Cookies Policy

1.What are cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device (computer, tablet or mobile phone) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work correctly, to remember your preferences, and to provide information to the website owner about how the site is being used.

Cookies are not programs and cannot carry viruses or install malware on your device. They contain only small amounts of text and can only be read by the website that created them.

There are several types of cookie:

• Session cookies – temporary cookies that are deleted when you close your browser. They are used to keep you moving smoothly through the website during a single visit.
• Persistent cookies – cookies that remain on your device for a set period of time, or until you delete them. They are used to remember your preferences across visits.
• First-party cookies – cookies set by the website you are visiting.
• Third-party cookies – cookies set by a different website to the one you are visiting, for example an analytics provider.

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2.Essential cookies

Essential cookies are required for MOTAdvisor to function correctly. They do not collect any information about you that could be used for marketing or to track your browsing activity across other websites. You cannot opt out of essential cookies while continuing to use this service.

The essential cookies we use are:

• motadvisor_session – a session cookie that keeps track of your current visit. It expires when you close your browser. Used to maintain page state during a single visit.
• motadvisor_csrf – a security cookie used to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks on form submissions. It expires at the end of your session.
• motadvisor_cookie_consent – stores your cookie preference (accepted or declined) so we do not show the cookie banner on every page. Expires after 12 months.

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3.Analytics cookies

With your consent, we use Google Analytics to collect anonymised information about how visitors use MOTAdvisor. This helps us understand which pages are most useful, how people navigate through the service, and where we can make improvements.

Analytics cookies are only set after you have accepted them via the cookie banner. If you decline analytics cookies, we will not set them and your visit will not be tracked.

The analytics cookies we use are:

• _ga – set by Google Analytics. Used to distinguish unique visitors by assigning a randomly generated identifier. Expires after 2 years. IP addresses are anonymised before being sent to Google.
• _ga_XXXXXXXXXX – set by Google Analytics 4. Used to persist session state. Expires after 2 years.
• _gid – set by Google Analytics. Used to distinguish visitors across sessions. Expires after 24 hours.
• _gat – set by Google Analytics. Used to throttle the request rate to Google's servers. Expires after 1 minute.

Google Analytics data is processed in accordance with Google's privacy policy and our data processing agreement with Google. IP anonymisation is enabled, meaning your full IP address is never sent to or stored by Google.

open_in_new Read Google's privacy policy

open_in_new Opt out of Google Analytics across all websites

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4.Third-party cookies

MOTAdvisor does not allow third-party advertisers, social media platforms or data brokers to set cookies on this website. The only third-party cookies used are those set by Google Analytics, described in Section 3, and only when you have given your consent.

Some pages on MOTAdvisor contain links to external websites. If you follow a link to an external site, that site may set its own cookies. We have no control over cookies set by third-party websites and recommend that you review their cookie policies before using those sites.

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5.Managing and disabling cookies

You have several options for managing cookies when using MOTAdvisor.

Cookie settings on this website

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the "Cookie settings" link in the footer of any page. This allows you to accept or decline analytics cookies without affecting your ability to use the service.

Browser settings

All modern browsers allow you to view, manage and delete cookies through the browser's settings or preferences menu. You can also set your browser to block cookies entirely or to alert you when a cookie is being set.

Please note that blocking all cookies will affect the functionality of many websites, including MOTAdvisor. If you block essential cookies, some features of this service may not work correctly.

For guidance on managing cookies in your browser, visit the relevant help page:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari
• Microsoft Edge

Opt out of Google Analytics

You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting data about your visits to any website by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

open_in_new Download the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on

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6.Changes to this policy

We may update this cookies policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use or changes in applicable law. The date at the top of this page will be updated whenever changes are made.

If we make significant changes, such as adding new categories of cookie, we will reset the cookie consent banner so that you have the opportunity to review and accept or decline the updated cookies before they are set.

We recommend that you review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies.

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7.Contact us

If you have any questions about this cookies policy or how we use cookies on MOTAdvisor, please contact us:

• Email: privacy@motadvisor.gov.uk
• Post: Data Protection Officer, MOTAdvisor / DVSA, The Axis Building, 112 Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham, NG1 6LP

For questions about your personal data more broadly, please see our Privacy Policy or contact our Data Protection Officer at the address above.

open_in_new Contact DVSA – GOV.UK

open_in_new Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) – ico.org.uk

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