Cookie Policy

Under Regulation 5(3) of S.I. No. 336/2011, no non-essential cookie, pixel, fingerprinting script, session-replay tool or local storage object may be set or read before you give explicit, informed, prior consent, indicated by a clear affirmative action.

So on arrival: every non-essential script is hard-blocked before any client-side transmission; only Regulation 5(5) strictly necessary storage is permitted; scripts are released only if you opt in, and a dated consent record is written; if you refuse or ignore the banner, blocking stays in force and nothing is collected or transferred.

We never use implied consent. Scrolling, continuing to browse, closing the banner and pre-ticked boxes are not consent, and the Data Protection Commission treats them as unlawful.

We store a single entry, “ws-consent-v1”, in your browser’s local storage. It records whether you accepted or refused optional cookies, and the date of that choice, so we do not repeat the question on every page. It contains no identifier, is never sent to a third party, and falls within the Regulation 5(5) exemption because it exists solely to honour the preference you asked us to remember.

We currently run no analytics, advertising or profiling cookies at all. If we ever add them, they will be blocked until you press “Accept optional”, listed individually on this page before activation, named with their purpose, provider and duration, and always refusable through an equally prominent “Reject optional” control on the same screen.

Web analytics, social sharing tools and conversion pixels are never treated as strictly necessary. They always require prior opt-in.

No pixel, tag manager, session-replay tool or third-party chat widget is present in the page on load. Fonts, images and styles are served from our own domain, so visiting the site makes no request to an advertising or analytics network.

We do not record keystrokes, form entries, mouse movement or screen content. This also keeps us clear of US wiretapping claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, but the reason we do it is the Irish prior-consent rule.

If your browser transmits a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as an automatic refusal of optional cookies and as an opt-out of any sale or sharing of personal information for the purposes of the California Consumer Privacy Act and comparable US state laws. You do not need to interact with the banner for this to apply.

Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it. Use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of any page to review or change your decision at any time; withdrawal takes effect immediately for future processing. We also ask again automatically six months after your last choice, in line with Data Protection Commission guidance. Clearing your browser storage resets it, and the banner will reappear on your next visit.

Enforcement of these rules in Ireland is administrative, led by the Data Protection Commission, which can audit, issue binding orders and fine up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover. If you believe we have set a cookie without your consent, email websitesmith1@gmail.com first, and you may complain to the Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.