Cookie policy

Information on the cookies used by IPS on its online tools and transactions

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

We use cookies to improve services we provide for you through, for example:

  • enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
  • recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
  • measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast


You can manage these small files yourself and learn more about them. More information is available on the Directgov website: Internet browser cookies - what they are and how to manage them.

The cookies listed below are served through applications hosted on the passports.ips.gov.uk and the gro.gov.uk domains.

Cookies for improving service


Digital Analytix sets cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of visitors, returning visitors and volumes of usage of our services. This to ensure that the service is available when you want it and fast. The cookies used for this are listed below:

Table containing the cookies which we use to improve our service
Name Typical content Expires
C1 Randomly generated number 5 years
S1 Randomly generated number 5 years


Cookies for using our online services

Several cookies are set by our web servers to ensure that your session is maintained for the duration of your visit (until you close your web browser).

Table containing the cookies which are set to maintain your session on our websites
Name Typical content Expires
ASP.NET_SessionId Randomly generated number When user closes browser
ASPSESSIONIDSAACQTTA Randomly generated number When user closes browser


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