Cookies
Companieshouse.gov.uk puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site.
Cookies are used to
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember the notifications you’ve seen so that we don’t show them to you again
Companieshouse.gov.uk cookies aren’t used to identify you personally.
Find out more about how to manage cookies.
How cookies are used on companieshouse.gov.uk
Measuring website usage
We collect logs on our servers that tell us how people use this site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting your needs and to understand how we could do it better. Cookies are used to give us more information in these logs.
The logs are analysed to tell us what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on. We do not collect or store your personal information (eg your name or address) so this information cannot be used to identify who you are.
We do not allow external organisations to access, use or share any of this analytics data, which is stored on in-house servers.
Our analytics tools set the following cookies:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _pk_id.* | Used to improve our understanding of how people use our website and services, through web analytics | 2 Years |
| _pk_ref.* | Used to improve our understanding of how people use our website and services, through web analytics | 2 Years |
| _pk_ses.* | Used to improve our understanding of how people use our website and services, through web analytics |
Managing your current visit
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _SID | A session identifier. A unique random value that allows the site to recognise your movement around the site as being from one computer. Contains no personal information and cannot be used to identify a user. | When you close your browser |
| _FLP | Used to manage the Companies House service users sign-in journey. Contains no personal information and cannot be used to identify a user. | Persistent |
| _PIN | Used to manage the Companies House service users sign-in journey. Contains no personal information and cannot be used to identify a user. | When you close your browser |
| _ZXS | Used to manage the Companies House service users sign-in journey. Contains no personal information and cannot be used to identify a user. | When you close your browser |
| sft | Used to manage the users preferences during their Companies House service journey. | 10 years |
| __prefs | Used to remember when you have seen important notices, so you do not see them again. | 5 years |