Last updated June 2025
This cookie notice explains what cookies and other tracking technologies are, and why they are used.
It sets out specifically what cookies are used, the purposes for the cookies, and what rights you have over any personal data processed by cookies.
The data controller responsible in accordance with the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and other data protection regulations is:
Mercy Mission UK
203 Westgate, Bradford, England, BD1 3AD
Email address: [email protected]
Website URL: https://mercymission.org.uk
The contact details for our Data Protection Officer are as follows:
By post:
DataCo International UK Limited
Suite 1, 3rd Floor Suite 1
11 - 12 St James's Square
London, SW1Y 4LB
United Kingdom
By email: [email protected]
By phone: +442035146557
We are the controller of the personal data we process. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we collect, use and store information about you.We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under number ZB351202.
If you are just browsing our website, we may collect your data using cookies or other tracking technologies.
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device, such as your computer, phone, or tablet, when you view pages on our website. These cookies allow us to track some of your browsing preferences and optimise how the website works.
While we are not looking to identify you using cookies as the focus is on your device, it may be possible for us to identify you or infer information about you. Unless the cookies are “strictly necessary” to make our website function, we will always ask for your consent before they are placed on your device.
First Party Cookies
First party cookies hosted on the website you are visiting. They are only set or retrieved by the website while you are visiting it, so they cannot normally be used to track activity or pass data from one site to another. However, the owner of that website can still collect data through their cookies and use that to change how the website appears to the user, or the information it displays.
Third Party Cookies
Third party cookies are where the host domain or address is not the same as the website you are visiting. They are usually placed in a website via scripts or tags added into the web page. Sometimes these scripts will also bring additional functionality to the site, such as enabling content to be shared via social networks.
Online advertising is the most common use of third-party cookies. By adding their tags to a page, which may or may not display adverts, advertisers can track a user (or their device) across many of the websites they visit.
We might share your data collected via cookies with these third-party cookie providers. Where we do this, we have data processing agreements in place with all third-party providers to ensure that your personal data is handled securely and in accordance with data protection regulations. Where your data is transferred outside of the UK, we make sure that your data is given the same level of protection, either because that country has a comparable data protection standard (Adequacy), or by using another safeguard such as an enhanced contractual agreement.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are set to provide the service, application or resource requested. Without these cookies, your request cannot be properly delivered. They are usually set to manage actions made by you, such as requesting website visual elements, pages resources or due user login/logoff. We can also use these cookies to set up essential functionalities to guarantee the security and efficiency of the service requested, like authentication and load balancer request. Consent is not needed to use this category of cookies.
Performance Cookies
These cookies are set to provide quantitative measures of website visitors. Information collected with these cookies is used in operations to measure website or software KPIs, such as performance. With the usage of these cookies, we can count visits and traffic sources to improve the performance of our site and application. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site. These cookies can only be used with your consent.
Functional Cookies
These cookies are set by us or by third party service providers we use to implement additional functionalities or to enhance features and website performance, however they are not directly related with the service you requested. Services and functionalities implemented by these cookies support features like automatic filled text box, live web chat platform, non-necessary forms, and optional security parameters like a single sign-on (SSO). These cookies can only be used with your consent.
