Cookie Policy
The cookies and similar storage the site and application use, and why.
Effective 2026-09-07
1. What this covers
This policy explains the cookies and similar technologies we use on www.effectiveclerking.co.uk and in the Effective Clerking application, why we use them, and how you control them.
“Cookies” here means cookies and any equivalent technology that stores information on, or gains access to information stored on, your device — including local storage, session storage and similar mechanisms.
2. The legal position, briefly
Under regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, as amended, we may not store information on your device, or access information stored there, unless you consent — or unless one of the exceptions in Schedule A1 to those Regulations applies. The exceptions are:
Communication — solely to transmit a communication over a network.
Strictly necessary — essential to provide a service you requested, including security, fraud prevention, fault detection and authentication.
Statistical purposes — solely to collect aggregate statistics about how the service is used, in order to improve it, and only where individuals cannot be identified or tracked, no profiling or inference is carried out, a simple free opt-out is provided, and clear information is given.
Appearance and functionality — solely to adapt how the service appears or functions to your preferences.
Emergency assistance — determining location where emergency assistance is requested.
Anything outside those exceptions requires your consent, freely given, and as easy to withdraw as to give.
3. What we do
We do not use advertising cookies.
We do not use tracking or profiling cookies.
We do not sell data collected through cookies, and we do not share it with advertising networks.
We do not deploy any non-exempt cookie before you have consented.
Refusing optional cookies does not degrade the Service.
4. The cookies we use
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Category | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sb-hsnbmaqhcxgqrzjhxcix-auth-token | Effective Clerking, via Supabase | Keeps you signed in; without it the application cannot function | Strictly necessary | Session, refreshed automatically while you are signed in |
| ec-cookie-consent | Effective Clerking | Remembers the cookie choice you made, so you are not asked again | Strictly necessary | 6 months |
| ec-sidebar-collapsed | Effective Clerking (browser local storage, not a cookie) | Remembers whether your navigation sidebar is collapsed | Appearance and functionality | Persists until you clear your browser's site data |
| ec-dismissed-announcement-id | Effective Clerking (browser local storage, not a cookie) | Remembers which service announcement you dismissed, so it is not shown to you again | Appearance and functionality | Persists until you clear your browser's site data |
5. Analytics
We do not currently use any analytics on our website or in the application.
If we introduce aggregate, non-identifying analytics in future — for example to see which pages and features are used — we will rely on the statistical purposes exception in Schedule A1 to the PECR Regulations, which does not require consent provided individuals cannot be identified or tracked, no profiling or inference is carried out, and a free opt-out is given. We will update this policy before we do.
6. Your choices
When you first visit, we ask which optional storage you are willing to accept, and record your answer. Essential cookies are not part of that choice: they fall within the strictly necessary exception and the Service cannot work without them. Refusing is offered as plainly as accepting, and you can change or withdraw your answer at any time from the “Cookie settings” link at the foot of this page. Withdrawing consent for interface preferences also deletes anything already stored under it, rather than merely stopping new storage.
Everything listed in section 4 today does in fact fall within one of the exceptions in section 2, so we are not obliged to ask about the interface preferences. We ask anyway, and keep them switched off until you say otherwise.
In your browser. You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking strictly necessary cookies will stop you being able to sign in.
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. Optional storage stays switched off until you turn it on, so a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal has nothing to override. If we introduce anything that requires consent, we will treat a recognised Global Privacy Control signal as declining it.
7. Cookies set by others
Where a page embeds content or functionality from a third party, that third party may set its own cookies, governed by its own policy. Our checkout is hosted by Stripe on Stripe’s own domain: any cookies Stripe sets there for fraud prevention (for example __stripe_mid and __stripe_sid) are set under Stripe’s policy, not on this site, and are not listed in section 4 for that reason. We do not embed social media widgets, advertising pixels, or third-party content beyond what the Service needs to function.
8. Changes and questions
We review this policy when our cookie use changes, and at least annually. The effective date is at the top.
Questions: support@effectiveclerking.co.uk. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.