HomeOwners Alliance Cookie Policy
What are cookies?
Cookies are tiny text files that are sent to your browser by a web page and hold some information that can be accessed when you visit the website. They don’t usually hold personal information, but act more as an identifier so that the right personal information can be fetched and used by the site.
How we use cookies
To make full use of the HomeOwners Alliance website you’ll need to accept cookies when you browse. For instance, they are used in our site search, online chat, membership sign-up, if you leave a comment or complete forms and applications, and to prevent you seeing the same information again and again as you travel the site.
Wherever we can we’ve reduced the number of cookies our website sends to your computer, tablet or phone, and as part of our commitment to transparency and understanding, you can see here what each cookie is for, how we use it, and how if you want to, you can reject cookies in your browser.
At Homeowner’s Alliance we handle enquiries, concerns and problems about the biggest personal transactions most people will ever make, and we are particularly concerned with safeguarding and maintaining Users and Members Privacy. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Other people’s cookies
The HomeOwners Alliance site is a gateway for many services. We have negotiated with high quality partners and providers of surveys, mortgages, conveyancing and other find a local professional services to enable users to compare quotes and access useful services. These are accessed through forms on our site, so some providers set cookies on your browser to let them know that you’ve come through the HomeOwners Alliance site.
We don’t control the cookies that may be sent when you land on pages in our site that contain third party content, but we do negotiate with our partners to limit the number and type of cookies they set on on your browser while you are on our site, and require them to provide links to their privacy or cookie policies on the page to help you check and manage the cookies they are setting.
How long is information stored?
Some cookies last just for one visit or ‘Session’ and are stored in memory, maintaining information as you browse across different pages. These are deleted when you close your browser or after a period of inactivity. Shopping carts rely on this type of ‘session’ cookie.
Other cookies are not deleted when your browser is closed, but are written to your hard disk. These are often used to maintain preferences for a site, so that you don’t have to reset the whole environment the next time you visit, or to identify your history of activity on a site. They usually don’t contain personal information, but they can, and they can last longer than session cookies, from a few days through to many years. These are ‘persistent’ cookies.
At HomeOwners Alliance we consider technologies such as web beacons, Flash cookies and local storage to fall under the definition of ‘cookies’, so we let you know where these are used too.
If you would like more information about Cookies and their use, the best place to look is Cookiepedia.co.uk – the link opens in a new window.
Can I opt out all together?
Yes, but bear in mind that most of your website preferences will be lost if you delete all cookies from your browser, so it will affect the functionality of the sites you already know and visit. You can control which cookies are set in your browser, block third-party cookies, get a notification when a cookie is set and other options, but the options available depend on the browser you use. You can check the following links for the browsers you use to find instructions on what to do.
Internet Explorer
Firefox
Chrome
Safari
What about mobile opt-out?
Most mobile operating systems offer some level of advertising choice, often with the choice to not be tracked, and to control the type of interest-based ads you may see. You can get specific advice and links to the most popular mobile operating systems instructions from the Network Advertising Initiative.
You can also download privacy apps that will assist you in setting privacy preferences for specific companies, here are a couple to get you started.
TrustArc’s Privacy App
AppChoices’s Privacy App
Cookie Classes
We list cookies under four headings:
Strictly Necessary • These you can’t switch off, they’re needed for the website to function.
Performance • Lets us count traffic sources to improve our content, and are anonymous.
Functional • These help provide a richer experience in our online chat, etc.
Marketing • Mainly set by our partners, they don’t hold personal information but do identify your browser and device, so if you turn them off you may see less well-chosen advertising.
Contacting us
If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy, you can contact us at hello@hoa.org.uk.
To find out more about how we safeguard your Privacy, please read our Privacy Policy.
The complete list
This section lists all the cookies on the website, including those you may not encounter unless you take up a particular service, or land on a page with one of our provider’s own content or scripts on it. If you do encounter a provider’s own content, you’ll find a link to their privacy or Cookie Policies where they explain their own use of cookies and provide any opt-out options.