Targeting/Analytical Cookies
These cookies are set by our advertising partners to provide behavioural advertising and re-marketing analytical data. They collect any type of browsing information necessary to create profiles and to understand user habits to develop an individual and specific advertising routine. The profile created regarding your browsing interest and behaviour is used to customise the ads you see when you access other websites. These cookies can only be used with your consent.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
| Cookie provider | Cookies | Purpose | How long we keep your data | Personal data collected |
| Laravel Holdings Inc., USA | laravel_session, XSRF-TOKEN | Enables core session functionality and security. The laravel_session cookie stores a unique session ID to maintain login state and carry data between pages, while XSRF-TOKEN stores a CSRF token to protect against cross-site request forgery. These cookies are essential for logging into and using the platform safely. | Session duration | Session identifiers, authentication status, and CSRF tokens data (data is stored on Mercy Mission’s servers and not shared with a cookie provider) |
| WordPress(Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl Dublin, D02 AY86) | wordpress_test_cookie; wordpress_[hash]; wordpress_logged_in_[hash] | To enable login and session administration. wordpress_test_cookie is set to check if cookies are supported by the browser (required for the login process). On login, wordpress_[hash] stores authentication details for the admin area, and wordpress_logged_in_[hash] keeps the user logged in on the site interface. These cookies are strictly necessary for user authentication and session management. | Session duration (cleared when you log out or close the browser. “Remember Me” option extends storage period for up to 14 days) | Username (or user ID) and an encrypted authentication hash. (data is stored on Mercy Mission’s servers and not shared with a cookie provider) |
| Cloudflare Inc., USA | __cf_bm; __cfruid | These cookies are set by Cloudflare (our CDN/security provider) to protect the site and optimize traffic. __cf_bm is used in bot management to distinguish and mitigate automated traffic (helps block “bad bots”) . __cfruid is used for rate limiting and traffic management, identifying clients behind shared IPs and ensuring reliable access . Both are essential for security and load balancing. | __cf_bm: 30 minutes (auto-expiry); __cfruid: session duration | Encrypted or pseudonymous user device identifiers and metadata used to differentiate legitimate users vs. bots. (data is shared with third-party cookie provider – Cloudflare Inc. located in USA) |
Functional Cookies
| Cookie provider | Cookies | Purpose | How long we keep your data | Personal data collected |
| WordPress(Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl Dublin, D02 AY86) | wp-settings-[UID], wp-settings-time-[UID] | These cookies are set by WordPress to remember a logged-in user’s preferences and customizations in the dashboard interface . For example, they preserve your admin UI settings, preferred editor or layout, and other configuration choices, so that the interface appears according to your preferences on each visit. | 1 year | User-specific interface settings, User’s ID (UID) and Settings, helping WordPress load the correct preferences for that user. (data is shared with third-party cookie provider – WordPress located in Ireland) |
| WordPress(Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl Dublin, D02 AY86) | comment_author_{HASH}, comment_author_email_{HASH}, comment_author_url_{HASH} | If blog comments are enabled, these cookies remember a commenter’s name, email, and website so that they don’t have to re-type this info on subsequent comments. This enhances convenience for users leaving comments. (Each cookie is keyed with a unique hash of the provided info.) | 347 days | The commenter’s provided name, email address, and website URL (if given). This data is stored locally in the browser to pre-fill comment forms; it is not used by the site for other purposesThe data is not shared with a cookie provider, as it stays on user’s browser and is used only by the local site. |
Performance cookies
| Cookie provider | Cookies | Purpose | How long we keep your data | Personal data collected |
| Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited GORDON HOUSE BARROW STREET DUBLIN 4, D04 E5W5 Ireland) | _ga, _gid, _gat | To track and report website traffic, user behaviour, and performance metrics for the marketing website. | 2 years (_ga), 24 hours (_gid), 1 minute (_gat) | IP address, browser type, device identifiers, pages visited, time spent, referrer URL. (data is shared with Google LLC, a legal entity located in USA) |
Targeting Cookies
| Cookie provider | Cookies | Purpose | How long we keep your data | Personal data collected | |
Google Analytics / Google Ads (Google Ireland Limited GORDON HOUSE BARROW STREET DUBLIN 4, D04 E5W5 Ireland) | gcl_au, IDE, 1P_JAR | To enable re-marketing, track ad performance, and build anonymised behavioural profiles for site visitors. | gcl_au - 90 days; IDE - 13 months (in EU/UK); 1P_JAR - 30 days. | Google Ads cookies may log a pseudonymous user ID, your IP address, and information about your browsing of our site and ad interactions (e.g. which ad brought you to the site, pages visited, conversions). They do not store your name, but they do track your device/browser for ad targeting purposes . (data is shared with Google LLC, a legal entity located in USA) | |
