Cookies Policy

1. What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files (typically a few hundred bytes) that a website asks your browser to store on your device when you visit. They allow the website to "remember" your actions or preferences over a period of time. Cookies are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and to provide reporting information to the site owners.

Related technologies include local storage, session storage, IndexedDB, and pixels / web beacons (1×1 transparent images used to track actions). This Policy covers all such technologies.

2. Cookies We Use

Our Website uses the following categories of cookies, in line with the UK ICO and EU ePrivacy guidance:

2.1 Strictly necessary cookies (no consent required)

Name	Purpose	Lifespan
session_id	Maintains your session across page loads (e.g., form CSRF token, language preference).	Session
lang_pref	Stores your language choice if you switch from default English.	365 days
cookie_consent	Records your consent (or refusal) to non-essential cookies.	180 days

2.2 Analytics cookies (consent required in EU/UK)

By default, we do not set analytics cookies. If you give consent via our cookie banner, we may use a privacy-friendly, IP-anonymized analytics tool (e.g., Plausible, Umami self-hosted, or Cloudflare Web Analytics) to count page views in aggregate. We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or other invasive trackers.

2.3 Marketing / advertising cookies

None. We do not place any advertising, retargeting, or third-party marketing cookies on the Website.

2.4 Social media embeds

The Website does not embed Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or other social-media iframes that would set their own cookies. Links to our social pages are plain <a> tags; no tracking happens until you click through.

3. Optional Third-Party Tools (Loaded Only After User Action)

The following third-party services may set cookies only if you actively trigger them (i.e., they are not loaded by default):

• Google Translate: if you click the language switcher, the Google Translate widget loads and Google may set cookies (NID, CONSENT, _GRECAPTCHA). Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
• Formspree (when active): the inquiry form posts to Formspree, which uses its own cookies for spam protection. Formspree policy: formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy/.
• YouTube embeds: if a YouTube video is embedded with privacy-enhanced mode, no YouTube cookies are set until the user clicks play.

4. Legal Basis (GDPR / ePrivacy)

• Strictly necessary cookies are set on the basis of legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and do not require prior consent under ePrivacy Directive Art. 5(3).
• Analytics cookies require explicit prior consent under EU/UK law. We will only load them after you click "Accept" in the cookie banner (or via a granular toggle).
• No advertising cookies are used, so no consent is needed for that category.

5. Cookie Banner Behaviour

On your first visit, you will see a banner asking you to:

• "Accept all" — enables strictly necessary + analytics cookies.
• "Strictly necessary only" — disables analytics. The site still works (contact form, language switch still operate on the server side).
• "Customize" — granular toggle per category.

You can change your choice at any time by clicking "Cookie settings" in the page footer.

6. How to Control Cookies in Your Browser

You can also clear or block cookies in your browser settings. Common locations:

• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data
• Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
• Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data
• Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Cookies and site data

Blocking strictly necessary cookies will break core features (the contact form, language preference, CSRF protection). Blocking optional cookies does not break the site.

7. Do Not Track (DNT) & Global Privacy Control (GPC)

We honor browser Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals. If your browser sends such a signal, we automatically set "strictly necessary only" mode and do not load any analytics cookies.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. The "Effective date" at the top of this page reflects the latest version. Material changes will be communicated via a banner on the Website.