Cookie policy

This policy explains the cookies and similar technologies DC Digital’s website uses, what each one does, and how you control them. Read it alongside our privacy policy, which explains how we handle personal information.

This website is run by David Cooper Digital Ltd, trading as DC Digital, registered in England and Wales, company number 13710226, registered office 4 Chester Court, Chester Hall Lane, Basildon, Essex SS14 3WR. You can contact us at [email protected] or on 07512 210345.

1. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small files a website saves in your browser. Websites can also save information in your browser’s storage (for example “session storage”, which is cleared when you close the tab) or run code from other companies that sends them information about your visit. The law treats all of these in the same way, so this policy covers them all.

Some of these are needed for the website to work and do not need your permission. Google Analytics cookies are optional and are only saved if you accept them.

2. Your choices

When you first visit, a banner asks whether you accept optional cookies. You can choose:

• Accept all: Google Analytics may save its cookies, and our website may save dc-attr (both in section 5). These are the only optional items on our website
• Reject all: no optional cookies are saved. Rejecting is as easy as accepting
• Settings: switch Google Analytics cookies on or off, and switch animation memory (section 4) off if you prefer

Nothing optional is ticked for you in advance. The website works fully whatever you choose.

Google Analytics runs on every page whatever you choose. Until you accept, and if you reject, it saves no cookies on your device, but it still sends Google details of the pages you view. Section 5 explains what it sends and how to stop it completely.

You can change your mind at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page, or the button below. If you switch Google Analytics cookies off, we delete the cookies it saved under our website’s address straight away, and Google Analytics goes back to working without cookies.

We remember your choices for 6 months, then ask again. If we change the cookies we use, we will ask again sooner.

Cookie settings

3. Necessary: always on

These are needed for the website to work or to do something you have asked for. They do not need your consent.

Name	Set by	What it does	How long it lasts
dc_consent	DC Digital (cookie)	Remembers your cookie choices so we do not ask on every page	6 months
dc-brief	DC Digital (session storage)	Saves your answers in the “Start a project” form as you go, so you do not lose them if you move between pages	Until you send the form or close the tab
dc-for	DC Digital (session storage)	Remembers a company name you type into the box near the bottom of our homepage, so it is filled in for you on the contact form	Until you close the tab, or sooner
dc-done	DC Digital (session storage)	Carries your first name and enquiry reference to the thank-you page after you send a form	Deleted as soon as the thank-you page has read it

Our website sets no login cookies for visitors.

4. Animation memory: on unless you switch it off

These remember, for your current visit only, that you have already seen the introduction on our homepage and which colour the page transition should use when you move to the next page. They store nothing about you and are never sent to anyone. The law lets us use them without asking for consent because they only change how the website appears, but you can switch them off in Cookie settings. If you do, neither of them is saved.

Name	Set by	What it does	How long it lasts
dc-intro	DC Digital (session storage)	Remembers that the homepage introduction has played, so it is not replayed	Until you close the tab
dc-wipe	DC Digital (session storage)	Passes the page transition colour to the next page you open	Deleted as soon as the next page loads

If your device is set to reduce motion, our website does not save either of them.

5. Analytics: Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a Google service that helps us understand how people use our website, so we can improve it. Google’s Site Kit plugin for WordPress adds it to every page. It loads from Google’s servers as soon as a page opens and sends what it collects to Google Analytics. What it does depends on your choice. Google calls this “consent mode”: see Google’s explanation of consent mode.

Before you choose, if you reject, or if you switch it off

Google Analytics does not save or read any cookie on your device. It still sends Google a message, without cookies, when you open a page, and further messages about what happens on it: for example how far you scroll, how long the page is open, when you start to fill in a form, and when you click a link to contact us or to go to another website. These messages include the address and title of the page, the page you came from, your screen size, your language setting, details of your browser and device, and whether you have accepted cookies. Like every request your browser makes, they also reach Google with your IP address. Instead of an identifier stored in a cookie, they carry a random number that changes on every page you open.

Google says Google Analytics does not log or store IP addresses, and that it uses these messages to estimate, in our reports, the visits of people who did not accept analytics cookies.

If you accept Google Analytics cookies

Google Analytics also saves the two cookies in the table below (_ga and _ga_BN3D9LVWFN) under our website’s address. They let it recognise your browser across pages and on later visits, so our figures are more accurate. It sends the same kinds of messages as above, carrying the identifier from these cookies instead of a random number. Our website also saves dc-attr, the last row of the table.

Accepting does not switch on any advertising cookies. Whatever you choose, our website tells Google that advertising cookies and the use of your data for advertising are not allowed.

Name	Set by	What it does	How long it lasts
_ga	Google Analytics (cookie)	Tells visits from different browsers apart, so we can count visitors. Only saved if you accept	Google Analytics asks for 2 years; your browser may shorten this (Chrome keeps it for 400 days)
_ga_BN3D9LVWFN	Google Analytics (cookie)	Keeps track of your current visit. Only saved if you accept	Google Analytics asks for 2 years; your browser may shorten this (Chrome keeps it for 400 days)
dc-attr	DC Digital (session storage)	Remembers the first page you landed on during this visit, the website you came from and any campaign tags in that page’s address (for example from an ad), so if you send an enquiry we can see what brought you. Only saved if you accept, and deleted if you reject or switch Google Analytics off	Until you close the tab

How to stop it completely

Rejecting, or switching Google Analytics off, stops the cookies but not the messages sent without cookies. If you do not want Google Analytics to receive anything about your visits, you can install Google’s free Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, or use a content blocker in your browser. Our website works fully either way.

6. What we do not use

• No advertising or marketing tags, such as Google Ads, Meta or LinkedIn. If we add any, we will update this policy first.
• No call tracking.
• No CAPTCHA on our forms.
• No embedded videos, maps or social media feeds.
• No fonts or other files loaded from other companies’ servers, apart from Google Analytics (section 5). Our fonts are stored on our own website.

7. Changes to this policy

If we add, remove or change a cookie, we will update this page and the date at the top, and ask for your choice again where the change affects what you agreed to.

8. Contact

If you have a question about cookies on our website, email [email protected] or call 07512 210345.