<strong>This policy explains what cookies are, how Portsmouth Water uses them, and how you can control them. Portsmouth Water remains committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how your data is used in line with the UK GDPR, DPA 2018, the PEC Regulation, and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).</strong>
<h2>What are cookies?</h2>
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information doesn't usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience. We respect your right to privacy, so you can choose not to allow some cookies. Select your cookie preferences below. Blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we can offer.

Most web browsers allow some control of cookies through browser settings. More information about cookies, including how to block and/or delete them, via a range of common browsers, can be found at <a href="http://www.allaboutcookies.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.allaboutcookies.org.</a>
<h2>How do I change my cookie settings on the Portsmouth Water website?</h2>
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the icon on the bottom left corner of the screen. You can then adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’ as required. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
<h2>Managing your preferences</h2>
<h2>How we use cookies</h2>
<h3>When you use our website or online customer portal we may analyse basic information about your activity.</h3>
This information will provide us with general information about the users of our website, providing us a better understanding of user requirements. We will not attempt to attribute such traffic information to anything that is personally identifiable.
<h3>How do I change my cookie settings on the Portsmouth Water online customer portal?</h3>
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on ‘Reset Cookie Settings’ at the bottom of the screen. You can then revisit the cookie settings shown and update as required.
<h3>Types of cookies we use at portsmouthwater.co.uk</h3>
We group cookies into four categories:
<ol>
 	<li><strong> Strictly Necessary Cookies</strong></li>
</ol>
These enable core website functions such as page navigation, secure login, and form submissions and cannot be switched off.
<ol start="2">
 	<li><strong> Functional Cookies</strong></li>
</ol>
These allow the site to remember your preferences (e.g. language settings, region, accessibility). These cookies can be turned off, but some parts of the site may not work as intended. For example: remembering cookie banner choices.
<ol start="3">
 	<li><strong> Performance &amp; Analytics Cookies</strong></li>
</ol>
These collect information on how visitors use our website (e.g. pages visited, time spent).

We use <strong>Google Analytics (GA4)</strong> for this purpose. Data is aggregated and anonymous, but Google may combine it with other information they hold.
<ol start="4">
 	<li><strong> Targeting Cookies</strong></li>
</ol>
These are used to by third parties to deliver adverts relevant to you and measure campaign performance. We use <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Google Ads</strong></a> and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Meta Pixel</strong></a> to show you targeted advertising and measure conversions (e.g. when you complete a form). They also build audiences for sharing messages about topics such as water saving to specific audiences. These cookies may track your activity across other websites and apps.
<h3>What happens if I do not want to accept cookies?</h3>
If you do not wish to accept our cookies you can continue to use our website and online customer portal, but it means we won’t be able to use your visit to help us improve your experience. The cookie policy will continue to be visible, as it takes a cookie to remember that you don’t accept cookies.
<h3>How do I delete cookies?</h3>
If you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by the Portsmouth Water website and/or online customer portal, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘Help’ function within your browser should tell you how.

Alternatively, you may wish to visit <a href="http://www.aboutcookies.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.aboutcookies.org</a> which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
<h2>The cookies we use on our website:</h2>
Cookies remain on your device for varying lengths of time:

<strong>Session cookies</strong> – deleted when you close your browser.
<strong>Persistent cookies</strong> – remain until they expire or you delete them. Expiry periods are shown in your browser’s cookie settings.

The table below explains the cookies we use and why:
<table width="106%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="23%"><strong>Cookie</strong></td>
<td width="1%"><strong>Name</strong></td>
<td width="43%"><strong>Purpose</strong></td>
<td width="31%"><strong>More</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Meta</strong></td>
<td>_fbp</td>
<td>Identifies browsers for delivery of personalised ads and tracking conversions.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="5" width="23%"><strong>Google Analytics</strong></td>
<td width="1%">_ga</td>
<td rowspan="5" width="43%">These cookies are used to collect information in an anonymous form about how people use the website, including the number of visitors to the website, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited. This allows us to make sure the website is meeting your needs and help us understand what we could improve.</td>
<td rowspan="5" width="31%"><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html">Click here for an overview of privacy at Google</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%">_utma</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%">_utmb</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%">_utmc</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%">_utmz</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" width="23%"><strong>Cloudflare</strong></td>
<td width="1%">__cfduid</td>
<td rowspan="2" width="43%">This cookie is set by the CloudFlare service to identify trusted web traffic. It does not correspond to any user id in the web application, nor does the cookie store any personally identifiable information.</td>
<td rowspan="2" width="31%"><a href="https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170156-What-does-the-Cloudflare-cfduid-cookie-do-">https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170156-What-does-the-Cloudflare-cfduid-cookie-do-</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="3" width="23%"><strong>Live Chat</strong></td>
<td width="1%">__lc.visitor_id.*</td>
<td rowspan="3" width="43%">This cookie is set by the LiveChat service to identify a returning visitor. It does not correspond to any user id in the web application, nor does the cookie store any personally identifiable information.

The second cookie checks stores the open/closed state of the livechat window.</td>
<td rowspan="3" width="31%"><a href="https://www.livechatinc.com/privacy-policy/">https://www.livechatinc.com/privacy-policy/</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%"> lc_window_state</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="1%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="23%"><strong>Portsmouth Water</strong></td>
<td width="1%">viewed_cookie_policy</td>
<td width="43%">This cookie is used to remember that you have accepted our cookie policy and prevents the policy pop-up from appearing in future visits. Please note that if you delete cookies this will reappear.</td>
<td width="31%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="23%"><strong>Portsmouth Water</strong></td>
<td width="1%"> wpfront-notification-bar-landingpage</td>
<td width="43%">This cookie is used to remember whether you have seen the notification bar (if one is active).  Again no identifiable data is stored.</td>
<td width="31%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2></h2>
<h2>How do I change my cookie settings on the Portsmouth Water website?</h2>
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the ‘C’ icon on the left corner of the screen. You can then adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’ as required. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
<h2>The cookies we use on our online customer portal:</h2>
The table below explains the cookies we use on our online customer portal and why:

&nbsp;
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="15%">Cookie</td>
<td width="30%">Name</td>
<td width="30%">Purpose</td>
<td width="15%">More</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Google Analytics</strong></td>
<td>_ga</td>
<td>These cookies are used to collect information in an anonymous form about how people use the online portal, including the number of visitors to the portal, where visitors have come to the portal from and the pages they visited. This allows us to make sure the portal is meeting your needs and help us understand what we could improve.</td>
<td><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html">Click here for an overview of privacy at Google</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Customer Portal</strong></td>
<td>dismissCookieBanner</td>
<td>This cookie is used to track the acceptance of the cookie banner.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Customer Portal</strong></td>
<td>SNOOZE_ACCOUNT_ENRICHMENT</td>
<td>This cookie is used to track the account ‘enrichment banner’ which prompts a portal user to add missing information (e.g., a mobile or email address).

&nbsp;</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Datadog RUM</strong></td>
<td>_dd_s</td>
<td>These cookies help collect data on user interactions, performance, and potential issues in real-time. It allows us
to monitor how the portal is performing and detect issues.</td>
<td><a href="https://www.datadoghq.com/legal/privacy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here for an overview of privacy at Datadog.</a>

<a style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;" href="https://docs.datadoghq.com/real_user_monitoring/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Information about Datadog RUM.</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<h2>Changes to this policy</h2>
We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in technology, law, or our practices. Please check back regularly for the latest version.

<em>Last updated: September 2025</em>

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