Scottish Parliament | Election 2026
Cookie Notice
- What is a cookie?
- How this site uses cookies
- The different types of cookies used
- How you can manage cookies
- Other options to control cookies on the STV News website
- More information about cookies
Introduction
This cookie policy relates to the use of cookies and similar technologies on the STV News Website and App. References to the STV News Website in this policy includes the App. For information on use of cookies on other STV websites or apps, such as the STV Player, please see the specific policies relating to those websites or apps.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small text file that is downloaded to your device when you visit the STV News website. It is stored on your computer, tablet or mobile phone and allows us to recognise your device and store limited information about your use of the STV News website. Some cookies are also placed by third parties.
Local storage on your iOS or Android device can perform very similar functions to cookies. When we talk about “cookies” in this notice, we mean cookies or similar technologies such as local storage.
How this site uses cookies
Cookies are used for a number of reasons on the STV News site:
- To ensure our website works as expected – some standard operations rely on cookies to work
- To remember your settings – some features on our website can be personalised to deliver you tailored information. For example, we will remember if you have set a location for weather forecasts so that you don’t have to do this each time
- To understand how the site is being used – for example, we measure how many times an article has been read and what sections of the site are most visited. This allows us to make improvements and deliver better content
- To serve relevant advertising – we carry advertising on this site to help fund our journalism. We and our partners use some basic information to help ensure the adverts you see are better suited to your interests
- Showing news items that are relevant to you – including the display of our live news and external items relevant to the stories The different types of cookies used
Essential
Certain cookies are essential to provide you with the services you have requested. Thes cannot be switched off through your privacy options on the STV News website. For example, this will remember your settings and display the stories as expected. If you set your browser to block these cookies, then this will affect the functionality of the STV News website.
Analytics
We need to be able to understand how our audience is consuming content on the STV News Website and App. We therefore use cookies to help us count visits, page views, and time spent consuming our content so that we can improve our website by collecting and producing anonymised statistics on how it is used.
We engage a third party, Parse.ly, to assist with our analytics which drops cookies on our behalf which collect the following information from your device:
- Your device information, such as device type (mobile or desktop);
- Your IP address to determine your location, and
- Your unique site-specific identifier to determine whether you are a new or returning user.
These analytics cookies are essential to the operation of the STV News Website and App and cannot be opted out of.
Advertising
Some of the cookies – and similar technologies – we and our partners use are designed to gather limited information for the purpose of making the adverts you see more relevant to your interests.
This works by understanding your interests based on your online activity and showing you advertising that is associated with your activity. For example, if you view travel content online, you will likely see travel-related advertising.
For these purposes, we and our partners do not collect or store any personal data such as your name, email address, telephone number or postal address. STV News works with the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) – the industry standard for online advertising based on user consent.
The purpose of the TCF is to ensure that all parties involved in delivering digital advertising comply with the laws that are designed to protect your rights, including the UK GDPR.
The TCF specifically relates to the processing of personal data or accessing and/or storing information on a user’s device, such as cookies, advertising identifiers, device identifiers and other tracking technologies.
We work with this framework so there is a common understanding of what data is being collected and how we and our partners use it.
Our advertising partners use cookies for the following purposes:
Purposes
- Store and/or access information on a device: cookies, device identifiers, or other information can be stored or accessed on your device for the purposes presented to you.
- Use limited data to select advertising: ads can be shown to you based on the content you’re viewing, the App you’re using, your approximate location, or your device type.
- Create a personalised ads profile: a profile can be built about you and your interests to show you personalised ads that are relevant to you.
- Select personalised ads: personalised ads can be shown to you based on a profile about you.
- Create a personalised content profile: a profile can be built about you and your interests to show you personalised content that is relevant to you.
- Select personalised content: personalised content can be shown to you based on a profile about you.
- Measure ad performance: the performance and effectiveness of ads that you see or interact with can be measured.
- Measure content performance: the performance and effectiveness of content that you see or interact with can be measured.
- Apply market research to generate audience insights: market research can be used to learn more about the audiences who visit sites/apps and view ads.
- Develop and improve products: your data can be used to improve existing systems and software, and to develop new products
Special Purposes
- Ensure security, prevent fraud, and debug: your data can be used to monitor for and prevent fraudulent activity, and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely.
- Technically deliver ads or content: your device can receive and send information that allows you to see and interact with ads and content.
- Deliver Essential Aspects of the Website: this includes technical aspects of the STV News website, as well as embedded elements to display live stories and elements related to the story you are reading.
Features
- Match and combine offline data sources: data from offline data sources can be combined with your online activity in support of one or more purposes.
- Link different devices: different devices can be determined as belonging to you or your household in support of one or more of purposes.
- Receive and use automatically sent device characteristics for identification: your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends, such as IP address or browser type.
How you can manage cookies
You are free to reject all but essential cookies set on the STV News website and we offer simple and effective methods to do so. When you first visit our site, you are presented with a clear choice to either Accept or Manage all cookies. You can change your choice easily at any time in your Privacy Settings. There is also a prominent link to these settings in the footer section of the STV News website.
You should be aware that rejecting cookies will have the following effects:
- The website will not remember anything in relation to how you use it. This may make it more difficult to navigate and use.
- We will not be able to measure what stories you are reading or how you are navigating the STV News site. This will hamper our ability to make improvements and give you more of the content that you enjoy.
- You will still see advertising on the STV News website but this will not be based on your interests and will be less relevant to you. Other options to control cookies on STV News Website or App
You can switch off some cookies on an individual basis. For most users, it is easier to use the Privacy Settings to manage cookies. However, if you only wish to reject cookies from some of our primary partners, you can do so from this list:
You can set your browser to reject cookies from all websites or from sites that you choose individually. The settings differ from browser to browser but information about how to change cookie settings for the most popular browsers can be found here:
- Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
- Cookie settings in Firefox
- Cookie settings in Chrome
- Cookie settings in Safari web and iOS
You can make use of third-party services to manage your cookies but you should be aware that there are limitations to this method that the STV News website cannot control.
More information about cookies
If you would like more information about cookies, you can visit the website of the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) here
If you would like to discuss the STV News website cookie policy or seek any additional information, you can contact our Privacy Team at: privacyteam@stv.tv.
Last updated: 13/02/2024