Necessary Cookies (42)
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cookiesession1 [x2] | London & Country | Used in our connection to L&C, one of our mortgage service providers | Session | HTTP |
| CookieConsent | Cookiebot | Stores the user’s cookie consent state for the current domain | 1 year | HTTP |
| debug | hoa.org.uk | Used for fault finding in our catalogue app. | Persistent | HTTP |
| PHPSESSID | hoa.org.uk | Preserves user session state across page requests. | Session | HTTP |
| ssi–lastInteraction | Site Search 360 | Stores the date of the last secure session the user had when visiting the site. | 1 day | HTTP |
| ssi–sessionId | Site Search 360 | Helps us to be more efficient when serving a secure connection, reusing one the user has used already. | 1 year | HTTP |
| TawkWindowName | Tawk.to | Necessary for the functionality of the website’s chat-box function. | Session | HTTP |
| __RequestVerificationToken | London & Country | Helps prevent Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks. | Session | HTTP |
| AI_buffer | London & Country | Used in context with the “AI_sentBuffer” in order to limit the number of data-server-updates (Azure). This synergy also allows the website to detect any duplicate data-server-updates. | Session | HTTP |
| AI_sentBuffer | London & Country | Used in context with the “AI_buffer” in order to limit the number of data-server-updates (Azure). This synergy also allows the website to detect any duplicate data-server-updates. | Session | HTTP |
| ASP.NET_SessionId [x2] | London & Country Reallymoving |
Preserves the visitor’s session state across page requests. | 1 day | HTTP |
| repono | London & Country | Used to maintain the connection from us to L&C, one of our mortgage providers | 3 months | HTTP |
| wc_cart_hash_# | New build Inspections | Maintains a user’s shopping cart login for snagging surveys | Persistent | HTTP |
| wc_fragments_# | New build Inspections | Maintains a user’s shopping cart contents for snagging surveys | Session | HTTP |
| JSESSIONID | New Relic | Preserves users states across page requests. | Session | HTTP |
| _ga [x6] | Reallymoving Google Tag Manager Key London & Country MoonClerk |
Set by our service providers, this is a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses their website. | 2 years | HTTP |
| _gat [x4] | Reallymoving Google Tag Manager London & Country MoonClerk |
Set by our service providers, this is used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. | 1 day | HTTP |
| _gid [x6] | Reallymoving Google Tag Manager Key London & Country MoonClerk |
Set by our service providers, this is a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses their website. | 1 day | HTTP |
| cf_ob_info | TRU Optik Data Corp. | Used to detect if the website is inaccessible, in case of maintenance of content updates – The cookie allows the website to present the visitor with a notice on the issue in question. | 1 day | HTTP |
| cf_use_ob | TRU Optik Data Corp. | Used to detect if the website is inaccessible, in case of maintenance of content updates – The cookie allows the website to present the visitor with a notice on the issue in question. | 1 day | HTTP |
| SERVERID | Unbiased | To provide an improved and faster server time, the ServerID cookie remembers which server should handle the user’s requests. | Session | HTTP |
| ARRAffinity | Reallymoving | Used to distribute traffic to the website on several servers in order to optimise response times | Session | HTTP |
| mqeref | Reallymoving | Identifies HOA to reallymoving.com, one of our services providers | 27 days | HTTP |
Functional Cookies (7)
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cookies.js | Audioboom | Used to enable our audio embeds on the site where we provide audio of interviews | Session | HTTP |
| __tawkuuid | Tawk.to | Used to identify visitors via their log-in information in order to provide online assistance, via a chat-box system – this system is provided by Tawt.to. | 179 days | HTTP |
| _hjid | Hotjar | Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID. | 1 year | HTTP |
| TawkConnectionTime | Tawk.to | Used to enable our online chat function across the site via Tawk.to, our provider | Session | HTTP |
| twk_59d24645c28eca75e46239b7 | Tawk.to | Part of our online chat solution by Tawk.to so we can recognise users who’ve engaged in conversations | Persistent | HTTP |
| ss | Tawk.to | Used to enable our online chat functionality with Tawk.to, our online chat provider. | Session | HTTP |
| tawkUUID | Tawk.to | Used to enable our online chat functionality with Tawk.to, our online chat provider. | 179 days | HTTP |
Performance Cookies (5)
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jserrors/1/d37893755a | New Relic | Part of New Relic’s analytics process | Session | Pixel |
| collect | Used to send data to Google Analytics about the visitor’s device and behaviour. Tracks the visitor across devices and marketing channels. | Session | Pixel | |
| _hjIncludedInSample | Hotjar | Part of HotJar, a heatmap package we use to improve the design of our site from usage information. | Session | Pixel |
| ai_user | London & Country | Used by Microsoft Application Insights software to collect statistical usage and telemetry information. The cookie stores a unique identifier to recognize users on returning visits over time. | 1 year | Pixel |
| SHR_ID | Key | Contains an visitor ID – This is used to track visitors’ navigation and interaction on the website for internal website-optimization. | Persistent | Pixel |
Marketing Cookies (39)
