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Website Privacy and Security

IMCA takes your privacy and trust seriously. The following statement sets out the information we collect, how we use it and details on ‘cookies’ used by this website. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding our privacy policy and use of your data.

IMCA Privacy Policy

Data We Collect

We do not collect personally identifiable details about you unless you choose to submit them – via a membership application, event registration, publications order or other form of contact. Where we do this, we collect the information we need for that process and only use it for that purpose.

We use Google Analytics to look at how our website is used, based on aggregated visitor data.  This analysis does not identify individual users, but lets us see trends such as popular content, visitor countries, browsers/devices used, etc. We can then use this data to help improve the website.

Forms on this website are protected with Google ReCAPTCHA, to ensure human submission and reduce spam. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply to the ReCAPTCHA elements of the site.

Payment Data

IMCA does not collect credit card details and where they are submitted, they are deleted from IT systems (or physically destroyed, as appropriate). For your security, all card payments are collected via PayPal or Stripe using their secure servers. Card details are provided directly to those services and not made available to IMCA – we receive data relevant to the purchase being made, but not card details or other card data that, if intercepted, could pose a security risk to you.

Use of Cookies

Our web site uses a technology known as cookies to store small amounts of data on our visitors’ computers or devices. Cookies are small pieces of text data that can be placed on a visitor’s computer, normally to provide enhanced functionality and/or improved relevancy of information.

First party cookies (our website creates these):

Details are provided in tables below, listing various cookies that are set for users of stores with the WooCommerce

Cookie NameDurationPurpose
woocommerce_cart_hash session Helps WooCommerce determine when cart contents/data changes.
woocommerce_items_in_cart session Helps WooCommerce determine when cart contents/data changes.
wp_woocommerce_session_ 2 days Contains a unique code for each customer so that it knows where to find the cart data in the database for each customer.
store_notice[notice id] session Allows customers to dismiss the Store Notice.

If you wish to dismiss the notice about cookies, a separate cookie will be placed on your computer for the sole purpose of hiding the notice on future visits.  This cookie will expire in 365 days, or when this privacy policy changes, whichever is sooner.

Third party cookies (may be added by a service provider we use, subject to your browser settings):

Google Analytics:

Cookie NameDurationPurpose
__utma2 years from set/update Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmt 10 minutes Used to throttle request rate.
__utmb30 mins from set/update Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmz6 months from set/update Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmv 2 years from set/update Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

Microsoft Clarity:

We use Microsoft Clarity to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioural metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. If you consent, then website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Specific cookies are listed in the Clarity documentation.