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Website privacy statement

This page was updated on: 18 November 2025

This page provides information about the steps we take to protect your privacy when you use our website. This privacy statement covers www.london.gov.uk and any other websites that include 'london.gov.uk' in the address.

Personal information we collect about you

You can browse our website without disclosing any information about yourself.

Some GLA webpages will ask you to provide information about yourself, so you can sign-up to a particular service, initiative, or newsletter. This is so we can respond most effectively to your enquiry with the GLA.

Information we ask for may include:

  • your name
  • your email address
  • your telephone number
  • your date of birth
  • where you live
  • the capacity in which you are contacting the GLA (for example, as a member of the public)

We will only ever ask you to provide the information necessary for that purpose.

Other personal data we may collect from your interactions with our website include:

  • your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and details of which version of web browser you used
  • information on how you use the site, using cookies and page tagging techniques

The legal basis for processing this data is to perform a task in the public interest that is set out in law and is statute based.

How we use this information

When we ask you to provide information, we will tell you what this data will be used for and we will give you the option to choose if you would like us to send you information about what we do.

We use Google Analytics and Hotjar to collect information about how you use london.gov.uk. 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. We use VWO to A/B test changes to the site, to make sure that we are making the right changes and that these changes make it easier to use the website.  

We do not use Google Analytics or Hotjar or VWO to collect or store information that could be used to identify who you are.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics stores information about:

  • the pages you visit on london.gov.uk
  • how long you spend on each london.gov.uk page
  • how you got to the site
  • what you click on while you’re visiting the site

You can opt out of Google Analytics.

Hotjar

Hotjar stores information on some pages of our site including:

  • what you click on the site
  • how far you scroll
  • how long you visit the page
  • whether you have taken part in a survey or poll

You can opt out of Hotjar.

VWO 

VWO stores information about: 

  • whether you have seen certain pages on london.gov.uk

  • the version of these pages that you see

  • the actions you take on these pages 

You can opt out of VWO.

YouTube

We embed videos from our YouTube channel, therefore, due to YouTube's privacy-enhanced policy, you may find that cookies are set on your computer once you have clicked to play the videos. However, YouTube doesn't store personally identifiable cookie information relating to playbacks of embedded videos when using their privacy-enhanced mode.

You can find out more at YouTube Help.

Protecting your information

We aim to have a secure and reliable website and use appropriate security technology to protect any personal data we process about you. But your use of the internet, and this website, is entirely at your own risk. We have no responsibility or liability for the security of personal information transmitted over the internet.

Sharing your information

We will not:

  • sell or rent your data to third parties
  • share your data with third parties for marketing purposes without express permission

The GLA may be required to share your personal information with the police and other law enforcement agencies for the purposes of crime prevention or detection. If we are asked to disclose your information, we ask the requesting organisation to demonstrate that the data will assist in the prevention or detection of crime, or that the GLA is legally obliged to disclose it.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website or application.

Cookies are generally used to monitor how a website is used and improve your online experience. They do not give us access to the rest of your computer and are not used to identify you personally.

Read more about how we use cookies.

List of cookies used

Necessary cookies 

  • CookieControl — Stores your cookie consent choices (Civic Cookie Control). 
  • crisis_communication_modal — Controls display of GLA crisis prompt banners. 
  • has_js — Indicates whether JavaScript is enabled (Drupal). 

Google reCAPTCHA (security) 

  • _GRECAPTCHA — Security token used by reCAPTCHA to prevent spam/abuse 
  • __Secure-ENID — Google anti-abuse cookie used by reCAPTCHA 
  • rc::a — Persistent human/bot distinction for reCAPTCHA. 
  • rc::c — Session check during reCAPTCHA verification. 
  • _tl_tracked — Records UTM parameters when a new Talk London account is created, so sign-ups can be attributed to campaigns 
  • new_content_menu_links_viewed 
  • _user_action_fragment 
  • _user_action_redirect 
  • homes_for_londoners_session — Record visits and log-ins to Homes for Londoners property search service 
  • sessionToken — Record visit and log-ins to Healthy Early Years London and Health Schools London site

Functional cookies 

  • googtrans — Saves the language selected in the Google Translate widget. 
  • SSESS* – logged in user session cookie   

Analytics cookies 

Google Analytics 
  • _ga — Distinguishes users (unique visitor ID). 
  • ga_{MEASUREMENT_ID} — Maintains session state for analytics and engagement. 
YouTube 
  • YSC — Tracks video interactions during the current visit (session). 
  • VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE — Player diagnostics (e.g., bandwidth checks). 
  • VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA — Stores privacy/consent state for YouTube embeds. 
  • __Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN — Supports player feature rollouts/experiments. 
  • __Secure-YEC — Anti-abuse/diagnostics to protect the service. 
  • __Secure-YNID — Identifies a browser or device for statistical purposes 
Hotjar 
  • _hjSessionUser_{site_id} — Identifies returning visitors for aggregated analytics. 
  • HjSession_{site_id} — Groups page views within a single visit (session analysis). 
  • _hjHasCachedUserAttributes — Indicates cached user attributes to improve performance. 
  • _hjUserAttributesHash — Keeps user attribute data in sync across pages. 
  • _hjClosedSurveyInvites — Prevents the same survey invitation being shown again. 
  • _hjDonePolls — Ensures completed polls/surveys aren’t shown again. 
  • _hjMinimizedPolls — Keeps Hotjar surveys minimised as you browse. 
  • _hjShownFeedbackMessage — Remembers if the feedback widget was dismissed. 
  • _hjSessionResumed — Notes when a recording session reconnects. 
  • _hjSessionRejected — Internal diagnostic (limits/overload handling). 
  • _hjSessionTooLarge — Stops capture if a session exceeds size limits. 
VWO (A/B testing) 
  • _vwo_uuid — Persistent visitor ID for experiment consistency and reporting. 
  • _vwo_uuid_v2 — Visitor identifier used for unique traffic/segmentation. 
  • _vis_opt_s — Session counter/participation flag for assigning tests. 
  • _vis_opt_out — Opt-out flag; excludes the visitor from VWO campaigns. 
  • _vis_opt_test_cookie — Checks if the browser accepts cookies (diagnostic). 
  • _vwo_sn — Stores session-level information for VWO Insights. 
  • _vwo_ds — Stores persistent visitor-level data for VWO Insights. 
  • vis_opt_exp{EXPERIMENT_ID}_combi — Keeps assigned test variation consistent. 
  • vis_opt_exp{EXPERIMENT_ID}goal{GOAL_ID} — Marks goal completion for a test. 
  • vis_opt_exp{EXPERIMENT_ID}_exclude — Marks a visitor as excluded from a test. 
  • vis_opt_exp{EXPERIMENT_ID}_split — Ensures correct destination in Split-URL tests. 

Internal analytics

  • homes_for_londoners_session — Record visits and log-ins to Homes for Londoners property search service
  • sessionToken — Record visit and log-ins to Healthy Early Years London and Health Schools London site

Marketing cookies

We do not use marketing cookies.

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