Cookie information
Cookies are very small files that are stored on your computer when you visit most websites. They are sent back and forth between the website’s server and your Internet browser to allow the website to remember actions you’ve made. If you continue without changing your settings, we’ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on Scotland.org.
We use cookies and other local storage means to help improve the performance of this website by measuring web traffic and tracking user journeys. We also use a security cookie to identify our website’s developers. Most of these only contain randomly generated numbers, and cookies cannot carry viruses or install malware on your computer.
Cookies set by this website
During any visit to a Brand Scotland website, the pages you see, along with cookie, are downloaded to your device. Many websites do this, because cookies enable website publishers to do useful things like find out whether the device (and probably its user) has visited the website before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the last visit.
Information supplied by cookies can help us to understand the profile of our visitors and help us to provide you with a better user experience and improve Brand Scotland services provided to users.
Google Analytics
Scotland.org uses cookies set by Google Analytics to collect information about how our visitors use this site. This data is collected anonymously, and is used to help improve this website’s functionality. For more information on which cookies are used, see Google Analytic’s page on safeguarding your data.
Expression Engine
Expression engine is the software that this website is built on. It sets the following cookies:
exp_tracker
End of session. Contains the last 5 pages viewed. Typically used for form or error message returns.
exp_last_visit
1 year. Date of the user’s last visit. Can be shown as a statistic for members and used by the forum to show unread topics for both members and guests.
exp_last_activity
1 year. Records the time of the last page load. Used in conjunction with the last_visit cookie.
Third party cookies on Scotland.org
We sometimes embed content from social media and other third party websites. These may include YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud. As a result, when you visit a page containing such content, you may be presented with cookies from these websites and these third party cookies may track your use of the Scotland.org website. Scotland.org does not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third party's website for more information.
Scotland.org also hosts Scotland’s Migration Service. The Scottish Government has partnered with Citizens Advice Scotland and Seraphus to provide this service. Links from Scotland’s Migration Service take you to our partners’ websites which hold their own cookies. For information about the use of cookies on Citizens Advice Scotland’s website, please read the Citizens Advice Scotland cookie policy. For information about the use of cookies Seraphus’ website, please read Seraphus cookies policy.
Managing cookie preferences
Most Internet browsers allow users to control the acceptance of cookies via the browser’s settings. You can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer, although this may prevent you from taking full advantage of a website. Each browser version works in a slightly different way, but you generally have the ability to accept all cookies, be notified before accepting a cookie, block or restrict cookies from certain sites, or reject all cookies.
Visit allaboutcookies.org to find out how to configure these settings on a number of major browsers.
You can opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites by installing Google’s opt-out browser add-on.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This cookie policy was last updated on 23 May 2024.