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uuid2 | Appnexus | Registers a unique ID that identifies a returning user’s device. The ID is used to provide relevant ads. | 3 months | HTTP |
| AA003 | Collects information on visitor behaviour on multiple websites. This information is used on the website, in order to optimize the relevance of advertisement. | 3 months | HTTP | |
| ATN | Targets ads based on behavioural profiling and geographical location. | 2 years | HTTP | |
| sync [x2] | Bidswitch s.cpx.to |
Regulates synchronisation of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. | Session | HTTP |
| MUID | Microsoft | Used widely by Microsoft as a unique user ID. The cookie enables user tracking by synchronising the ID across many Microsoft domains. | 1 year | HTTP |
| MUIDB | Microsoft | Used widely by Microsoft as a unique Bing user ID. The cookie enables user tracking by synchronising the ID across many Microsoft domains. | 1 year | HTTP |
| an_fire | s.cpx.to | Used to present the visitor with relevant content and advertisement – The service is provided by third party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. | Session | HTTP |
| ca.png | s.cpx.to | Session cookie set by Captify, a consumer search intelligence company. | Session | HTTP |
| cpSess | cpx.to | Session cookie set by Captify, a consumer search intelligence company. | 1 year | HTTP |
| dsp_app_nexus | cpx.to | Sets a unique ID for the visitor, that allows third party advertisers to provide the visitor with relevant advertisements. This pairing service is provided by third party advertisement hubs, which facilitates real-time bidding for advertisers. | 1 year | HTTP |
| dsp_dbm | cpx.to | Sets a unique ID for the visitor, that allows third party advertisers to provide the visitor with relevant advertisements. This pairing service is provided by third party advertisement hubs, which facilitates real-time bidding for advertisers. | 1 year | HTTP |
| dsp_pubmatic | cpx.to | Sets a unique ID for the visitor, that allows third party advertisers to provide the visitor with relevant advertisements. This pairing service is provided by third party advertisement hubs, which facilitates real-time bidding for advertisers. | 1 year | HTTP |
| dsp_TRUOPTIK | cpx.to | Registers a unique ID that identifies a returning user’s device. The ID is used for relevant ads and analytics. | 1 year | HTTP |
| IDE | Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report the website user’s actions after viewing or clicking one of the advertiser’s ads with the purpose of measuring the efficacy of an ad and to present relevant ads to the user. | 1 year | HTTP | |
| test_cookie | Used to check if the user’s browser supports cookies. | 1 day | HTTP | |
| fr | Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers. | 3 months | HTTP | |
| tr | Facebook pixel tracker that notes the page you arrived from. | Session | HTTP | |
| ads/ga-audiences | Used by Google AdWords to re-engage visitors that are likely to convert to customers based on the visitor’s online behaviour across websites. | Session | HTTP | |
| pagead/1p-user-list/# | Generated by Google pagead dynamic marketing to track events such as conversions or other meaningful user interactions | Session | HTTP | |
| _fbp [x2] | Google Tag Manager Key |
Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers. | 3 months | HTTP |
| _gcl_au [x2] | Key New build Inspections |
Used by Google AdSense for experimenting with advertisement efficiency across websites using their services. | 3 months | HTTP |
| _gcl_au [x2] | Key New build Inspections |
Used by Google AdSense for experimenting with advertisement efficiency across websites using their services. | 3 months | HTTP |
| ai_session | London & Country | Preserves users states across page requests. | 1 day | HTTP |
| gwcc | New build Inspections | Enables Google Website Call Conversions – This registers if the visitor has clicked on call within the “contact us” sub-page. This information is used for statistics and marketing purposes. | 3 months | HTTP |
| KADUSERCOOKIE | Pubmatic | Registers a unique ID that identifies the user’s device during return visits across websites that use the same ad network. The ID is used to allow relevant ads. | 3 months | HTTP |
| KTPCACOOKIE | Pubmatic | Registers a unique ID that identifies the user’s device during return visits across websites that use the same ad network. The ID is used to allow relevant ads. | 3 months | HTTP |
| GPS | YouTube | Registers a unique ID on mobile devices to enable tracking based on geographical GPS location. | 1 day | HTTP |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | YouTube | Tries to estimate the users’ bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos. | 179 days | HTTP |
| YSC | YouTube | Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen. | Session | HTTP |
| yt-remote-cast-installed | YouTube | Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | Session | HTTP |
| yt-remote-connected-devices | YouTube | Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | Persistent | HTTP |
| yt-remote-device-id | YouTube | Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | Persistent | HTTP |
| yt-remote-fast-check-period | YouTube | Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | Session | HTTP |
| yt-remote-session-app | YouTube | Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | Session | HTTP |
| yt-remote-session-name | YouTube | Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | Session | HTTP |
| to_master_s | TRU Optik Data Corp. | Pending | 1 year | HTTP |
| to_version_s | TRU Optik Data Corp. | Pending | 1 year | HTTP |