YouTube (Google LLC, USA) | YSC; VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | To track video views and user interactions. YSC is a session cookie that helps track the views of the embedded video and ensure the video player functions properly during your visit . VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE is used by YouTube to measure your bandwidth and device capabilities – this helps determine the appropriate video quality and player interface, and it also stores a unique ID to track viewer statistics and potentially personalize video suggestions. These cookies can also be used by Google/YouTube for advertising and to build a profile of your interests (for example, if personalized ads are enabled on YouTube). | YSC – session duration; VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE - 180 days. | Information about your interaction with the video: whether you have watched the video and for how long, your approximate bandwidth (network speed), and a unique visitor ID. This may be linked to other Google data if you’re logged into Google/YouTube. These cookies do not collect contact details, but the data can contribute to a profile for advertising. (data is shared with Google LLC, a legal entity located in USA) | |
X (formerly – Twitter) (Social Media Widget) (Twitter International Unlimited Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland) | guest_id; personalization_id | To recognize you and track usage for social media and advertising features. The guest_id cookie assigns a unique ID to the user’s browser to identify interaction with Twitter content (for users not logged into Twitter). personalization_id is used by Twitter to store information about how the site is used and to tailor the embedded content or ads – it helps with personalization and analytics of the Twitter widget. These cookies allow Twitter features to function (like showing our latest tweets) and enable Twitter to gauge ad performance and user engagement with the embedded content. | 2 years each (both cookies typically last 24 months) | A unique identifier for your browser, and data about your interactions with Twitter-integrated elements. This includes browser/device information and a record of which pages on our site you visited with the widget. Twitter uses this data to personalize content and ads on their platform. (data is shared with X Corp., a legal entity located in USA) | |
| Facebook (Meta) (if used) (Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland) | _fbp; fr | These cookies are set by Facebook if we use the Facebook Pixel or other social plugins for advertising and social media integration. _fbp (Facebook Pixel) is used to store a unique browser identifier, which allows us to re-target you with our ads on Facebook/Instagram after you’ve visited our site. The fr cookie is set by Facebook to provide ad delivery and measurement; it contains an encrypted Facebook user ID and browser identifier to help show relevant ads to you across the web and measure the results of ad campaigns. | _fbp – 3 months; fr – 3 months . | They store a unique user ID and device information that Facebook uses to recognize you. This includes your Facebook account ID (if logged in) in an encrypted form, browser/device identifiers, and information on your browsing behavior on our site (pages viewed, actions taken). Facebook combines this with your profile to serve tailored ads. (data is shared with Meta Platforms, Inc., a legal entity located in USA) | |
Except for any strictly necessary cookies, you can opt-out of any cookies you already provided consent for by opening the cookie settings in the cookie banner.
Alternatively, you can manage your cookie settings at the browser level, by opening the browser settings menu and choosing which cookies to allow.
No processing activities include making automated decisions about you that might significantly affect you or lead to any legal effect. Automated decisions mean decisions based on solely automated processing without human intervention.
The placement of cookies on your device and the provision of personal data through them are not statutory or contractual requirements. This means that you are not legally obligated to allow cookies to be placed on your device, nor are you required to provide personal data collected through them.
The consequences of cookies not being placed on your device depend on the type of cookies:
| Category of cookies | Consequences |
| Strictly necessary cookies | Malfunctioning website features, security vulnerabilities, network problems, and accessibility issues, as well as payment functions not working properly. |
| Performance cookies | Limited understanding of how users interact with the website, which may result in a slower pace of website improvement, unresolved usability issues, and a less optimized or user-friendly browsing experience. |
| Functional cookies | Loss of enhanced user experience, such as remembering login details, preferred language, region settings, or form inputs; users may need to manually reconfigure settings or re-enter information on each visit. |
| Targeting cookies | Less relevant or generic advertisements may be displayed; users may see the same ads repeatedly or ads unrelated to their interests. Additionally, we may have reduced ability to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns or reach intended audiences efficiently. |
Under data protection legislation, in certain circumstances you have the following rights over the processing of your personal data as described in this notice:
In most cases, we must respond to a request to exercise these rights within one month if not before. If you would like to submit a request, please contact us or our Data Protection Officer.
If you are unhappy with any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal data is being processed, please contact us or our Data Protection Officer.
If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
By post:
Information Commissioner’s Office.
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
By phone: +44303 123 1113
Via ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/