What cookies are

Cookies are small files a website stores on your device. Similar technologies, such as local storage and the tracking used by analytics tools, work in comparable ways. We group what we use into three kinds: strictly necessary, analytics, and advertising.

Strictly necessary

These make the site work, for example remembering your cookie choice or keeping the site secure. They don't track you for marketing and don't need your consent. The site's core pages are static and set only what's needed to function.

Analytics: Microsoft Clarity

We use Microsoft Clarity to understand how people use the site so we can improve it. Clarity is a product analytics tool from Microsoft. It captures usage data, such as pages viewed, clicks, scrolling, and how you move through the site, and combines it into aggregated heatmaps and anonymised session recordings. Microsoft may use this data, in line with its own privacy statement, to provide and improve the Clarity service. Clarity sets cookies and uses similar storage on your device to do this.

We use Clarity to see which pages are useful, where people get stuck, and what to fix, not to identify you personally. Advertising cookies are covered separately below.

You can read how Microsoft handles this data in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Where your enquiry came from

When you arrive we record, in your browser's session storage, whether you came from a Google Ads click, a search result, another website or directly. If you then send us an enquiry, that label is submitted with it, so we know which of our own marketing is actually working.

This is first-party and session-scoped: it is not a cookie, it is deleted when you close the browser, it is never shared with anyone else, and it holds nothing about you personally, only where you arrived from. It is used solely to label an enquiry you chose to send us.

Advertising: Google Ads

We advertise through Google Ads, and with your consent we use Google's tag to measure what our advertising actually does: which ads led to an enquiry, and how many. This sets cookies on your device and shares data with Google.

Until you consent, the tag runs in Google's consent mode with advertising and analytics storage set to denied, so it stores nothing on your device and no advertising identifiers are collected. If you reject or simply ignore the banner, it stays that way. It only begins storing anything if you accept.

You can read how Google handles this data in how Google uses information from sites that use its services, and control ad personalisation in your Google Ad Settings.

Advertising: Microsoft Advertising

We also advertise through Microsoft Advertising, which covers Bing and its partner search sites. With your consent we use Microsoft's UET tag to measure which ads led to an enquiry. This sets cookies on your device and shares data with Microsoft.

It works the same way as the Google tag: until you consent it runs with advertising storage set to denied, so it stores nothing on your device. If you reject the banner or ignore it, it stays that way.

You can read how Microsoft handles this data in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Matching an enquiry to an advert

When you send an enquiry and you have accepted advertising cookies, we also send Google and Microsoft a hashed version of your email address or phone number. Hashing is one-way: it turns the address into a fixed string of characters that cannot be turned back into the address. It happens in your browser, so the real address never leaves it, and it lets the ad platforms confirm an enquiry came from one of our adverts without being told who you are.

This only happens if you accept. Decline, or ignore the banner, and nothing is sent.

Your choice

Analytics cookies are only set with your consent. Where a cookie banner is shown, you can accept or decline analytics, and change your mind at any time by clearing cookies or updating your choice. Declining analytics won't stop the site working.

Managing cookies in your browser

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings, and set most browsers to warn you before accepting one. Blocking all cookies may affect how some sites work. Guidance for each major browser is available on its help pages, and general information is at the ICO (ico.org.uk).

Cookies we use

  • Consent / preference (strictly necessary). Remembers your cookie choice so we don't ask every visit.
  • Microsoft Clarity (analytics). Set by Clarity to measure and record site usage in aggregate. Set only with consent. See the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
  • Google Ads (advertising). Set by Google's tag to measure advertising performance and attribute enquiries to ads. Set only with consent; denied by default under consent mode. See Google's notice.
  • Microsoft Advertising / UET (advertising). Set by Microsoft's UET tag to measure advertising performance on Bing and its partner sites. Set only with consent; denied by default under consent mode. See the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

More on your data

How we handle personal data generally is set out in our Privacy policy. Questions: info@huntergrey.co.uk or 0333 577 1988.