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Cookie Policy

About NIE Networks

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks Limited (Company No. NI26041) (‘NIE Networks’) is the owner of the electricity transmission and distribution networks in Northern Ireland and the operator of the electricity distribution network which transports electricity to over 900,000 customers.

If you have any question relating to this policy, or about how NIE Networks your personal information, you can see our Privacy Statement here, write to the Data Protection Officer, NIE Networks, 120 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 5HT or email us.

What are cookies?

Our website (www.nienetworks.co.uk) uses cookies, web beacons, tracking pixels, and other tracking technologies when you visit our website to distinguish you from other users. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website, preventing fraud and also allows us to improve our site.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree to the use of cookies. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. Most web browsers allow control of cookies through settings. You can remove any cookies already stored on your computer, but these may prevent you from using parts of our website.

How NIEN Networks use cookies and other tracking technologies

We use the following cookies:

Necessary cookies. Necessary cookies enable core functionality on our website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences. Please note that disabling all cookies may prevent you from using parts of our website. Some technical details of your visit may be logged by the server, including IP addresses, searched terms and the user agent (browser-type and operating system). This information will only be used for statistical and other administrative purposes.

Analytics cookies. Statistic cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously. These allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (‘Google’). Google Analytics uses cookies to help us to analyse how the site is used. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address and a unique identifier) will be transmitted to and stored by Google. Google stores and processes your data in the United States. To learn more about Google’s data transfer policies, click here.

NIE Networks will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf.

Functional cookies. Functional cookies enable us to provide enhanced functionality on our website. These are set either by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages, such as Vimeo. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.

Social media cookies. We use third party social sharing plugins, to allow you to share certain pages of our website on social media. These plugins place cookies so that you can correctly view how many times a page has been shared. Third party cookies may cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed and share this information with third parties. We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. YouTube will not store personally identifiable cookie information unless you play one of the embedded videos on the website.

Which cookies are used on our website?

You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below:

Necessary cookies

Name Description Host Lifespan
ASP.NET_SessionId General purpose platform session cookie, used by sites written with Miscrosoft .NET based technologies. It is used to maintain an anonymised user session by the server. www.nienetworks.co.uk Session
_dc_gtm_UA-xxxxxxxx Used by Google Tag Manager to control the loading of a Google Analytics script tag. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_dc_gtm_UA-xxxxxxxx Used by Google Tag Manager to control the loading of a Google Analytics script tag. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
CMSCsrfCookie Ensures visitor browsing security by preventing cross-site request forgery. This cookie is essential for the security of the website and visitor. https://www.kentico.com/privacy-policy Session
JSESSIONID Preserves users states across page requests. https://www.kentico.com/privacy-policy Session
incap_ses_xxx_xxxxxxxx Used to relate HTTP requests to a specific visit www.eckoh.com Session
nlbi_xxxxxxxxxxx Used to ensure requests by a client are sent to the same server www.eckoh.com Session
visid_incap_ Used to relate sessions to a specific visitor's device www.eckoh.com A year

Analytics Cookies

Name Description Host Lifespan
_hjSession_1443645 A cookie that holds the current session data. This ensures that subsequent requests within the session window will be attributed to the same Hotjar session. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_hjSession_1443645 A cookie that holds the current session data. This ensures that subsequent requests within the session window will be attributed to the same Hotjar session. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_hjFirstSeen Identifies a new user's first session on a website, indicating whether or not Hotjar's seeing this user for the first time. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_hjFirstSeen Identifies a new user's first session on a website, indicating whether or not Hotjar's seeing this user for the first time. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_hjIncludedInSessionSample This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_hjIncludedInSessionSample This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_hjSessionUser_1443645 Hotjar cookie that is set when a user first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the Hotjar User ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behaviour in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_hjSessionUser_1443645 Hotjar cookie that is set when a user first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the Hotjar User ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behaviour in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_ga_H2VEX8W7LG Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. www.nienetworks.co.uk 2 years
_ga_H2VEX8W7LG Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_ga Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. www.nienetworks.co.uk 2 years
_ga Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_gat Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_gat Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_gid Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. www.nienetworks.co.uk 1 day
_gid Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress This cookie is used to count how many times a website has been visited by different visitors - this is done by assigning the visitor an ID, so the visitor does not get registered twice. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress This cookie is used to count how many times a website has been visited by different visitors - this is done by assigning the visitor an ID, so the visitor does not get registered twice. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_gat_UA-nnnnnnn-nn This is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_gat_UA-nnnnnnn-nn This is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_hjTLDTest Detects the SEO-ranking for the current website. This service is part of a third-party statistics and analysis service. www.nienetworks.co.uk Session
_hjCookieTest Used to check if the user has cookies enabled on their browser. www.nienetworks.co.uk Session
_hjIncludedInSessionSample This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit. Script.hotjar.com A few seconds
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample Determines if the user's navigation should be registered in a certain statistical placeholder. www.nienetworks.co.uk A few seconds
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample Determines if the user's navigation should be registered in a certain statistical placeholder. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
_hjCookieTest Used to check if the user has cookies enabled on their browser Script.hotjar.com Session
_dc_gtm_UA-# Used by Google Tag Manager to control the loading of a Google Analytics script tag. www.nienetworks.co.uk 1 day
collect Used to send data to Google Analytics about the visitor's device and behaviour. Tracks the visitor across devices and marketing channels. www.nienetworks.co.uk Session

