Date: February 2023

Reviewed By: Francis Murray


What is a website ‘Cookie’?
Cookies are small pieces of data that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit our website. We use them for the following reasons:

  • Remember information about you, so you don’t have to give it to us again.
  • Help us understand how people are using our website, so we can make it better.
  • To use third party tools and software such as Google Analytics.
  • Improve our performance session storage.

What type of Cookies do we use and why?

It is worth noting that when you first visit this website, you will see a message informing you that our website uses cookies and how to manage your preferences which when completed sets a cookie recording your preferences. 

  • Session Cookies: (also called transient cookies) are erased when you close your web browser. Session cookies are stored in temporary memory and are not retained after the browser is closed.
  • Stored Cookies: (also called persistent or permanent cookies) are longer-term cookies. These cookies are stored by the browser within a file on the user’s device even after the browser is closed.
  • Necessary Cookies: (which can be either session or stored cookies) help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
  • First Party Cookies: these can be necessary/unnecessary and either session or stored cookies. These cookies are issued by Big Dog Digital. We use these cookies for the following reasons:
    • User authentication, to determine if you are logged into our website Content Management System (CMS).
    • Cookie preference.
    • For online payments via Stripe.
  • Third Party Cookies: these can be either session or stored cookies. Firstly, it is important to note that a third-party cookie originates from a different domain. We use these cookies for the following reasons:
    • Google Analytics also called ‘Performance’ and/or ‘Statistical’ and they recognise you on subsequent visits. We use cookies to help us measure the number of visits, average time spent, page views, and other statistics relating to our website. We will not attempt to personally identify visitors from their IP addresses. Users may opt-out of Google Universal Analytics use of cookies by visiting the Google Universal Analytics opt-out page. 
    • Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.
    • We may occasionally run ad-campaigns via Google Ads.
    • By default we discourage the use of Third Party ‘Marketing Cookies’ to the very best of our ability.

What do I need to know about Security and Cookies?

  • The Cookies we place on your device do not collect personal data. They are used for performance, interaction and statistical purposes.
  • Cookies do not compromise the security of your computer.
  • While we try to limit our use of third party cookies – they are in some cases necessary to our offering. It is important to note that a third-party cookie originates from a different domain (i.e. the service being used for example YouTube, Facebook we would always advise you make yourself familiar with their cookie policies and practices.
  • Cookie usage is governed by the ePrivacy Directive (Cookie law) and GDPR you can find out more here.

Current cookies in operation:

CookieDescription
Necessary
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analyticsSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category .
viewed_cookie_policyThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessaryThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-non-necessaryThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Non Necessary".
Non Necessary
test_cookieThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Analytics
_ga_9LZGTB6XJLThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
CONSENTYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
_gaThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gidInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
_gat_gtag_UA_37717232_1Set by Google to distinguish users.
Others
DEVICE_INFONo description
Advertisement
YSCYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVEA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
yt-remote-device-idYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::requestsThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::nextIdThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt-remote-connected-devicesYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
Functional
__cf_bmThis cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.

How do I disable Cookies if I wish?

Unfortunately in most cases there are no industry standard options for disabling cookies without completely disabling the functionality and features they add to this site. 

It is recommended that you leave on all cookies if you are not sure whether you need them or not in case they are used to provide a service that you use.

For more information about how to manage cookies, including opting-out of different types of cookies please visit: www.aboutcookies.org.

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy, please contact us at support@bigdog.ie or phone us on +353 85 126 3044. 

Finally you may be interested to review our policy on Privacy and Terms of Use.