Sharp Silicon
What are cookies?
"Cookies" are small text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. In our case we use a mixture of Cookies and Local Storage. Local storage does the same thing as cookies but does not get sent to the server like cookies do so it is ideal for storing your preferences.
The cookies and storage allows the website to recognise your device and remember if you have been to the website before. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work more efficiently, as well as providing information to the owners of websites on site usage and performance.
There are different types of cookies. Necessary cookies enable a site's core functionality - a website cannot function properly without these cookies. You can disable necessary cookies by changing your browser preferences. Analytical cookies measure the pages a customer visits on a website - website owners collect this information to make site improvements and report on site usage. Third party cookies can be used for advertising purposes. You can read about the different types of cookies that we use on this page.
The UK Information Commissioner's Office provide guidance on how to manage and delete cookies.
How are cookies used on sharpsilicon.com?
Some of the cookies we use are essential for site functionality.
Other cookies help us to improve your website experience, including the content and technical performance of sharpsilicon.com, by providing insights into how the site is used. For example, they allow us to count the number of visitors to specific pages, and to analyse website usage patterns and trends.
Some cookies help us to match relevant business support with your interests – this assistance may appear in the form of advertisements via websites you visit.
The information we collect does not enable us to identify any website visitor personally. No individual data or personal information is stored in our cookies.
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use sharpsilicon.com. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements, for example improving site search.
Google Analytics stores information about:
We do not collect or store your personal information (eg your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data.
Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
Universal analytics
| Cookie name | Purpose of the cookie | Expires |
| _ga | This helps us count how many people visit sharpsilicon.com by tracking if you've visited before | 2 years |
| _gid | This helps us count how manay people visit sharpsilicon.com by tracking if you've visited before | 24 hours |
| _gat | Used to manage the rate at which page view requests are made | 1 minute |
JavaScript detection
We measure how many people visiting sharpsilicon.com are using JavaScript.
| Cookie name | Purpose of the cookie | Expires |
| has_js | This tells us if you are browsing sharpsilicon.comwhile running JavaScript | Session cookie (when browser is closed) |
Our introductory message
You may see a pop-up welcome message when you first visit sharpsilicon.com. We will store a cookie so that your computer knows you've seen it and knows not to show it again.
| Cookie name | Purpose of the cookie | Expires |
| CookieConsent | Saves a message to let us know that you've seen our cookie message | 4 months |
Advertising
We occasionally advertise sharpsilicon.com's business support and guidance through third party sites (eg Twitter and LinkedIn). These sites use cookies to identify and display content based on your interests. The cookies also enable us to evaluate the success of any advertisements.
Third party sites set the following cookies:
| Cookie name | Purpose of the cookie | Expires |
| fr | Facebook uses this cookie to show you sharpsilicon.comsupport and guidance based on your interests and to report on and verify traffic from an online advert. | 90 days |
| BizoID | LinkedIn uses this collection of cookies to show you sharpsilicon.com support and guidance based on your interests and to report on and verify traffic from an online advert. | 6 months |
| UserMatch-History | 6 months | |
| lang | Session cookie (when browser is closed) | |
| bcookie | 2 years | |
| lidc | 24 hours | |
| guest_id | Twitter uses this collection of cookies to show you sharpsilicon.com support and guidance based on your interests and to report on and verify traffic from an online advert. | 2 years |
| personal-ization_id | 2 years | |
| IDE | These cookies allow us to advertise on third party websites through the Google Advertising network. Google uses this cookie to tailor advertising to you, and help match activity across devices. | 13 months |
| test_ cookie | 1 minute |