SunLife Cookies
Last updated: 30 September 2026
Last reviewed: 30 September 2026
We'd like to explain what cookies and similar technologies are, how we use them and how they can make life easier for you. This website is owned by SunLife, part of Standard Life.
Cookies on this website – at a glance
We use cookies and similar technologies to make our website work properly, understand how it is used, and, with your consent, show you relevant content and advertising.
- Strictly necessary cookies help our website function securely and cannot be switched off.
- Functional cookies remember choices you make, such as preferences or previous inputs, to improve your experience.
- Performance cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it.
- Targeting and advertising cookies help us show you relevant information and advertising, including on other websites.
- Some cookies are set by trusted third parties that help provide analytics, functionality or advertising services.
- You can update your cookie preferences at any time through Cookie Settings.
On this page
- What are cookies?
- How we use cookies
- Keeping your information safe
- How to manage and switch off cookies
- Strictly necessary cookies
- Performance cookies
- Functional cookies
- Targeting and advertising cookies
- Selected third-party cookies and their uses
- Glossary of key terms
- SunLife Data Protection Officer
What are cookies?
Cookies are small files that websites place on the device that you're using to browse the site. Cookies are commonly used to record some aspect of your visit to a site, such as choices you've made or preferences you've set during your visit.
We also use similar technologies referred to as ‘tags’, ‘tracking pixels’, ‘local storage’, ‘scripts’ etc. These are implemented on our website and may be used together with cookies to enable information to be stored on, or transmitted to and from, the device you use to access our site.
In this policy we collectively refer to all of these technologies as “cookies”. For more details on the main cookies we use, please see ‘The types of cookies we use on this site’ below.
How we use cookies
We use cookies to give you the best experience when you visit our website. By using cookies, we can make it easier for you to do many things, such as applying for products and services. For example, if you want to get a number of quotes from our website during your visit, a cookie will remember the details that you first enter, which will mean that you won't have to re-enter your details every time you want a different quote.
Cookies can also allow us to tailor the content of our website, as well as ads you may see on other sites, so we can show you services or adverts we think you may be interested in.
We only use targeting and advertising cookies where you have given us your consent. You can change or withdraw your consent at any time through Cookie settings.
Keeping your information safe
Our cookies do not store information such as your name, address, phone number or email, in a format that can be directly read. The cookies we use cannot read or search your computer, smartphone or web-enabled device to obtain information about you or your family, or read any material kept on your hard drive.
The information collected by cookies may include information about your device settings, internet connection, IP address and interactions with our website.
We may also use email address(es) you have provided on our website to ensure our ads reach the most appropriate audiences, on our own and other sites. A hashed email address is your email address converted into a secure, anonymised code that allows us to share this data with advertisers without exposing your personal information.
You can find out more about how we use and store your personal data in our Privacy notice.
The website that places a cookie owns that cookie. This means only that website and other sites that it has agreed to share information with can read the information stored using a cookie.
Links to other websites
If you follow a link from our website to another website, please be aware that the owner of the other website will have their own privacy and cookie policies for their site. We recommend you read their policies as we are not responsible or liable for what happens at their site.
How to manage and switch off cookies
Your web browser provides settings that allow you to manage or switch off cookies. If you do switch off cookies, remember that you may not be able to use all of the services on our websites. You can find out more about managing and switching off cookies at the independent website allaboutcookies.org.
You can update your cookie preferences at any time through Cookie settings.
