Cookie Policy

1. What cookies are

Cookies are small text files a website stores on your device. They let a site remember things between page loads — that you are signed in, or which cookie categories you have agreed to. Similar technologies such as localStorage, pixels and SDKs work the same way and are covered by this notice.

2. How we use them

This website is deliberately light on cookies. Nothing beyond the strictly necessary runs until you switch it on. We do not sell or share this data, and we do not build advertising profiles from it.

3. Strictly necessary

These make the site work and, under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, do not require consent. They cannot be switched off.

Name	Provider	Purpose	Duration
qadrats_consent	Qadrats (first party)	Stores which cookie categories you accepted, so we do not ask again on every visit and can demonstrate that consent was given.	12 months

4. Statistics — how we measure traffic

These tell us how many people read a page and roughly where they arrived from. They are set only if you enable the Statistics category, and are removed if you withdraw it.

Google Analytics 4

Provided by Google Ireland Limited. We use it to count sessions, see which articles are read and understand which channels bring people to the site. It is configured with IP addresses truncated before storage, Google Signals off and ad personalisation off, so it is used for measurement rather than advertising.

Name	Purpose	Duration
_ga	Distinguishes one browser from another so returning visits are not double-counted.	24 months
_ga_<container-id>	Holds the session state for this specific property.	24 months
_gid	Distinguishes visitors within a single day (legacy Universal Analytics behaviour).	24 hours
_gat	Throttles the rate of requests sent to Google.	1 minute

Other measurement tools

Where we run one of the following, it appears in the Statistics category on the same terms — off until you allow it:

Provider	Cookies	Purpose	Duration
Microsoft Clarity	_clck, _clsk	Aggregated interaction and scroll data, used to find usability problems.	Up to 12 months
Hotjar	_hjSessionUser_*, _hjSession_*	Same purpose as above, where used instead of Clarity.	Up to 12 months

5. Marketing and traffic sources

These measure whether a campaign or referral brought you here. They are set only if you enable the Marketing category.

Provider	Cookies	Purpose	Duration
Google Ads	_gcl_au, _gcl_aw	Attributes a visit to an ad click so we can tell which campaigns produce enquiries.	90 days
Meta (Facebook, Instagram)	_fbp, _fbc	Attributes a visit to a Facebook or Instagram campaign.	90 days
LinkedIn Insight Tag	bcookie, lidc, li_sugr, UserMatchHistory	Attributes a visit to a LinkedIn campaign and measures conversions.	Up to 12 months

Referrers and campaign links — not cookies

Two things people often assume are cookies are not:

• The referrer. Your browser tells every website which page linked to it. We use that to see whether you arrived from a search engine, LinkedIn or a direct link. It is sent by the browser itself; we cannot switch it off and it stores nothing on your device.
• Campaign parameters. Links we publish sometimes carry utm_source, utm_medium or gclid in the address. Those are part of the URL, not files on your device. They are only recorded against your visit if you have enabled the relevant category.

Both are aggregated and never used to identify an individual. If you send us an enquiry, we may note the source of that enquiry alongside it so we know which channels work — that processing is described in the Privacy Policy.

6. Google and international transfers

Google Analytics and Google Ads are operated in the EU by Google Ireland Limited, which acts as our processor under Article 28 of the GDPR. Some processing may take place outside the European Economic Area; where it does, it is covered by the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses together with the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, plus the supplementary measures Google publishes. The same applies to Meta and LinkedIn where those tags are in use.

We keep Google Analytics data for the shortest retention the product allows (14 months) and we do not enable data sharing with Google for product improvement or benchmarking.

7. Your choices

Strictly necessary cookies are always on. Everything else is off until you turn it on, with no pre-ticked boxes.

You can change or withdraw your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page. Withdrawing is exactly as easy as giving consent — one click — and rejecting is never harder than accepting. Withdrawal stops any further collection; it does not undo processing that already happened lawfully.

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser, or opt out of Google Analytics across all sites using Google’s browser add-on. Blocking the strictly necessary cookie means we cannot remember your cookie choices, so the banner will ask again on your next visit.

8. Legal basis

We rely on your consent under Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR for statistics and marketing, and on our legitimate interest in operating a secure, functioning website under Article 6(1)(f) for the strictly necessary ones. Consent records are kept for 12 months so we can demonstrate compliance.

9. Changes

If we add a provider or a cookie, this page is updated and the banner is shown again so you can make a fresh choice. The version of your consent is stored with it, which is what triggers that re-ask.

10. Contact

Questions about cookies: info@qadrats.com. See also our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.