Cookie policy

1. What cookies are

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store on your device. It lets the site remember something between one page and the next, such as what is in your basket, or whether you are logged in.

Some cookies last only until you close the browser. These are session cookies. Others stay on your device for a set period so the site can recognise your browser on a later visit. These are persistent cookies.

The same rules apply to similar technologies such as pixels, tags, local storage and web beacons. Where this policy says cookies, it means all of them.

2. The short version

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, cookies that are strictly necessary to deliver a service you asked for do not need your consent. Everything else does, and consent has to be given before the cookie is set rather than assumed from continued browsing. That is the standard we apply.

3. Strictly necessary cookies

These keep the site working and keep it secure. They cannot be switched off through a consent banner, because without them the site cannot do what you asked it to do. Blocking them in your browser will break the basket and the checkout.

Cookie	Set by	What it does	Typical duration
woocommerce_cart_hash	Our shop	Tells the site the basket has changed so the page shows the right contents	Session
woocommerce_items_in_cart	Our shop	Keeps track of what you have added	Session
wp_woocommerce_session_	Our shop	Links your browser to your basket and order data on our server	2 days
__cf_bm	Cloudflare	Distinguishes people from bots so the site is not taken down by automated traffic	30 minutes
cf_clearance	Cloudflare	Records that a security check has been passed, so you are not challenged repeatedly	Up to 1 year
_cfuvid	Cloudflare	Applies rate limiting fairly across visitors. Stores no personal data	Session
wordpress_test_cookie	WordPress	Checks whether your browser accepts cookies at all	Session
Payment provider cookies	PayPal, Klarna and our card processor	Set at checkout to process your payment securely and to detect fraud. Only set when you reach the payment step	Varies by provider

Durations are set by the provider and can change without notice to us. If you want the exact position on the day you are reading this, your browser will show it. Section 8 explains where to look.

4. Functional cookies

These remember a choice you made. Nothing here is set unless you take the action that triggers it.

Cookie	Set by	What it does	Typical duration
comment_author_	WordPress	If you leave a blog comment and tick the box, saves your name, email and website so you do not retype them	1 year
wordpress_logged_in_	WordPress	Keeps you logged in. Only relevant if you have an account with us	2 days, or 2 weeks with Remember Me
wp-settings-	WordPress	Remembers display preferences inside a logged in account	1 year
_lscache_vary	Our caching layer	Serves you the uncached version of a page when you are logged in or have items in your basket	Session

5. Analytics cookies

These tell us which pages are read, which are ignored, and where people give up. We use them to decide what to write and what to fix. They are set only if you agree.

Cookie	Set by	What it does	Typical duration
_ga	Google Analytics	Distinguishes one browser from another so visits can be counted without identifying you by name	Up to 13 months
_ga_ followed by a property code	Google Analytics	Holds the session state for the same purpose	Up to 13 months

We look at this data in aggregate. We do not use it to build a profile of you, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not combine it with anything you have told us. Google acts as our processor for it. Their own privacy information is published on google.com.

6. Advertising cookies

We do not run advertising, retargeting or conversion pixels on this website. There is no Meta pixel, no TikTok pixel and no advertising tag on these pages. The third party scripts we do load are functional: a booking calendar on the contact page and video that loads only when you press play, both covered in section 7.

This is worth saying plainly because it is unusual for a marketing agency, and because a lot of cookie policies list advertising cookies that the site does not actually set. If that ever changes, this section will change with it and the change will take effect only for people who agree to it.

Running paid campaigns for a client on their own website is a different thing entirely, and it is governed by that client's own policies rather than by this one.

7. Embedded content and third parties

7.1 Video

Portfolio and article pages show video from YouTube. Those videos load behind a still image, and nothing is requested from YouTube until you press play. That means no YouTube cookie is set unless you choose to watch something. It is a deliberate choice and it also makes the pages faster.

Once you press play, YouTube sets its own cookies under Google's terms rather than ours. We have no control over them and no access to what they collect.

7.2 Booking calendar

The booking calendar on our contact page is provided by TidyCal. Its script loads from a content delivery network when that page opens, and TidyCal sets its own cookies to run the booking, remember your time zone and confirm your appointment.

These are functional rather than advertising cookies, they are set by TidyCal under its own terms rather than by us, and they appear only on the contact page. If you never open that page, nothing from TidyCal is set. Booking a call also means your name, email and chosen slot are held by TidyCal as well as by us, which is covered in our privacy policy.

7.3 Comments and avatars

Blog comments use a spam detection service and the Gravatar avatar service, both operated by Automattic. An anonymised hash of your email address may be sent to Gravatar to check whether you have an account there.

7.4 Links out

When you follow a link to another website, including any of our social profiles, that site's own cookie policy applies from the moment you arrive. This policy stops at the edge of velenalifestyle.com.

8. How to control cookies

8.1 On this site

You can change your mind about non essential cookies at any time. Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it, and it takes effect immediately for anything set afterwards.

8.2 In your browser

Every major browser lets you see exactly which cookies a site has set, delete them, and block future ones. The setting is usually found by opening settings and searching for the word cookies. In Chrome and Edge it sits under Privacy and security. In Safari it is under Privacy. In Firefox it is under Privacy and Security, where the Enhanced Tracking Protection setting also blocks many third party cookies by default.

Blocking all cookies will stop the basket and the checkout working. Blocking only third party cookies will not.

8.3 Opting out of Google Analytics everywhere

Google publishes a browser add on that blocks Google Analytics on every website you visit, not only this one. It is available from Google directly.

9. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Browsers can send a Do Not Track header, but there is no agreed standard for how a website should respond to it, so most sites including this one do not act on it. Where your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a refusal of non essential cookies.

10. Changes to this policy

We update this page when the cookies we set change. The version and date are shown at the top. If we ever add a category that requires consent, we will ask for consent before setting it rather than relying on a change to this page.

11. How to contact us

Questions about cookies, or about anything in our privacy policy, come to us at [email protected] or through the contact page. We are High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom and we reply within one business day.

If you are not happy with our answer you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK supervisory authority, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We would rather you gave us the chance to put it right first.