The types of cookies we use on this site
Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential for our online services and tools to work, ensuring you are served the correct content. They collect or record information that we need to make our site work. Common uses for this type of cookie include storing information needed to receive a quote or apply for a product or service on our website. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
See below for our full list of strictly necessary cookies
| Cookie Name(s) | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| __RequestVerificationToken | Anti-forgery cookie | End of browser session |
| __cfduid | CloudFlare Cookie, used to speed up page load times | 1 year |
| __cfuvid | CloudFlare Cookie, used for load balancing and delivery of website content | Session |
| OptanonAlertBoxClosed, OptanonConsent, eupubconsent |
Cookie consent management | 1 year |
| _dc_gtm_UA* | Google Tag Manager cookie used to load other scripts and code into a page | 1 minute |
| _dc_gtm_objectObject | Google Tag Manager cookie used to identify dates of visits to website | Session |
| ai_session, ai_buffer, ai_sentbuffer, ARRAffinity, ARRAffinitySameSite, ASP.NET_SessionId, .ASPXANONYMOUS | Session identification | End of browser session |
| ai_user | 1 year | |
| __cf_bm | Session identification - CloudFlare cookie used to distinguish between humans and bots. This is beneficial for the website in order to make valid reports on the use of the website | 0 days |
| TiPMix, x-ms-routing-name | Used by Azure to route traffic | End of browser session |
| datalayer, LandingPage, PagesPerSession, PPCKeywords, Promo, Ref, Referrer, Seg, urn, UtmCampaign, UtmMedium, TotalSessions | Used to ensure users are on the correct application journey and get served the right rates, gift card and terms and conditions | End of browser session |
| CRMcustomer, charm | 1 day | |
| sls,EPi_NumberOfVisits | 1 year | |
| mChannel | 2 years | |
| Inisoftwebchat | Used to ensure web chat functionality and apply a session identification | 15 minutes |
| tC, t3D, tADe | Cookie used to support animation and rendering of website carousels and galleries | Persistent |
| tADu, tAE, tMQ, tnsApp, tTE | These cookies are part of a bundle of cookies which serve the purpose of content delivery and presentation. The cookies keep the correct state of font, blog/picture sliders, colour themes and other website settings | Persistent |
| AITR_OnError AITR_CannotSerializeObjectNonSerializable AITR_ErrorPVCalc |
Used to detect errors on the website - this information is sent to the website's support staff in order to optimise the visitor's experience on the website | End of browser session |
| AWSALBTGCORS AWSALBTG AWSELBCORS AWSELB |
AWS (Amazon Web Services) - Used for Load balancing | 7 days |
| fontsLoaded | This tells the site that the fonts have been successfully loaded, so prevents them from trying to be loaded every time a user accesses a new page as they move around the site | End of browser session |
| _cs_c | Stores user consent on use of session data use within replays (not masked vs. full masked) | 13 months, renewed when consent is updated |
| _cs_ex | Contains the timestamp of the last time this visitor was drawn | 30 days |
| _cs_optout | When set, the user is opted-out from tracking | 13 months fixed |
| _cs_t | Whether the browser supports cookies | Immediately removed |
| _cs_same_site | Used to check if the browser supports the SameSite flag | Immediately removed |
| _cs_root-domain | Stores the URL-encoded main domain name of the site | Immediately removed |
| _cs_debug | Enables/disables specific behaviour of the Tag for debugging purposes | N/A |
| x-ms-cpim-cache|li_52itt_0 | Used to maintain session state across the login journey – required to deliver the login process securely | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-cache|li_52itt_1 | Supports the authentication process by storing session data for retries or alternate login steps | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-cache_w_0 | Stores policy and session data to enable secure login and account access | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-cache_jsmq_0 | Maintains login state for a specific policy to ensure continuity during the authentication process | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-cache_jsmq_1 | Supports a multi-step login process by maintaining state between steps | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-trans | Used to manage session information across identity redirects – essential for completing the sign-in process | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-sso | Enables users to remain logged in across multiple B2C-enabled applications during a session | Session |
| x-ms-cpim-csrf | Protects against cross-site request forgery during login – critical for secure form submission | Session |
| _la | Secure login session management. Facilitates session routing and state identification, ensuring secure navigation and preventing session confusion. | Session |
Performance cookies
These cookies help us to monitor and improve how our website works. Some common uses for this type of cookie include:
- Collecting information about which pages visitors go to most often.
- Noting if visitors get any error messages from web pages.
- Understanding which links visitors like to follow (including adverts) and which they choose not to.
- For most of these cookies, your IP address may be collected and used to support measurement, reporting, attribution and the operation of our analytics and advertising services. This can include deriving an approximate location, such as your city or region. This information is limited and cannot be used by us to identify or target you individually. The information available to us is then aggregated to help us understand how visitors use our website, including the routes they may have taken to reach it and where in the country they are based. This helps us measure the effectiveness of our advertising and improve your website experience.
- For Google, we share this data by 'hashing' your email address. However, once your data has been matched to the record that Google holds for you, your hashed email address is no longer retained and the data becomes anonymous.
