Everything this site stores
Google Analytics and Google Ads cookies on every visit, one entry we need, and PostHog analytics and advert matching only if you allow it. Google Analytics and Google Ads set their cookies whenever the site is opened, through Google Tag Manager. The entry we need is your quote answers, saved in your own browser so you can come back to a part-finished quote. PostHog analytics and advert matching are off unless you say yes, and you can say no and carry on using the site normally.
What the site stores, in full
This is the complete list. There is nothing underneath it.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| pf-quote-v4 | Local storage | Your answers so far in the quote tool, so you can close the tab and come back to a part-finished quote. | 7 days |
| _ga | Cookie | Google Analytics. A random identifier that tells one browser apart from another, so one person reading four pages is not counted as four people. Set by Google Tag Manager, whatever you choose in the banner. | 2 years |
| _ga_EQC9YZYRE4 | Cookie | Google Analytics. Keeps the current visit together as one session. Set by Google Tag Manager, whatever you choose in the banner. | 2 years |
| _gcl_au | Cookie | Google Ads. Lets Google link an enquiry or a call from this site to an advert click, so we can see which adverts produce enquiries. Set by Google Tag Manager, whatever you choose in the banner. | 90 days |
| _gcl_aw | Cookie | Google Ads. Set only when you arrive by clicking one of our adverts, and holds the reference for that click. Set by Google Tag Manager, whatever you choose in the banner. | 90 days |
| _gcl_gb | Cookie | Google Ads. The same, for an advert click from an app on an iPhone or iPad. Set by Google Tag Manager, whatever you choose in the banner. | 90 days |
| pf-consent-analytics-v2 | Local storage | Your yes or no to analytics, so we do not ask again every time you open a page. Set whichever way you answer. | Until you clear it |
| ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_posthog | Cookie | PostHog. A random identifier that tells one browser apart from another and keeps a visit together, so four pages read by one person are not counted as four people. It holds nothing about who you are. Only set if you said yes. | 1 year |
| ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_posthog_cpm | Cookie | PostHog. A shorter copy of the same random identifier, which PostHog uses to keep its two records in step. Only set if you said yes. | 1 year |
| ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_posthog | Local storage | PostHog. The same random identifier, plus the site you arrived from on your first visit. Only set if you said yes. | Until withdrawn |
| ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_posthog__flags | Local storage | PostHog. Its settings for this site, kept so they are not fetched again on every page. Only set if you said yes. | Until withdrawn |
| ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_posthog, ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_window_id, ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_primary_window_exists, ph_phc_uKSuimGJdrLeieLQg3YKhwkiXjzgVyKhRxvJVtebZWJ3_session_registered_properties | Session storage | PostHog. Keeps track of the current visit and browser tab, so pages read in one sitting count as one visit. Only set if you said yes. | Until the tab closes |
| pf-consent-ads-v3 | Local storage | Your yes or no to advert matching, so we do not ask again every time you open a page. Set whichever way you answer. | Until you clear it |
Google may also read or set its own cookies on its own domains (google.com and doubleclick.net) when it records that a visit, an enquiry or a call came from one of our adverts. Those are governed by Google's cookie policy.
Our hosting provider records the ordinary server logs that every website generates when a page is requested. That is not storage on your device and it is not a cookie. It is covered in the privacy policy.
A cookie and local storage are not the same thing
The words get used interchangeably, usually by people who would rather you did not look closely. The difference matters here, so it is worth two paragraphs.
Cookies
A cookie is sent back to the server
A cookie is a small file your browser attaches to every request it makes to a site. That is what makes it useful for tracking: the server sees it each time, so it can recognise a returning visitor, and third party cookies let a company recognise you across other websites entirely.
Local storage
Local storage stays on your device
Local storage is a note your browser keeps for one website, in your browser, on your machine. It is never attached to a request and never travels to us. The quote tool reads it back when you return to the page, and that is the only time anything reads it at all.
Both are covered by the same law, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, which is about storing or accessing information on your device by any means. So the technical distinction does not let anyone off. What matters is the next section.
What you get asked, and turning Google off
Those regulations cover storing anything on your device. Saving your quote answers is strictly necessary for the tool you asked to use, so we do not ask about it.
Google Analytics and Google Ads are not in the banner. They run on every visit, through Google Tag Manager, so we can see how the site is used and which of our adverts bring enquiries. If you would rather they did not, your browser can stop them: see below.
PostHog is in the banner. It goes further than counting: it can record how a page was used, and it links your visit to any enquiry you send, so it waits for your yes. Not while the banner is on screen, not while you are deciding. If you ignore the banner, it never loads.
So is advert matching. Sending your email address and phone number to Google Ads with an enquiry, even scrambled, waits for a yes too. Say no and your enquiry reaches us exactly the same; Google is told that an enquiry happened, without your details.
If you say no
- Nothing changesEvery page, the quote tool and the prices work exactly the same. There is no reduced version of this site.
- PostHog never startsNone of the PostHog entries in the table above is ever created. Your email address and phone number are never sent to Google.
- We remember the noSo you are not asked again on every page. That is the one entry we store for it, and it holds nothing but your answer.
- We count it, without youEvery answer, yes or no, adds one to that day's tally of answers. Nothing that identifies you goes with it and nothing is stored on your device for it.
Turning Google off
Google's own Analytics opt-out add-on stops Google Analytics in your browser, on this site and every other. A content blocker, or your browser's tracking protection, stops Google Analytics and Google Ads together. The site works exactly the same with them blocked. You can also object to this use of your data by contacting us, as the privacy policy explains.
Changing your mind, either direction
There is a Cookie preferences link at the bottom of every page on this site. It reopens your choices, one switch for each, showing where you currently stand. Turning PostHog analytics and advert matching off there takes effect immediately, and the page reloads to stop anything already running.
Clearing site data in your browser also works and resets the question to unanswered. It clears Google's cookies on this site too, until your next visit. The quote tool then starts at the first question again, which is the only thing you lose.
What we will not do
Google Analytics and Google Ads cover narrow things: how the site is used, and which of our Google adverts led to an enquiry or a call. Here is what they are not, and what we are not doing with them.
- No personalised adverts or remarketingMeasuring whether an advert led to an enquiry is a different thing from following you around the internet with adverts. We do not build a profile of you, we do not show you adverts based on this visit, and every page tells Google not to use the visit for personalised advertising, rather than merely leaving the feature unused.
- PostHog analytics and advert matching wait while you decidePostHog is not fetched, parsed or run until you have said yes to analytics. Your email and phone are not sent to Google until you have said yes to advert matching.
- No cookie wallYou can ignore the banner and read the whole site. Nothing is withheld, nothing is degraded, and there is no second prompt trying again on the next page.
- Recordings never show what you typeIf you say yes to analytics, PostHog can record how a page was used: scrolling, clicks and what was on screen, with any page errors and load timings. Every form field is hidden in those recordings, and so are the lines that show your postcode or phone number back to you. If you send us an enquiry, your visit is linked to it so we can see how you found us. The data is held in the EU, and recordings are deleted after 30 days.
- What Google is told about your enquiryWhen you send us an enquiry or tap to call us, Google is told that it happened, so the advert that brought you here gets the credit. If you said yes to advert matching, it is also sent your email address and phone number in scrambled (hashed) form, so it can match the enquiry to an advert click. It is never sent your name, your message, your address or your quote answers.
How this page stays true
Every entry in the table above is named from the code that sets it, not typed out separately, so the two cannot drift apart. If the site starts storing something new, this page changes in the same release rather than at some later date when somebody remembers.