Cookie Policy

This policy explains whether this website uses cookies, what any cookies are for, and how you can control them. It sits alongside the Privacy Policy, which covers personal data more broadly.

What cookies are

Cookies are small text files a website can store on your device. They're often used to make sites work, to remember preferences, or to measure how a site is used. UK law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, "PECR", alongside the UK GDPR) says that non-essential cookies — such as analytics or advertising cookies — can only be set with your consent. Cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to work don't need consent.

Does this site use cookies?

As things stand, this website sets no non-essential cookies. It's a simple, static site, and it's deliberately built to avoid tracking you:

• There are no advertising or marketing cookies.
• There are no social media tracking cookies.
• The contact form doesn't set any cookies in your browser — your details are simply sent to me when you submit it (see the Privacy Policy).

Because nothing here requires consent under PECR, there's no cookie banner — which is the honest, privacy-friendly outcome, rather than a missing feature.

What about analytics?

This site uses Fathom Analytics to understand roughly how many people visit and which pages they read. Fathom is cookieless — it sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device — and collects only anonymous, aggregated data. That's why it needs no consent under PECR, and why the "no non-essential cookies" position above stays true. See Fathom's privacy policy.

Essential / technical items

Like any website, this site is served by a hosting provider (Netlify) that may use strictly necessary technology to deliver pages securely and protect against abuse. Anything of this kind is essential to providing the site you've asked for and doesn't track you across other websites. The site itself stores no preferences in cookies.

Third-party services

Very little on this site comes from anywhere else:

• Typefaces are served from this domain. The fonts are self-hosted, so your browser never contacts Google Fonts — or any other font service — and no third party sees your IP address as a result of loading them.
• Fathom Analytics — cookieless, as described above.
• Client site previews — the Work section embeds a few live client websites so you can see real work rather than a screenshot. Those sites are served by their own hosts and are governed by their own policies. They load only when you scroll to them.

How to control cookies

Even though this site doesn't set non-essential cookies, you're always in control of cookies in general. Every major browser lets you see, block or delete cookies through its settings — usually under "Privacy" or "Cookies and site data". Blocking all cookies may stop some websites (not this one) from working properly. The guide at aboutcookies.org explains how to manage cookies in each browser.

Changes to this policy

If another tool is ever added, this policy will be updated before that change goes live — and if any non-essential cookies are ever introduced, an appropriate consent mechanism will be added at the same time. The "last updated" date at the top shows when this page last changed.

Contact

Questions about cookies or your privacy on this site? Email me at joshua@grimsdaleweb.design.