See below for our full list of performance cookies
| Cookie Name(s) | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga, _ga_* | Analytics cookies | 2 years |
| _gac_* | 3 months | |
| _gat_* | 1 minute | |
| _gid | 24 hours | |
| _nav_path, tab_id | End of browser session | |
| tab_ids | Persistent | |
| AMP_TOKEN | 30 seconds to 1 year | |
| gwcc | Call-Tracking | 3 months |
| epi-mar*, gaexp | Optimization cookies | 3 months (typically, depends on experiment length) |
| _opt_expid | 10 seconds | |
| _opt_utmc | 24 hours | |
| .EPiForm_BID, .EPiForm_VisitorIdentifier | 89 days | |
| optimizelyEndUserId optimizely* |
730 days | |
| optimizelyDomainTestCookie | 5 months | |
| optimizelyOptOut | 1 year | |
| optimizelyRumLB | Session | |
| _uetvid | Bing/Microsoft advertising | 390 days |
| __adal_root_domain_test_nnnnnnnnnnnnn | Cookies provided by Adalyser to help with TV ad Response Analysis. These cookies collect your IP address. | End of browser session |
| __adal_cw | 7 days | |
| __adal_ca | 6 months | |
| __adal_id | 2 years | |
| adal_out_queue_adalyserTracker_get | Persistent | |
| __adal_ses | 0 | |
| _hjHasCachedUserAttributes | Specifies whether the data set in _hjUserAttributes local storage item is up to date or not | Session duration |
| _hjUserAttributesHash | Specifies whether any user attribute has changed and needs to be updated | 2 minutes, extended every 30 seconds |
| _hjUserAttributes | Local storage item containing user attributes sent through the Identify API | Persistent |
| _cs_id | Stores anonymous technical user data | 13 months fixed |
| _cs_s | Stores anonymous Session Replay Data | 30 minutes (renewed with every page view) |
| _cs_cvars | Includes the URL-encoded custom variables from the session. Used only when using custom vars in scope visit or without scope | While the session lasts. The value and expiration date are updated with each page view |
| FPID | First-party identifier cookie used in server-side tagging (SST) for Google Analytics. It assigns a unique, persistent ID to each visitor for accurate tracking and attirbution across sessions. This HTTP-only cookie enhances security and improves reliability and accuracy of first party tracking. | 2 years |
| EPiStartUrlKey | Tracks initial landing page URL – helpful for analysing user journeys within a session, not essential for core site functions | Session |
| users_first_page | Captures which page a user landed on first – useful for behavioural insights, but not required for functionality | Session |
| optimizelySession | Stores session-level A/B test ID - maintains consistent test experience in-session |
6 months |
Functional cookies
These cookies allow us to provide you with enhanced features that remember your preferences and choices, such as your user name, language or region. They also let us monitor how our website is performing so we can keep on improving it.
Common uses for this type of cookie include:
- Remembering how you like to use our site, such as what text size you like or what media software you use
- Remembering what topics you're interested in so we can provide you with related products, services and information
- The information we store in these cookies is encrypted so that only we can read it
See below for our full list of functional cookies
| Cookie Name(s) | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| signup | Used to remember when a user has dismissed a signup banner so it doesn't show again | 7 days |
| feefo.translationsUpdatedAt, feefo.translations, AITR_OnError | Translates into preferred language of visitor | End of browser session |
| feefoUserId | Used for ROI (Return on Investment) tracking within Feefo | End of browser session |
| gip_existingSession | Identifies if visitor is an existing SunLife customer | 0 days |
| _hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls | A list of Survey IDs, URL encoded | 365 days |
| EPiStateMarker | Tracks internal CMS page state (like UI tab selections) – enhances usability but doesn't track behaviour | 1 year |
Targeting and advertising cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They are used so that adverts provided to you are more relevant to you and to limit the number of times you see an advert. They may also be used for market research and to help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.
These cookies work by remembering the sorts of topics you've looked at and using this information to provide our own advertisements or to share the information with other advertisers.
