Cookie Policy
Version 1.1 · 17 August 2026
1. Introduction
This policy explains what cookies are, which cookies this website uses, and how you can control them. Please read it alongside our Privacy Policy and our Terms and Conditions.
In this policy, “we”, “our” and “us” mean Biosample Hub, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales under company number 12514786, with its registered office at The Old School, The Quay, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 3LN.
This policy covers biosamplehub.org. Our MatchEngine platform at app.biosamplehub.org is a separate service with its own login, and the cookie it uses to keep you signed in is described in our Privacy Policy rather than here.
2. What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store on your device. On your next visit the browser sends it back, which is how a website can recognise the same browser across pages and visits.
First-party cookies are set by the website you are visiting — in this case by us. Third-party cookies are set by other organisations whose content appears on our pages, such as an embedded video. Those organisations decide for themselves how they use what they collect, and their own privacy policies govern it.
Session cookies are deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies stay on your device until they expire or you delete them. The tables in section 4 show which is which.
3. How we group cookies
Our cookie banner sorts cookies into five groups. You can accept or refuse each group separately, except for the first.
- Necessary — needed for the site to work and to remember your cookie choices. These are always set, and you cannot turn them off.
- Functional — support features such as embedded video.
- Analytics — help us understand how the site is used, for example which pages are visited and how many people visit.
- Performance — measure how the site performs. We do not currently use any cookies in this group.
- Advertisement — allow LinkedIn and YouTube to receive information about your visit and use it for their own advertising and measurement purposes.
Nothing outside the Necessary group is set unless you agree to it. Until you make a choice in the banner, and if you decline, those cookies are not set and the scripts that would set them do not run.
4. The cookies we use
This list was last reviewed on 15 August 2026. Third parties change their cookies from time to time, so the names and durations below reflect what was in use on that date.
Necessary
| Cookie | Set by | Expires after | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
cookieyes-consent | biosamplehub.org | 1 year | Records the choices you make in the cookie banner, so that we can honour them and not ask you again on every page. |
wpEmojiSettingsSupports | biosamplehub.org | Session | Set by WordPress, which the website runs on. It checks whether your browser can display emoji characters correctly. |
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA | .youtube.com | 6 months | Set by YouTube to store your own cookie consent choice for YouTube. |
Functional
| Cookie | Set by | Expires after | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | .youtube.com | 6 months | Set by YouTube to measure your connection speed, which determines whether you are shown the new or the old video player. |
ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY | youtube.com | Does not expire | Set by YouTube to remember the last search result you clicked, so that later results are more relevant to you. |
Analytics
| Cookie | Set by | Expires after | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | .biosamplehub.org | 1 year 1 month | Set by Google Analytics. Assigns a randomly generated number to your browser so that returning visits can be counted as one visitor rather than several. |
_ga_* | .biosamplehub.org | 1 year 1 month | Set by Google Analytics to store and count page views. The asterisk stands for an identifier unique to our website. |
YSC | .youtube.com | Session | Set by YouTube to count views of the videos embedded on our pages. |
Performance
We do not currently use any cookies in this group.
Advertisement
| Cookie | Set by | Expires after | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
bcookie | .linkedin.com | 1 year | LinkedIn browser identifier, used to recognise your browser across visits. |
bscookie | .linkedin.com | 2 years | A secure version of LinkedIn’s browser identifier. |
lidc | .linkedin.com | 1 day | Used by LinkedIn to route your requests to the right data centre. |
li_gc | .linkedin.com | 6 months | Stores your consent choice for LinkedIn’s own non-essential cookies. |
li_sugr | .linkedin.com | 90 days | A probable-match identifier LinkedIn uses to link a visitor across devices. |
UserMatchHistory | .linkedin.com | 30 days | Records that your visit has been synchronised with LinkedIn’s advertising system. |
AnalyticsSyncHistory | .linkedin.com | 30 days | Records when your visit was synchronised with LinkedIn’s analytics. |
__cf_bm | .linkedin.com | 1 hour | Set by Cloudflare on LinkedIn’s behalf to distinguish people from automated traffic when your browser contacts LinkedIn. |
__Secure-YNID | .youtube.com | 6 months | Set by YouTube to protect account security and prevent fraud, particularly during sign-in. |
__Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN | .youtube.com | 6 months | Set by YouTube to manage which new features and interface changes you are shown while a change is being tested. |
__Secure-YEC | .youtube.com | Expiry already passed | Set by YouTube in connection with embedded video content. The expiry date recorded for this cookie has already passed. YouTube does not publish a purpose for it; see Google’s own cookie information. |
LinkedIn and Google decide for themselves how they use the information these cookies collect, so they are data controllers in their own right rather than suppliers acting on our behalf. Their own policies govern that use: see LinkedIn’s cookie policy and Google’s cookie information, which cover YouTube.
5. Your choices
When you first visit the site, a banner asks which groups of cookies you are willing to accept. You can accept all of them, refuse all of them, or choose group by group. Refusing costs you nothing except the features those cookies support — the site works either way.
To change your mind at any time, click the cookie icon at the bottom left of any page. Your new choice replaces the old one straight away.
You can also delete or block cookies through your browser settings, which works for every website rather than just ours. Each browser handles this differently, and the help pages for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge explain how. Blocking cookies in the browser may stop parts of this or other websites working properly.
6. Changes to this policy
We update this policy as the cookies on our website change. The version number and date at the top of this page always show the current version.
Where a change means new cookies that need your consent, we will ask you again through the cookie banner rather than relying on a choice you made earlier.
7. Contact us
If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us.