PRINCIPALITY COOKIE POLICY

What is a cookie?

Cookies are short strings of text which are sent from a web server to your web browser memory when you visit a website. The cookie is stored on your computer but it is not an executable program and cannot damage your hardware or software.

Cookies can be;

• Session Cookies
  These are temporary cookie files which are deleted when you close your internet browser. This means these cookies will not be remembered on your next visit. We use these cookies for personalised mortgages and savings calculations on our website.
  
• Persistent Cookies
  These are cookies which stay in your browser folder until you either choose to delete them or they expire. These cookies can have an expiry date of up to 5 years.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies help us collect information from you which we can use when you visit or use our site again, such as locating your nearest branch or showing your previously viewed products. In this way, we can give you personalised information such as your preferred language and you can gain access to your calculations, accounts and carry out transactions. If you register to use our site to apply for a mortgage or track the progress of your mortgage application, we will need to use cookies.

On our website, we currently use cookies for the following reasons:

• To monitor customer journeys and trends across the website, which help us make changes to improve your website experience
• To allow you to save your local branch so that it displays at the top of each web page, giving you easy access to information relevant to you
• To allow you to keep your savings and mortgages quotes, even after navigating away from the page
• To remember your language preference throughout your visit and on returning visits to our site
• To collect demographic information and visitor statistics which enable us to improve the content and structure of our website

You may choose to set your browser not to accept cookies. Please be aware that in doing this, you may not be able to use many of the tools and facilities on our website.

Are cookies dangerous?

No. Cookies are simple text files that are saved by your browser to your hard drive. These are not executable files or plug-ins and cannot be used as a virus, or access your hard drive. The files simply provide your browser with useful information about your previous visit to a website making your next visit easier and more productive.

Can cookies threaten my privacy?

Allowing cookies makes it easier and faster for you to carry out transactions online, but as with any sharing of information – online or offline – the compromise for this convenience is that we are potentially open to loss of privacy. Cookies do not collect personal information online unless you choose or opt for them to do so. An example of this might be by choosing for a website to remember your user details next time you log in.

Cookies are stored on your own hard drive and not anywhere else on the web. These files cannot be accessed by anyone else’s browser. You should therefore be careful when using someone else’s computer or a shared computer. Consider carefully the information you collect and share over the internet.

There are a number of guides below for the more widely used browsers giving information on how you clear these cookies after visiting a website, or how to disable cookies entirely if you're not comfortable with any information being stored in cookies.

Useful Links

• The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003
• Information Commissioner's Guidance
• Data Protection Act 1998
• Wikipedia information on Cookies

How to delete cookies

Deleting the cookies will clear all cookies currently stored on your hard drive, this will not however stop any cookies from being downloaded in future.

If you delete cookies, any saved preferences and settings, such as previously viewed products or your language and branch preference will be lost.

Firefox

1. Open your Firefox browser, in the top bar go to 'Tools'.
2. Once in 'Tools' go down to 'Clear Recent History...' which will open as a pop up box.
3. In the pop up box ensure that 'Everything' is selected in the drop down, and that 'Cookies' are ticked below.
4. Click 'Clear Now' and all cookies will be removed from the machine for Firefox.

Internet Explorer

1. Open your Internet Explorer browser, in the top bar go to 'Tools'.
2. Once in 'Tools' click on 'Delete Browsing History' at the top of the menu, this will open up a new pop up box.
3. In the pop up box that is now open ensure that 'Cookies' is ticked.
4. Click 'Delete' at the bottom of the box, this will remove all the cookies from this machine for Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome

1. Open your Google Chrome browser, in the top right corner will be a spanner 'Customise and control Google Chrome'
2. Once in the menu select 'Clear browsing data...', this will open up a new pop up window.
3. In the new window displayed ensure that 'Delete cookies' is ticked and 'Everything' is selected in the drop down.
4. Click 'Clear Browsing Data' at the bottom, this will remove cookies from this machine for Google Chrome.

Safari

1. Open your Safari browser, in the top right hand corner will be a cog icon 'Display a menu of general Safari settings' under this menu select 'Reset Safari...'
2. A pop up window will open after selecting this item from the menu, in hear ensure that 'Remove all cookies'.
3. When clicking reset all your current held cookies for this browser will be removed from the machine you are using.

How to disable cookies

Disabling cookies will stop websites from creating cookies on your hard drive, please note that this will mean you'll be unable to save settings and preferences on the websites you visit as your browser will no longer received cookies.

Please be aware that in doing this, you may not be able to use many of the tools and facilities on our website.

Firefox

1. Open your Firefox browser and in the top menu go to 'Tools'.
2. Once in the 'Tools' menu select 'Options' which will bring up a new pop up window.
3. In the pop up window which has no opened ensure that you are in the 'Privacy' tab.
4. Once in the 'Privacy' tab you have the option of 'Never remembering History' or using custom settings.
5. For the purpose of just blocking cookies, select 'Use custom settings for history'.
6. Now that you've selected this ensure that 'Accept cookies from sites' is unticked and click 'Ok'

Internet Explorer

1. Open your Internet Explorer browser and in the top menu go to 'Tools'.
2. Once in the 'Tools' menu select 'Internet Options' which will bring up a new pop up window.
3. In the pop up window ensure you are in the 'Privacy' tab.
4. In this tab you will see a slider with a number of different levels, to disable cookies all together move the slider to the top.
5. Now click 'Apply' and 'Ok' to save the settings.

Google Chrome

1. Open your Google Chrome browser, in the top right corner will be a spanner 'Customise and control Google Chrome'
2. Once in this menu go to 'Options', which will display a new pop up window.
3. Ensure that you are in the 'Under the hood' tab within this window.
4. At the top you should see the heading 'Privacy' under this heading there will be a field for 'Cookie settings'.
5. In 'Cookie Settings' select 'Block all cookies' and click 'Close' at the bottom of the window to apply the settings.

Safari

1. Open your Safari browser, in the top right hand corner will be a cog icon 'Display a menu of general Safari settings' under this menu select 'Preferences'.
2. Once in 'Preferences' ensure that you are in the 'Security' tab.
3. Once in the tab, under 'Accept Cookies', select the 'Never' radio button. Cookies will no longer be saved on this machine when using the browser.

Note: Many browsers now use a 'Private Browsing' expirience which can be selected from the options. This setting will allow you to browse all sites without any of your information being stored during your browsing expirience. Please see help sections on the browsers to understand the full details.

If you have any issues with the above then please refer to your own browser help manuals which can often be found within the help sections of your browsers. Principality is not responsible for any issues caused by the changes made, please ensure you are aware of what you are doing before making any changes to your browser settings as many changes will affect your browsing experience on other websites.