We share this data by ‘hashing’ your email address or by uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. The organisations we share this data with include Microsoft, Facebook, Google, YouTube and Amazon. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
See below for our full list of targeting and advertising cookies
| Cookie Name(s) | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _uetsid | Bing/Microsoft Advertising | 24 hours |
| _uetsid_exp, _uetvid_exp | Persistent | |
| MUID, MUIDB, MR, MSPTC | 1 year | |
| _uetvid_exp | 1 year, 25 days | |
| _fbp, fr, AA003 | Facebook conversion tracking, optimisation and remarketing | 3 months |
| ATN | 2 years | |
| lastExternalReferrer lastExternalReferrerTime |
Detects how the user reached the website by registering their last URL-address | Persistent |
| test_cookie | Google conversion tracking and optimisation | 1 day |
| _gcl* | 3 months | |
| _gcl_au | 90 days | |
| IDE | 1 year | |
| FPAU, FPLC | Session | |
| A3, B | Yahoo Advertising | 1 year |
| outbrain_cid_fetch | Outbrain | 5 mins |
| dicbo_id | Session | |
| ozone_uid | Ozone | 89 days |
| APISID, SAPISID, SSID, __Secure-1PSID, __Secure-3PSID |
Used by Google to remember user preferences, securely identify users and support personalised Google services/advertising. | 2 years |
| NID | 6 months | |
| __Secure-ENID | 13 months | |
| __Secure-1PSIDTS, __Secure-3PSIDTS |
Used by Google to store timestamp/session-related information that supports Google service security, session integrity and personalisation. | 1 year |
| HSID, SID | Used by Google for authentication, security and personalisation. | 2 years |
| SIDCC, __Secure-1PSIDCC, __Secure-3PSIDCC |
Used by Google to protect user data and support security checks, while also being associated with Google advertising/personalisation. | 1 year |
| __Secure-1PAPISID, __Secure-3PAPISID |
Used by Google to help build a profile of visitor interests and show relevant or personalised ads across Google services. | 2 years |
Selected third party cookies and their uses
YouTube cookies
We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode. Read more at YouTube’s embedding videos information page.
| Cookie Name(s) | Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| GPS | Stores the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video | 1 day |
| YSC | Session | |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 179 days | |
| PREF | 8 months | |
| yt.innertube::requests, yt.innertube::nextId, yt-remote-session-name, yt-remote-session-app, yt-remote-fast-check-period, yt-remote-device-id, yt-remote-connected-devices, ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY, CONSENT | Persistent | |
| __Secure-YEC | 1 year | |
| DEVICE_INFO | Used to track user's interaction with embedded content | 179 days |
| TESTCOOKIESENABLED | 1 day | |
| VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA | Used to track and enrich the users privacy settings on the YouTube platform | 5 months |
| __Secure-BUCKET | Security-focused, used to protect visitor data and prevent unauthorised use of credentials. | 5 months |
| requests nextId |
Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what YouTube videos the user has seen | Session |
Double Click cookies
We use these cookies, with our online advertising agency, to help place our adverts on other sites and record how users interact with them. Double Click cookies contain no personally identifiable information. You can choose to opt out of seeing personalised ads via your Google settings.
Google Analytics
SunLife uses Google Analytics. This is a web analytics service enabling us to recognise repeat visitors to the site. Using Google Analytics, we're able to record specific browsing information such as how you arrive at the site, pages you view, options you select, and the route you take through the site.
Google may use limited IP and network information to work out an approximate location, such as a city or region, and to support the measurement, operation and security of its services. Google may also use IP addresses for advertising measurement and personalisation, including helping to distinguish between devices using information they automatically send. The information we receive does not allow us to identify or target you individually.
By monitoring this information, we're able to make improvements to our sites. Google also reserve the rights to the data collected.
You can opt out of Google Analytics at any time.
Google Enhanced Conversions
SunLife uses Google Enhanced Conversions to better understand how our ads are working and which ones get the best conversion rates. We do this by sharing your hashed email address with Google.
By monitoring this information, we’re able to make improvements to our ads and business decisions on how they are working. Google also reserve the rights to the data collected.
You can manage the way Google processes your data by going to the ‘Data & Privacy’ page in your Google account.
Google Customer Match
Our digital marketing approach involves using Google Customer Match to find new customers who may be interested in the products and services we offer. We do this by sharing your hashed email address with Google.
Learn more about how Customer Match works.
You can manage the way Google processes your data by going to the ‘Data & Privacy’ page in your Google account.
