Cookie Policy
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This page lists every cookie and local storage entry set by gardencalcs.uk, why we set it, and how to refuse or remove it. It is a companion to our Privacy Policy.
1. What are cookies?
“Cookies” are small text records stored by your browser. PECR reg. 6 also covers similar technologies such as localStorage. The tables below treat all of these as “storage entries”.
2. Your choices
Our statistical analytics run under the UK statistical-purposes exception (section 3.3): they exist solely to improve these calculators, need no consent, and can be switched off at any time with the toggle in section 3.3 or in the first-visit notice. The notice asks you one question, whether we may use session replay (section 3.4), which only ever runs if you actively allow it. The notice appears once; you can change either choice on this page at any time.
3. What we store
3.1 Your own privacy choices (strictly necessary, PECR reg. 6(4))
| Name | Type | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
gardencalcs-notice-v3 | localStorage | Remembers that you have answered the first-visit notice and your session-replay choice. | Until you clear it or press the reset button in 3.4 |
cb_opt_out | localStorage | Only set if you switch off usage statistics (section 3.3). It stores your objection so we honour it on every visit. | Until you switch statistics back on or clear it |
3.2 Functional, set automatically, delete any time (PECR Schedule A1, preference storage)
These keep choices you made on the site so it works the same way next time. They are written on your device and we never read them from it.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
gardencalcs-history | localStorage | Your recent calculations (name, short result, page address), up to 100 entries. | Until you clear it |
calc-unit-prefs | localStorage | Unit preferences (mm and m, kg and lb) so a calculator opens in the unit you chose. | Until you clear it |
The “Clear history” button on the home page, shown when you have saved calculations, removes the history.
3.3 Statistical analytics (no consent needed, PECR statistical-purposes exception, opt-out any time)
We measure how these calculators are used solely to improve them, under the statistical-purposes exception introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (PECR Schedule A1 paragraph 5) and the ICO’s April 2026 guidance. Two systems run under this basis, both governed by the single toggle below.
Our first-party counter records, in aggregate only, which pages are used, on which day, and from which country. Your IP address and browser type are combined with the site, the calendar date and a secret into a one-way code that changes daily and cannot be joined across days or across our sites; it is kept for about 30 minutes to avoid counting you twice and to stop an identical vote being recorded twice, then discarded. A separate one-way digest of your address alone serves a one-minute abuse counter at the network edge. Neither the address nor your browser type is ever written to our database. We store only totals, never individual profiles, and nothing on your device for this.
Google Analytics 4 measures page views and feature usage so we can see which calculators need improving. It sets the cookies below. We run it with Google acting strictly as our processor: data-sharing settings off, no advertising features or Google Ads links, no Google Signals, and event data retention of 14 months, so we can compare how the calculators are used year on year (verified against Google’s Analytics Admin API and recorded in our compliance file, most recently 4 September 2026). As with any request to Google, GA4 receives your IP address, which Google uses for an approximate location and does not store as an address.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics 4 (processor-only configuration) | Statistical usage measurement to improve this service, nothing else. | Cookies up to two years; Google-side event data 14 months |
Switching the toggle off does three things: our counter beacon stops firing straight away; we ask your browser to delete the _ga cookies we can see and switch the Google tag off so it sends nothing more in this browsing session; and the Google tag is not loaded at all the next time you open the site. Your objection is remembered on your device (cb_opt_out). The change of setting itself is recorded as an anonymous daily count with no identifier, so we can show that choices are honoured; that record is not affected by the toggle.
Anonymous usage statistics — ON by default. We count visits in aggregate (no cookies, no personal profile, nothing stored on your device) to improve these calculators. This does not require consent under UK law, but you can switch it off at any time.
3.4 Session replay (optional, only if you allow it)
With your permission we use Microsoft Clarity to record session replays and heatmaps, with Microsoft’s default masking of typed text, which show us where the site confuses people. It loads only after you actively choose “Allow replay” in the first-visit notice. Declining stores no replay cookies at all.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
_clck, _clsk | Microsoft Clarity, first-party on this site (only after you allow replay) | Clarity’s pseudonymous user ID and the link between page views in one session, for replay and heatmaps. | Set by Microsoft; removed when you change your replay choice below |
CLID, MUID, MR, SM, ANONCHK | Microsoft, third-party on Microsoft domains (only after you allow replay) | Microsoft’s own identifiers. Microsoft documents MUID as used for advertising, site analytics and operational purposes across Microsoft sites; we do not receive or use it for advertising. List taken from Microsoft’s Clarity cookie documentation on 4 September 2026. | Set by Microsoft on its domains; not ours to delete |
The first-visit notice appears once. To change your replay choice later, use the button below: it clears your stored answer, removes the Clarity cookies set on this site, and reloads the page so the notice asks you again. Cookies Microsoft has set on its own domains are not ours to delete; clear those from your browser’s site data if you want them gone.
You have not answered the first-visit notice yet, so replay is off.
4. How to block or remove storage entries
- Statistics toggle: switch off “Anonymous usage statistics” in section 3.3 (or in the first-visit notice). This stops our counter, asks your browser to delete the GA cookies, switches the Google tag off for the rest of this browsing session and stops it loading on later visits.
- Replay choice: the button in section 3.4 lets you answer the notice again.
- Browser: clear storage from browser settings. In Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data → See all site data → search “gardencalcs” → Delete. Other browsers have equivalent tools.
- Opt-out tools: install Google’s Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on to block GA4 on every site you visit.
5. Third-party cookies
Any third-party cookies listed above are set by the third parties (Google, Microsoft). We do not control their cookie policies. See their policies directly: Google, Microsoft.
Feedback you send via our feedback box is voluntary, anonymous unless you include contact details, and kept for up to 24 months. Complaints: ico.org.uk. The operator of this site is the controller; see our Privacy Policy for who we are and how to reach us.
See also: Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Accessibility Statement