Cookie Policy
This policy applies to digitalsignet.com and to the publisher sites in our network. It supplements the Privacy Policy, which is the controlling document on personal data more broadly.
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files a website stores on your device. They let a site remember things between visits: that you have already accepted the cookie banner, that you have already been counted in our anonymous traffic stats, or that you came to a page through a particular link.
Some cookies come from us (first-party). Some come from services we use (third-party). Cookies can be session cookies (deleted when you close your browser) or persistent cookies (kept for a defined period).
What we use cookies for
We use cookies for three things:
- Analytics. Understanding which pages are useful so we keep updating the right ones. We use Google Analytics 4 with IP anonymisation enabled.
- Affiliate attribution (some sites only). When a site in our network has affiliate links, an affiliate-network cookie identifies which site referred you. This is how the affiliate partner pays the publisher when you buy. We disclose affiliate placements on the relevant pages.
- Essential session storage. Remembering whether you have accepted the cookie banner so we do not ask you again on every page.
We do not use cookies for advertising or behavioural retargeting. We do not run social-media tracking pixels (Meta, LinkedIn, X). We do not run third-party advertising networks.
Cookies we set
| Name | Purpose | Type | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Distinguishes unique visitors. Used by Google Analytics 4. | Third-party (Google) | 2 years | Analytics |
_ga_<container> | Persists session state for the GA4 property attached to each site. The <container> portion varies per site. | Third-party (Google) | 2 years | Analytics |
_gid | Distinguishes users for 24 hours. Set by older Google Analytics installations on some sites. | Third-party (Google) | 24 hours | Analytics |
| Affiliate network cookies (varies by partner) | Attributes a referral so the affiliate network pays the correct publisher when you make a purchase. Set only on sites that participate in affiliate programmes. | Third-party (Impact.com or partner network) | Typically 30 to 90 days, per partner policy | Affiliate |
| Cookie consent | Remembers your cookie banner decision so we do not ask again on every page. Set only after you make a choice. | First-party | 12 months | Essential |
We do not use any other cookies on our sites at the time of this policy. If we add new cookies (for example, by enabling a new vendor), we update this table.
How to manage cookies
You have several ways to control cookies on our sites:
- Our cookie banner. On your first visit, the banner offers you a clear accept-or-reject choice for non-essential cookies. You can change your decision later by clicking the small "Cookie settings" link in the footer of any site in the network.
- Browser settings. All major browsers let you block or delete cookies from a specific site, or globally. See the help pages for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
- Google Analytics opt-out. Google publishes a browser add-on that opts you out of GA across every site that uses it. Available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Blocking essential cookies may break the cookie banner and similar minor functionality, but our sites are content sites and most things continue to work without any cookies at all.
Consent under GDPR and PECR
For visitors in the UK, EU, and EEA, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the GDPR require us to obtain consent before setting non-essential cookies. We use Google Consent Mode v2 to honour your decision: until you accept analytics cookies, GA4 does not run.
For visitors outside the UK and EU/EEA, we apply analytics cookies by default with clear disclosure on first visit. Affiliate tracking on the small number of affiliate-active sites runs by default with disclosure. You can opt out at any time using the controls above.
Changes to this policy
We update this policy when our cookie usage changes. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. We do not separately email or notify visitors of changes; please check this page when relying on it.
Questions
Email privacy@digitalsignet.com.