Cookie policy

Cookies are small files that a website stores in your browser, and the same rules cover other browser storage. Some are strictly necessary: without them you could not sign in or stay signed in. Others are not, and UK law says we must ask before setting those.

So on your first visit the site shows a small notice at the bottom of the page with two choices: Accept analytics, or Essential only. Nothing that is not strictly necessary is set until you choose, and ignoring the notice is the same as choosing Essential only. Your choice is remembered in a cookie of its own for six months, after which we ask again.

You can change your mind at any time:

• Cookie settings in the footer of every page;
• Cookie settings in the account menu at the top of the page, when you are signed in;
• the Cookies card on your account settings page.

Declining analytics after accepting it stops the collection and removes the analytics cookies from your browser.

These are set without asking, because the site cannot do what you asked for without them. None of them is used for analytics or advertising.

Our staff's browsers also keep one item in local storage (gp-admin-collapsed-sections), which remembers how they left the admin dashboard laid out. It is never set for visitors or members.

If you accept analytics, the site loads Amplitude, a product analytics service, which sets these cookies:

What Amplitude records: the pages you view, when a visit starts and ends, where you came from, and these actions on the site: starting and completing sign-up, signing in, sending an enquiry (the type of enquiry only), subscribing to the newsletter, and accepting or declining analytics. Once you are signed in, your account's internal identifier (a random code) is attached, so we can see how members use the site.

What it never records: your IP address (we have turned that off), your name, email address or phone number, the text of an enquiry or a forum post, or what you type into a form.

Amplitude holds this data in its European Union data centre. How we use it, and the lawful basis we rely on, are in our privacy policy.

Some pages show content from other websites, which can set cookies of their own when it loads. The map on our home and contact pages comes from OpenStreetMap. Videos, for example in the gallery and on the forum, can come from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or Instagram; YouTube videos are shown in YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode. Those websites handle your data under their own privacy policies, and this notice does not control their cookies.

Your browser lets you see, block and delete cookies, for this site or for every site; look for "cookies" or "site data" in its settings. If you block or delete the strictly necessary cookies you will be signed out, and you will not be able to sign in again while they are blocked.

Questions about cookies, or about your personal data more generally? See our privacy policy, or contact us.