Cookie consent statement

11 August 2023

At Acorns Children’s Hospice, we value transparency, accountability and privacy, and we are committed to upholding these principles in every aspect of our operations.

We want to inform you about an incident related to our website’s cookie consent process and share the details of this incident, as well as the swift actions we have taken to address it.

Due to an oversight in the design of our cookie consent process during our website development, we unintentionally collected users’ behavioural interactions and allowed third parties to receive the same consent to track and record user activity.

While we did not collect personalised data, it is possible that third-party entities may have had the capability to collect such information through user consent and our shared data.

Any users who clicked ‘reject’ on our cookie consent policy when visiting our website may have been affected by this oversight.

The issue was discovered on 4^th August 2023 and dates back to the launch of our website on 8^th August 2020.

A thorough and comprehensive investigation has been carried out and immediate action taken to remedy the oversight, which has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) along with our full report into the matter by our Data Services and Digital Marketing teams.

To rectify this situation and strengthen our data protection practices, we have installed a new cookie plugin that necessitates users to reconsent to cookies, effective from 8^th August 2023.

We deeply regret and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause. Your privacy and trust are of paramount importance to us.

We remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards of data protection and committed to safeguarding your privacy.

If you have any questions or require further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at DPO@acorns.org.uk.

Acorns Children’s Hospice

How to remove existing cookies and refresh your consent preferences:

Website cookies are little markers that websites use to remember things about you. They help sites remember your choices and make your visits easier by keeping track of what you’ve done before.

You can choose whether or not to let a website collect these cookies by rejecting them altogether or by editing your preferences to control what information they capture.

If you accepted or rejected cookies through our previous consent method, those cookies might still be on your device. Cookies naturally expire, but their specific durations vary.

As part of our commitment to safeguarding your privacy, we have developed the following practical steps to help you remove cookies acquired through our old consent method and refresh your consent preferences:

Clearing old cookies

To remove the old cookies from our site on your device, we recommend using the new consent method to reject unnecessary cookies. This action will effectively remove the old cookies from your device.

Refreshing consent for Advertising Cookies:

If you wish to retain specific cookies while excluding those related to advertising, you can refresh your consent by using the new method. Previously acquired Advertising cookies will be removed from your device based off your new choice of not accepting Advertising cookies.

Adjusting cookie preferences:

Managing your cookie preferences using our new consent method provides a way for you to remove old cookies. For instance, if you had previously allowed Analytic cookies and now wish to eliminate them, disabling the ‘Analytics’ cookie category within the new consent settings will effectively remove those outdated cookies.

Manually clearing cookies in your browser:

Another effective way to remove old cookies is to manually clear your browser’s cookie history.