Cookies Policy
A short, honest account of what cookies hsepropertychecks.co.uk does and does not use, and how you stay in control. Written under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and the UK GDPR.
1.What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file stored in your browser when you visit a website. Cookies can be "first-party" (set by us) or "third-party" (set by another organisation, such as an analytics or advertising provider). They can be "session" cookies (deleted when you close the browser) or "persistent" cookies (kept for a set period). Similar technologies, such as local storage, pixel tags and device fingerprinting, fall under the same rules for the purposes of this policy.
2.Our current approach
We have deliberately kept this website simple. At the time this policy was published we use only cookies that are strictly necessary for the website to function, what the law and the ICO describe as "strictly necessary" (PECR Regulation 6(4)(a)). Under UK law, strictly-necessary cookies do not require your consent; we still describe them here so that you know what they do.
Cookies we use
| Cookie | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
hse_session |
First-party, strictly necessary | Maintains a session while you browse the site, for example, keeping form fields populated as you navigate between pages. | End of browser session |
hse_cookie_consent |
First-party, strictly necessary | Records your choice if, in future, we deploy non-essential cookies and you choose to accept or reject them. Not currently set unless you interact with a consent banner. | 12 months |
Some of our pages use browser local storage to remember the state of interactive tools, for example, a compliance-package builder, a calendar toggle, or a glossary search filter. These values stay on your device, are not sent to us, and can be cleared from your browser at any time.
3.Cookies we do not use
To be explicit about what is not happening:
- We do not use Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, Matomo or any other analytics platform on this website at the current time.
- We do not use the Meta (Facebook) Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, TikTok Pixel, Pinterest Tag, X/Twitter Tag or any other advertising pixel.
- We do not use remarketing, retargeting or cross-site tracking cookies.
- We do not share any cookie-level identifier with data brokers or third-party advertising networks.
If any of this changes, for example, we add basic analytics for internal use, we will update this policy, display a consent banner, and only set those cookies after you have consented.
4.Embedded third-party content
The website links out to third-party services such as WhatsApp, Bark, Facebook and Instagram. Clicking one of those links takes you to the third party, where that organisation's own cookie and privacy policies apply. We do not embed third-party scripts, videos or widgets that would set cookies before you click a link.
5.Server logs
Separately from cookies, our web hosting provider automatically records technical access logs for each request (IP address, browser type, referring URL, date and time). This is used for security, abuse-prevention and aggregate reporting only, and it is described in our Privacy Policy. No cookie is required for this logging.
6.How to control cookies
You are always in control. You can:
- block or delete cookies through your browser settings, every mainstream browser lets you do this and provides guidance: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge;
- use "private browsing" or "incognito" mode, which tells your browser not to keep cookies after the session ends;
- send a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we respect it if we ever deploy non-essential cookies in future.
Blocking the strictly-necessary cookies above may cause parts of the website to behave unpredictably, for example, consent banners that refuse to go away, or forms that forget what you have typed. We cannot prevent that.
7.Do Not Track
Because we do not currently track you, "Do Not Track" (DNT) browser signals have no effect on our cookies. If that changes, we will respect DNT and GPC signals as a refusal of consent to any non-essential cookie.
8.Changes to this policy
This policy will be updated whenever we change what cookies the website sets. The "Effective from" date at the top reflects the current version. Where a change introduces any non-essential cookie, we will ask for your consent through a consent banner before any such cookie is set, and will keep a record of your consent (see the hse_cookie_consent entry in the table above).
9.Questions
If you have a question about cookies, tracking or the technical set-up of this website, email info@hsepropertychecks.co.uk with "Cookies" in the subject line. Complaints about how we handle personal data can be raised with us first, or directly with the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's independent data protection regulator:
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 · ico.org.uk