Cookie Policy | Pixel & Shovel

What cookies are

Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. They let a site remember things between pages and visits, and they let tools like analytics count visitors and understand how the site is used. Some other technologies, such as similar identifiers and pixels, do much the same job, and where we mention cookies here we mean those too.

The cookies we use

We keep this simple. Our cookies fall into three groups:

Essential

Site function. These make the website work and remember your cookie choices. They do not track you and cannot be switched off, since the site would not run properly without them. They do not need your consent.

Analytics

Google Analytics (GA4). These help us see how people find and use the site, which pages are popular, roughly where visitors are, and what device they use, so we can improve it. They set cookies and share data with Google as our processor. They are only set if you accept.

Advertising

Google Ads remarketing. These let us measure our adverts and, at times, show relevant Pixel and Shovel ads to people who have visited before. They set cookies through Google. They are only set if you accept.

Analytics and advertising cookies are non-essential. We do not load them until you have chosen to accept them.

How consent works

When you first visit, a cookie banner appears. Nothing non-essential is set until you decide. You can:

Accept, and we will enable analytics and advertising cookies.
Decline, and only the essential cookies that keep the site working will be used.

We remember your choice so you are not asked every time. Essential cookies are always on, because without them the site cannot function, and the law does not require consent for those.

No means no

If you decline, the site works exactly the same. You just get a private visit, and we get a slightly fuzzier picture of how the site is doing. That is a fair trade.

Changing your mind

You can change your choice whenever you like. Reopen the cookie banner from the link in the site footer, or clear this site's cookies in your browser and the banner will appear again on your next visit so you can choose afresh.

You can also manage or delete cookies directly in your browser. The steps differ a little by browser, but the controls live under settings for privacy or cookies:

Chrome: Settings, then Privacy and security, then Cookies.
Safari: Settings, then Privacy, then Manage Website Data.
Firefox: Settings, then Privacy and Security.
Edge: Settings, then Cookies and site permissions.

You can also opt out of Google Analytics across all sites using Google's browser opt-out add-on, and manage ad personalisation in your Google Ad Settings.

Third parties

The analytics and advertising cookies are set by Google, which acts as a processor for the data it handles on our behalf. Google uses this information under its own privacy terms as well as ours. We do not sell your data or hand it to anyone who is not helping us run the site.

More on your data

This page is about cookies specifically. For the full picture of what we collect, why, your rights, and how to reach us, see our Privacy Policy. If you have a question about cookies, email hello@pixelandshovel.co.uk and we will happily explain.

Changes to this policy

If we add or change the cookies we use, we will update this page and the date at the top. This is the current version.