1What is set
| Name | Kind | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| sb-…-auth-token | Essential | Keeps you signed in. Without it every page would ask again. | 1 hour, refreshed while you are using the site |
| pmw_gate | Essential | Remembers that you entered the password that opens the site while it is being built. Without it you would be asked on every page. | 30 days |
| pmw_consent | Essential | Remembers this choice, so you are not asked on every page. | 12 months |
| pmw_anon | Essential | A random id, so a consent choice made before you sign in can be proved later. It is not linked to anything you do on the site. | 12 months |
| _ga, _ga_* | Optional | Google Analytics. Which pages are visited and roughly where from. Only set if you allow it below. | up to 2 years |
| _clck, _clsk | Optional | Microsoft Clarity. Records how a page is used, including mouse movement and clicks, so we can see where it confuses people. Only set if you allow it below. | up to 1 year |
2Why the essential ones do not ask
Under PECR, a cookie that is strictly necessary to provide a service you asked for does not need consent. Staying signed in is that. So is remembering that you said no to the optional one, which would otherwise mean asking you again on every page.
Everything else does need asking, before it runs rather than while it runs. Nothing on this site loads an analytics script unless the switch below says yes.
That has not always been true here, and it is worth saying so. The page the public sees while this is being built loaded Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity on sight, with no banner and no choice. It was fixed on 12 September 2026: both now wait for the answer below, and the answer is remembered across the whole site rather than per page.
3Your choice
Change it whenever you like. It applies immediately and we keep a record of what you chose and when, because being able to show that is the part a cookie on its own cannot do.
Analytics
You have not chosen yet, so it is off.
4Microsoft Clarity, specifically
Worth singling out, because it does more than count visits. Clarity records how a page is used: where the pointer goes, what is clicked, how far you scroll. It is genuinely useful for finding the bit of a form that everybody abandons, and it is also the most intrusive thing on this site.
It masks what you type by default, so text in a field is not recorded. It only runs if you allow it above, it is off until then, and turning it off later stops it immediately.
5Things that are not cookies
Your browser also keeps a few things locally that never leave your device and are not cookies: which tab you last had open, a draft message you have not sent. Clearing site data removes them.
The fonts are served from this site rather than from Google, so visiting a page does not announce you to anyone else.