Facebook Advertising
Our digital advertising approach includes information provided through Facebook Advertising, Facebook Conversions API and Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing programmes. We do this to help us understand the profile of our customers, as well as to deliver ads and make them more relevant to you. In conjunction with cookies, this approach enables us to learn whether someone who saw an ad on Facebook later visited our website. We send information to Facebook regarding a user's activity on the website, via a secure HTTPS connection. This could include previous web pages a user visited, their interaction on web pages (e.g. button clicks, product purchases), the browser used, and confirmation of their acceptance of cookies. Users are assigned a pixel ID, and the Facebook pixel data may be used to connect user activity to a specific Facebook ad account and make a match to a person known by Facebook.
The ultimate control of information gathered through Facebook Advertising and Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing resides entirely with Facebook. You can opt out of Facebook's use of cookies and Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing by updating the settings on your Facebook Account.
Facebook Joint Data Controller
Facebook expects us to tell visitors to our website that Facebook Ireland is a ‘joint data controller’ with us when processing information collected by the Facebook Pixel or sent to Facebook by us. Once Facebook receives this information it acts as an independent data controller. How Facebook Ireland processes personal information collected by the Facebook Pixel, including the legal basis and how to exercise your rights, is explained in Facebook Ireland’s data policy at facebook.com/about/privacy.
We and Facebook Ireland have entered into an arrangement to decide our and their responsibilities for meeting the obligations under data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The arrangement is in connection with the joint processing of personal information through the Facebook Pixel. We are responsible for providing information on how personal information is processed through the pixel. Facebook Ireland is responsible for meeting individuals’ requests to exercise their rights relating to the personal information processed by Facebook Ireland.
Amazon Advertising
Part of SunLife digital marketing is through Amazon advertising platform. When a user comes on to SunLife website via Amazon advertising platform, Amazon pixel sends website information back to Amazon regarding a user’s activity on the SunLife website, via a secure HTTPS connection. This could include previous web pages a user visited, their interaction on web pages (e.g. button clicks, product purchases), the browser used, and confirmation of their acceptance of cookies. This is so we can improve our understanding of our website visitors and deliver ads that are more relevant to you. Users are assigned an Amazon advertising cookie ID which can match back to audience categories at a group level. The data will not be used to market any third party or Amazon ads.
You can opt out of Amazon’s use of cookies and by visiting the following page amazon.co.uk/adprefs
Contentsquare
We use Contentsquare to improve how our website works and ensure the best possible experience for our visitors. This tool helps us understand how people interact with our site, such as how long they spend on different pages, which links they click, and how they navigate through our content. This allows us to make improvements based on real user behaviour.
Contentsquare collects data using cookies and similar technologies. This includes information about the device being used, such as screen size, browser type, and general location (country level only). The data is completely anonymised and does not personally identify any individual user. Neither we nor Contentsquare use this information to track individuals or combine it with other personal data. For more details, you can visit Contentsquare’s privacy policy. If you prefer not to have your data collected by Contentsquare, you can do this by opting out of cookies by deleting your browser cookies and then selecting to opt out of cookies when presented with the SunLife cookie banner.
Adalyser and Sky TV
SunLife uses Adalyser to assess the effectiveness of our TV advertising. This is a web analytics service enabling us to match the time of a website visit with the time of a TV advert. This data is then aggregated and also shared with Sky to understand how our TV adverts on their channels are performing.
By monitoring this information, we're able to make improvements to our marketing.
Glossary of key terms
Anonymised
This is a process of turning data into a format that does not identify individuals in any way, or in the future. The data record is completely changed into random alphanumeric or numeric characters, simply forming part of a wider sample.
Browser
A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. Common examples include Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox. The browser you use will depend on your own personal preference.
Cookies
Small files that websites place on the device that you're using to browse online. They are commonly used to record some aspect of your visit to a site, such as choices you've made or preferences you've set during your visit.
IP Address
The Internet Protocol address (or simply, IP) is a unique address that identifies a device on the Internet or a local network. It allows a system to be recognised by other systems connected to the internet in the form of a recognised digital signature.
Pseudonymised
This is a method that replaces identifiable data with one or more artificial identifiers, called pseudonyms. The data record cannot be attributed to the individual without extra information, helping to protect their privacy and is preserved for analysis.
SunLife Data Protection Officer
If you would like to contact the SunLife Data Protection Officer directly in relation to Cookies, please use the following details:
SunLife Data Protection Officer
10 Brindleyplace
Birmingham
B1 2JB
Email: DataProtection@sunlife.co.uk
Phone: 020 3735 0577