Functional Cookies

Name Description Host Lifespan
Vuid This cookie is used by the Vimeo video player on websites. Vimeo.com 2 years
__cf_bm This cookie supports Cloudflare Bot Management. This cookie helps manage incoming traffic that matches criteria associated with bots. Vimeo.com A few seconds

Social Media Cookies

Name Description Host Lifespan
li_sugr Used by the social networking service, LinkedIn. Used to make a probabilistic match of a user's identity outside the Designated Countries. linkedin.com 3 months
CONSENT This cookie carries out information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website. youtube.com 13 months
_fbp Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers. www.nienetworks.co.uk 3 months
_fbp Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers. cc.cdn.civiccomputing.com A few seconds
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE Tries to estimate the users' bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos. youtube.com 6 months
YSC Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen. youtube.com Session
__widgetsettings This cookie is set by Twitter - The cookie allows the visitor to share content from the website onto their Twitter profile. twitter.com Persistent
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. google.com Session
bcookie Used by the social networking service, LinkedIn, for tracking the use of embedded services. linkedin.com 2 years
bscookie Used by the social networking service, LinkedIn, for tracking the use of embedded services. linkedin.com 2 years
d/px Collects data on visitors' preferences and behaviour on the website - This information is used to make content and advertisement more relevant to the specific visitor. google.com Session
fr Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers. facebook.com 3 months
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 targeted ads to the user. google.com 1 year
lang Set by LinkedIn when a webpage contains an embedded "Follow us" panel. linkedin.com Session
lidc Used by the social networking service, LinkedIn, for tracking the use of embedded services. linkedin.com 1 day
lissc Used by the social networking service, LinkedIn, for tracking the use of embedded services. linkedin.com 1 year
test_cookie Used to check if the user's browser supports cookies. google.com 1 day
tr Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers. facebook.com Session
UserMatchHistory Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences. linkedin.com 29 days
yt-remote-cast-installed Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. youtube.com Session
yt-remote-connected-devices Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. youtube.com Persistent
yt-remote-device-id Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. youtube.com Persistent
yt-remote-fast-check-period Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. youtube.com Session
yt-remote-session-app Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. youtube.com Session
yt-remote-session-name Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. youtube.com Session

How to accept or reject cookies

When you visit our website for the first time, you will be shown a consent management notice explaining the use of cookies by us, our partners and third parties. You'll be able to learn more about the specific cookies in use and how to control them. We will remember your preferences and may ask you periodically to confirm these preferences. You are able to change your preferences and withdraw your consent at any time by click the black triangle button in the bottom right hand corner of the website.

We will remember your cookie preferences for 12 months after which we will ask you to refresh them. Cookies already on your device will remain until you clear cookies from your browser. If you clear all cookies on your browser, this will also remove your cookie preferences on this website, and you will have to refresh these at your next visit. If you use incognito or private browsing mode, you will have to refresh your cookie preferences at each visit.

Control of cookies

Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. However, you can remove or reject cookies in your browser’s settings. Please be aware that such action could affect the availability and functionality of your internet browsing experience.

For more information on how to control cookies, check your browser or device’s settings for how you can control or reject cookies, or visit the following links:

If you would like to find out more about privacy, cookies and their use on the internet, you may find the following links useful:

You can opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

You can opt out of the collection and use of your information for ad targeting by visiting https://www.aboutads.info/choices and https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk.

Changes to our cookie policy

We may change our cookie policy from time to time to be in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

Last updated: September 2023

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks Limited - Registered in Northern Ireland - Registered No: NI26041
Registered Office: 120 Malone Road, Belfast, BT9 5HT