COOKIES POLICY

Your privacy is important to us and in line with the law concerning Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the use of cookies, we have published this guide to explain what cookies are and how we use them on our website, this is to provide you with honest information about the cookies we use and give you the ability and knowledge to manage them for yourself. We will continue to work on our website and implement any required changes as the laws are updated to ensure we comply and protect you, as you visit our website.

What Are Cookies?

A cookie is a small file, typically letters and numbers that is placed on an internet user's computer memory, when the user accesses certain websites.

Cookies were designed to allow a website to recognise a user and remember things that you, as the user have done on that website in the past, which can include putting products in the basket, logging in, or clicking on links.

Cookies are not dangerous. They are not computer programs and cannot be used to circulate viruses.

Cookies help us find out about how customers use the website and this information is used in many ways: To keep a record of the products you've put in your shopping bag for next time you visit and to remember preferences. To find out what the website doesn't do well and make improvements to it in future. They also allow you to share pages with social networks like Facebook and many other things too.

Tyes of Cookies

Customer Session GUID Cookies

Session cookies are stored in your computer's memory for the length of your browsing session. They become inaccessible after the session has been inactive for a time and are automatically deleted from your computer when the browser is closed. They are used for a variety of purposes such as allowing you to move from page to page without having to log-in repeatedly, remembering what you have put in your shopping basket.

Persistent (or Permanent) Cookies

Persistent cookies that are stored on the user's computer memory inbetween browser sessions, so are not deleted when the browser is closed. They are used to keep your preferences for the website, so they will be remembered for next time you visit the website. They are also used to collect information about the numbers of visitors, the average time spent on a particular page and analyse shopping behaviour on the website. This information is used to find out how the well the website works and where it can be improved.

Sharing with social networks

If you use the buttons that allow you to share products and content with your friends via social networks like twitter and facebook, these companies may set a cookie on your computer memory. Find out more about these here:

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/ 
http://twitter.com/privacy 
http://www.google.com/intl/en-GB/policies/privacy/

Which cookies does VMCC have the ability to use?

Nop.CustomerSessionGUIDCookie

This cookie is used to recognise a logged in customer, or customer with items in their basket. This cookie is used to persist state between pages, it is not used to store personal information. This is considered essential

This cookie expires after 128 hours.


NopCommerce.RecentlyViewedProducts

The product they recently used – this is for the recently viewed products box, this cookie expires after 10 days.


NopCommerce.CompareProducts (not currently active)

For remembering which products have been selected to for comparing, this cookie expires after 10 days.


NopCommerce.AffiliateId

If you visit the site via an affiliate, the id of the affiliate is stored here, this cookie is deleted when you close your browser.


Nop.CustomerLanguage

As we offer the option to change language and multiple languages are used on the site – this cookie is used to remember the language you select, this cookie expires after 1 year.


Nop.onlineusertracking

This is for tracking the number of users online at any one time and this expires after 1 hour.


Google Analytics

This is a behavioural tracking service that helps us find out how users use the site, for example is shows us which pages people visit, how long they stayed on a page and so on, so that we can be improve on the website, assess how relevant the content is and how easy the site is to use. 

The cookies are

__utma (expires in 730 days)

__utmb (expires within a day)

__utmc (Date not set)

__utmz (expires in 182 days)

For more information, please visit:

http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html

ASP.NET_SessionId

This cookie is used to persist state between pages, so you don’t have to continually log on, it is not used to store personal information.

For more information please visit: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899918


Other Cookies

Share Buttons. The following are all cookies created by the ’Add This’ social media sharing tool: 

loc - This is our geo-location cookie, so our publishers know approximately where people sharing information are located

Coyote-2-a0f0083 - This is our load balancer cookie

bt - A behavior targeting cookie

ana_svc - a real-time service cookie

phpbb3_* and style_cookie - These are set by our support forum software

__utm* - Google analytics tracking

uid/uit - User id and login time tracking

psc - View counter cookie

di/dt - Date tracking cookies for determining expiration of other cookies

ssh/sshs - Service share history, used for configuring our preferred services.


About Your Visit

When you visit our website and register or place an order, we will ask you to input and will collect Personal Information from you such as your name, e-mail address, address, delivery address, telephone number, product selections, credit card or other payment information and a password.

We may also collect, information about where you are on the internet (eg the URL you came from, IP address, domain types like .co.uk and .com), your browser type, the country where your computer is located, the pages of our website that were viewed during your visit, and any search terms that you entered on our website. We may collect this information even if you do not register or order with us. Any information captured about your visit is collected to improve the quality of the service we provide.


We may use your information for the following purposes:

Processing your orders;

For statistical purposes to improve our Website and its useability;

To administer this website;

If you opt-in, we will notify you of products or special offers that may be of interest to you.

To analyse your browsing preferences, to help us to select products, services or special discounts we think you will be interested to hear about;

If you choose to, you are able to register on our site to receive information from VMCC by post, e-mail or telephone, about offers, new products and services we feel may be of interest to you. In the event that you do not wish to be contacted for such purposes, please ensure that you tick the appropriate box as you go through the registration process. You may unsubscribe from our contact list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.


What happens if I opt out of all cookies?


If you opted out of all cookies set by VMCC, then you will not be able to register or shop on our website. You will, however, still be able to browse our website. 

If you choose to opt out but still wish to place an order please call us and we will happily process your order over the phone.

All personal information is stored safely for your security and in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.


How do I opt out of cookies?

You can manage the cookies that you allow on your computer through the internet browser that you use. You can also ask to be alerted every time a cookie is offered. There are instructions on how to manage your cookies using the most popular internet browsers below:

Find out which internet browser you use

On a PC: click on 'Help' at the top of your browser window and select 'About'

On an Apple Mac: click on the Apple menu and select 'About' (make sure the browser is open)

Opting out of cookies in Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer allows you to select the level of cookie filter on the basis of the source of the cookie and whether the source has a privacy policy.

Choose 'Tools'

Click on 'Internet Options'

Click the 'Privacy' tab

Move the slider to choose your settings

For more detailed privacy settings click on 'Advanced'

Opting out of cookies in Safari

Choose 'Preferences' from Safari menu

Select 'Security'

Cookie settings are shown

Choose your settings

Opting out of cookies in Google Chrome

As a default, Google Chrome allows all cookies. You can manage the behaviour of first-party and third-party cookies or even block them completely.

Click on the 'Tools' menu

Select 'Options'

Click the 'Under the Bonnet' tab

Find the 'Privacy' section

Click 'Content settings'

Click the 'Cookie settings' tab and choose your settings

Opting out of cookies in Mozilla Firefox

You can configure which sites are allowed to set cookies, how long to keep them for, and view and manage your existing cookies.

Click on 'Menu', then 'Options'

Select 'Privacy'

Select 'Cookies'

Choose your settings

Opting out of cookies in AOL

From the AOL toolbar, select 'Settings'

Select 'Internet Options'

Select 'Use your Internet Explorer Settings to set advanced browser options'

Select the 'Privacy' tab

Select 'Advanced'

Deselect override automatic cookie handling button

Choose your settings

Opting out of Flash Cookies (not applicable to VMCC.com)

 If you'd like to control the use of

Flash Cookies

on your computer, Adobe's website offers tools to do this.


If you use Mozilla Firefox to browse the internet, you can

use an add-on to find and delete Flash Cookies.

Further information about online privacy 

You may also want to read our privacy policy, which governs how and when we use your personal data.