies

These cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features. They collect personal data to the extent that it is necessary to provide these services and preferences.

They are used to:

• track and manage your IP address preferences (session)
• track your city and region (session)
• refresh the cache on your website (session)
• maintain your session state (session)
• save your video player preferences including whether casting is available, your user preferences, and interface settings for embedded YouTube videos (session)
• implement audio content from Spotify on the website and register information on user interaction related to the audio content (1 year)
• collect information about errors and activities on our website so that we can fix any issues (persistent)
• recognise subsequent requests from you during your session, enabling us to maintain, for example, your login status or shopping basket contents across multiple pages of the website (session)
• manage your preferences and session information (1 hour)

There are times that third parties attach cookies to our website, for example YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify, that allow them to gather information about how users use their services. We have no control over these cookies and they are often persistent, meaning that they stay on your device even after you close their browser.

Performance cookies

These cookies gather data on how our website performs and how you interact with it. The goal is to monitor and improve website performance, ensuring pages load quickly, and identifying any issues you encounter. They track metrics such as page load times, response times, and overall user experience. They do not collect personal information and are used to generate aggregated and anonymised statistics.

• Bing Ads uses a cookie to interact with users who have visited the website before (1 year, 24 days)
• Google Universal Analytics uses a cookie to prevent too much data from being collected too quickly, helping manage the amount of data being processed, and keeping the website running smoothly (1 minute)
• Microsoft Advertising sets as unique ID for visitors (1 year, 24 days)
• Store the country code selected from the country selector (session)
• Store session details and user preferences, ensuring smooth interaction and security when accessing virtualized desktops and applications (1 day)

Analytics cookies

These cookies specifically focus on collecting data for analysis. They provide insights into your behaviour on our website and what actions you take. They help us understand our website users’ patterns and preferences, allowing for data-driven decisions to enhance our website’s effectiveness.

We use:

• Google Analytics to calculate visitor, session, and campaign data, and track site usage, such as page views, for analytics reports – information is stored anonymously with randomly generated numbers used to identify unique visitors. You can find out more about privacy at Google and opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites. (1 year, 1 month, 4 days).
• Hotjar to understand how our website is used and improve usability. Hotjar sets cookies to help us track behaviour across pages and to control visitor polls. The cookies carry no personally identifiable information. (1 year)
• Microsoft Clarity to store information about how you engage with the website, including your navigation path and the pages you view, as well as actions taken during future visits to our website. You can find more about privacy at Microsoft Clarity.(1 year)
• Shopify to set cookies to improve website functionality, personalise your experiences, analyse site performance, track landing pages, manage shopping basket interactions, support marketing and referrals, maintain user sessions, manage authentication, and ensure secure browsing. (1 year)

In addition:

• Bing sets a cookie for analytic purposes (7 days)
• Vimeo sets a cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos on the website (1 year, 1 month, 4 days)
• Issuu sets a cookie for analytic purposes (6 months)

Advertisement cookies

Advertisement cookies, such as those served by Bing Ads, Google Ads, Facebook Ads and Quantcast, are used on our website to deliver personalised ads based on your browsing activities. These cookies may track your visits to our site and other websites to provide relevant advertisements often persistent cookies. You can clear these going into your browser settings and deleting your cookies.

If you do not accept these cookies, you will not receive content and advertisements tailored to your interests. Opting out of these cookies needs to be done via the third party and does not mean you won’t see advertising when you are online, but it will mean that any advertising you see will not be tailored to you. You can manage the third-party cookies easily by visiting www.optout.networkadvertising.org

On occasion we work with third parties to advertise through third party platforms, such as social media advertising activity. No personally identifiable information is shared, but, for data analytics and targeted advertising, the third party will be given access to website usage data including purchase value and pages viewed.

You can find out more about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org and individual cookies on www.cookiepedia.co.uk

How you can control the use of cookies from our website

If you don’t want to opt-in to certain types of cookies when you use our website, you can adjust the selections you choose through our cookie consent mechanism when you first land on our website. Once selected, we keep a record of your cookie consent preferences for up to one year.

When you first visit our website, you are presented with a pop-up, which gives you the following options:

• Accept all
• Reject all
• Manage cookies

If you click on ‘Reject all’, cookies will not be opted in to except for those that are strictly necessary.

If you click on ‘Manage cookies’ you will be presented with a second menu allowing you to choose which types of cookies we can collect. Once you have set your preferences click on ‘Save settings’.

You can change your browser settings to block certain cookies and trackers. Check your browser’s help section for instructions.

Some websites, including ours, may not work properly without certain cookies. If you block these cookies, some features might not work, such as making a purchase.

Unfortunately, we can’t help with issues caused by changes to your device settings. If you have problems, try resetting your browser settings and clearing your cache for our site.

You can manage consent for third-party ads at optout.networkadvertising.org.

Further information and contacting us

The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) provides more information on cookies, including how to see what cookies have been stored and how to manage and delete them.

To request information about yourself or to find out more about our privacy, data protection and records retention measures, please write to:

Data Protection Coordinator
The Postal Museum
15-20 Phoenix Place
London
WC1X 0DA

Email: [email protected]. Please specify in your communication the exact nature of the information you wish to request.

Phone: 0300 0300 700

How to make a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we are processing your personal data and take the view that we are not complying with UK GDPR, you have the right to complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Visit: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Write to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113

Changes to this policy

We may change or update this Cookie Policy from time to time. Any changes will be immediately posted on the website, and you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the Cookie Policy on your first use of the website following the alterations.

Last updated: September 2024