Cookies and Website Traffic Analysis
When users enter the sportscotland website their computers will automatically be issued with 'cookies'. Cookies are text files which identify users' computers to the sportscotland server. The website then creates "session" cookies to store some of the preferences of users moving around the website. Cookies in themselves do not identify individual users but identify only the computer used and they are deleted on departure from the website.
Many websites do this to track traffic flows, whenever users visit those websites.
Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these means that certain personalised services cannot then be provided to that user.