Cookie Policy

What is a cookie and how do our websites use them?

A cookie is a file containing a piece of data (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser, and stored by the browser when you visit a website. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies you, but personal information may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

We may use the information we obtain from your use of our cookies for the following purposes:

  • To recognise your computer when you visit our website
  • To improve the website’s usability
  • To analyse the use of the website
  • To personalise our website for you (e.g. to show you product recommendations based on your previous purchases)
  • To track you as you navigate our website, and enable the use of certain functionalities (e.g. add/remove products to and from the order basket, completing a purchase within checkout, etc.)
  • To remember you when you return to our website (e.g. if you add products to the order form but decide not to complete a purchase during that visit, we save the order form reference number in a cookie so that we can retrieve it for your next visit)
  • To show you advertisements on our website and third-party websites, based on browsing activity on our website

Cookies provided by RS Components are installed on your devices for a maximum of 12 months. At the expiry of the 12 months period, users are invited to accept cookies again. However, cookies provided by 3rd parties will have their own expiry date. Please refer to the 3rd party cookie policy on their website for more information on this.

Cookie Preferences

For more information relating to the use of cookies on websites, including how to block or delete cookies, visit www.aboutcookies.org.uk. We have also set out some useful guidance below to help you block or delete cookies if you use Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. As explained above, however, blocking or deleting all cookies will have a negative impact on the usability of our website.

Blocking Cookies

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. For example (at the time the policy was drafted):

  • In Internet Explorer you can refuse all cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Internet Options”, “Privacy”, and selecting “Block all cookies” using the sliding selector. For more information, please click here.
  • In Mozilla Firefox you can block all cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Options”, and un-checking “Accept cookies from sites” in the “Privacy” box. For more information, please click here.

Deleting Cookies

You can also delete cookies already stored on your computer: