Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer that hold information that a website can read. This information is used to allow us to provide you with a greater viewing experience. For example, cookies can be used to authenticate your visit and prevent you from having to log in every time you visit the website.

It is important to note that cookies cannot carry viruses or install software on your computer.

Cookies are categorised into 4 different areas:

Cookies that are categorised into the 'Necessary' category are necessary in order for the website to operate and enable services that are specifically asked for, such as shopping basket functionality or online billing services. The website cannot function without these cookies.

Cookies that are categorised into the 'Performance' category are used to improve the performance of a website. We use them to collect non-personal data and improve how a website works.

An example of a cookie in this category that we use is the 'splash count' cookie. This is used on the RuneScape website and records how many times you have viewed the new visitor splash page. This information can then be used to determine whether you are taken to the splash page, or directly to the homepage, on your next visit to the website.

Cookies that are categorised into the 'Functionality' category are used to offer additional functionality to a website. For example, a cookie could store the region you live in, or the language that you have selected to browse the website in.

An example of a cookie in this category that we use is the 'language preference' cookie. This cookie is used on the RuneScape website and is used to store the language preference that you may have selected.

Cookies that are categorised into the 'Targeting' category can be used to offer you more relevant advertising on a website and are used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement.

We use external companies to provide and serve adverts on our websites. These companies may use information (not including personally identifiable information) about your visits to this and other websites in order to personalise advertisements on this site.

Other than cookies, there are a few other mechanisms that can be used to store information about your visit to a website. These can be:

localStorage is part of the Web Storage specification and is available when using most of the latest versions of internet web browsers. It provides the ability to store information locally to the web browser. It's different to cookies in that the data isn't stored in a file on your computer, and it's only available to the web browser that stores the data.

Local shared objects (LSOs) are pieces of data that websites which use Adobe Flash may store on your computer. They are very similar to cookies. Although, by default, the Flash Player does not require your permission to store local shared object on your computer, you can disable local shared objects using the settings panel of the online settings manager at Adobe's website.

Several of our games are written using the Java programming language and require Java to run on the website in order to play the game. Sometimes we may use the Java that is running in the browser to store information about your game set up. We also cache the game data, such as maps and textures, using Java, to improve the loading times of the game and allow the game to run quicker for you.

For more information on cookies, and how to manage/remove/block them, please visit AllAboutCookies and Network Advertising Initiative.