Cookie policy
Every cookie this website sets, what it is for, who provides it and how long it lasts — and how to accept, reject or withdraw analytics at any time.
What cookies are
Cookies (and similar browser-storage technologies) are small pieces of data a website asks your browser to hold onto, so the site can remember something between visits or between pages — a preference, a login session, or an anonymous count of how many people viewed a page.
Who operates this site
This website is operated by Saphion Limited, a company registered in England. See our Privacy policy for how we handle personal data generally, and the Contact section below for how to reach us about cookies specifically.
The necessary cookie we always set
We set exactly one cookie automatically, on every visit, with no choice required: saphion_cookie_preferences. It exists only to remember the choice you make below — whether you accepted or rejected analytics cookies, and which version of this policy you were shown — so we don’t ask you again on every page. It never identifies you personally and it is not used for tracking or advertising. It lasts 6 months.
Our hosting platform (Microsoft Azure) also sets a session-only routing cookie so your browser reaches the same server for the length of a visit — see the full inventory below.
Google Analytics — optional
With your permission, we use Google Analytics to understand which pages are useful and how people move around the site, so we can improve it. Google Analytics is entirely optional: nothing from Google loads, and no Google Analytics cookie is set, until you choose Accept analytics. If you don’t respond, or if you choose Reject analytics, Google Analytics never loads at all.
When it is active, Google Analytics sets two cookies (_ga and _ga_<container-id>), each lasting 6 months — see the inventory below for exactly what they do.
What we don’t use
We do not use advertising cookies, remarketing or retargeting cookies, or any marketing-tracking technology, on this site or anywhere else. Google Analytics is configured with advertising features — Google Signals, ad personalisation, and any Google Ads link — switched off.
Accepting, rejecting or changing your choice
When you first visit, a bar at the bottom of the page asks whether to accept or reject analytics cookies. Both options are presented identically and are equally easy to choose; neither is pre-selected.
You can change your mind at any time. Manage cookies in the footer of any page reopens the same choice:
Withdrawing consent (choosing Reject analytics after previously accepting) takes effect immediately, with no page reload. It stops any further analytics activity and removes the Google Analytics cookies from your browser. It does not remove the necessary saphion_cookie_preferences cookie, since that is what remembers your new choice.
Nothing else counts as a choice. Browsing the site, scrolling, staying on a page, navigating to another page, or ignoring the bar never grants consent — only choosing Accept analytics does. No part of this site is withheld or degraded if you reject.
If we ever change what this policy discloses, or what analytics does with your choice, we treat that as a new question: you will be asked again, even if you decided before.
Browser opt-out signals (GPC)
We honour the Global Privacy Control signal. If your browser or a privacy extension sends GPC, we treat it as a rejection of analytics automatically: Google Analytics is never loaded, and we do not show you the consent bar asking you to opt out a second time by hand.
If you send GPC but would still like to allow analytics, you can override it deliberately using Manage cookies — an explicit choice you make there takes precedence over the signal. Otherwise the signal continues to apply on every visit.
Full cookie inventory
Every cookie this site sets, and why. We list only technologies we have actually introduced or can evidence in production — never a speculative guess at what a hosting provider might set.
| Cookie | Provider | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
saphion_cookie_preferences |
Saphion Limited | Necessary | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected analytics cookies, and which version of this policy you were shown. | 6 months |
ARRAffinity / ARRAffinitySameSite |
Microsoft Azure (App Service) | Necessary | Routes your browser to the same backend instance for the length of your visit, so the site behaves consistently. | Session |
_ga |
Google Analytics | Analytics | Distinguishes visitors so we can see aggregated, anonymised website-usage statistics. | 6 months |
_ga_<container-id> |
Google Analytics | Analytics | Maintains session state for Google Analytics (for example, which pages you viewed in one visit). | 6 months |
We review this inventory whenever the technology this website uses changes.
Relationship with our Privacy policy
This Cookie policy sits alongside our Privacy policy, which covers how we handle personal data more broadly. Where the two overlap — for example, what Google Analytics does with usage data — this page is the more detailed, current source.
Contact
Questions about cookies on this site? Email privacy@saphion.co.uk.