Cookie Policy

01

What cookies are, and why we use them

A cookie is a small file that a website asks your browser to keep, and that your browser hands back the next time you visit. It is how a site can recognise that you signed in a moment ago instead of asking you again on every page.

We use them for three things, and no others. Some keep the site working. Some count how many people read a page. One tells us which of our adverts led to an enquiry. The first group is not optional, because nothing would work without it. The other two are entirely your choice, and both start switched off.

Nothing we use builds a profile of you for advertisers, follows you around other websites, or is ever sold.

02

Keeping the site working

These exist so the site can do what you asked it to do. They are not used to track you, and we do not ask permission for them, because without them you could not sign in or pay. If you block them in your browser, those two things will fail.

What each one is for

• Signing you in, and keeping you signed in Set by us·Until you sign out, or a year if you asked us to remember you
• Remembering small display preferences Set by us·A year
• Showing project times in your own timezone Set by us·A year
• Checking a card payment is not fraudulent Set by Stripe·Up to a year
• Remembering the answer you give on this page Set by us·Six months

03

Counting visits

We use Google Analytics to see how many people visit, which pages they read, and where they give up and leave. It tells us that a page was read two hundred times; it does not tell us who read it. We use it to decide what to write next and what to fix.

You will see two sets of these, because the website and the client account area are counted separately. They behave in exactly the same way.

What each one is for

• Telling a returning visit apart from a new one Set by Google·Two years
• Remembering where you are in a single visit Set by Google·Two years

These are only ever set if you agree to them. Your network address is shortened by Google before it is stored, and we have not switched on any feature that would turn this into advertising audiences.

04

Measuring our adverts

We pay Google to show our adverts. One cookie connects an advert you clicked to an enquiry you send later, so we can tell which adverts are worth paying for and which are wasting money. If you say no to this group, you will still see the same adverts; we simply stop counting them.

What each one is for

• Connecting an advert you clicked to an enquiry Set by Google·Three months

05

How we ask, and what your answer changes

The first time you visit, a small notice asks whether the counting and the advert measuring may be switched on. Saying no is one click, in the same place and at the same size as saying yes. We do not treat closing the notice as agreement, and we do not ask again on every page: we keep your answer for six months.

Here is the part that matters, and that many cookie notices quietly skip. Your answer changes what actually runs, not just what we write down. Until you agree, the counting and advert tools are held back and set nothing. If you agree, they start. If you refuse, they stay held back for the whole visit.

If the list on this page ever changes in a way that makes your earlier answer out of date, we ask again instead of assuming.

06

Changing your mind

Taking your permission back is as easy as giving it, and it costs you nothing. Use the button below, or the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of any page on this site.

The settings panel did not open. You can also clear the cookies for this site in your browser's own settings, and we will ask you again on your next visit.

Your browser can refuse or delete cookies too, and can warn you whenever one is offered. Bear in mind that blocking the first group will stop signing in and paying from working. Every browser does this differently, so their own help pages are the reliable place to look.

07

One answer, both our sites

Our website and the account area where clients follow their projects are two separate systems, but they belong to the same address. Your answer is stored once and counts for both, so you are never asked the same question twice.

This is also why you may notice cookies belonging to the other one of the two while you are on this one. They are the same cookies described above and they behave the same way.

08

Who else is involved

Two companies set cookies through our sites, and no others:

• Google, for counting visits and measuring our adverts.
• Stripe, our payment company, for keeping card payments safe.

Both are based outside the United Arab Emirates, so agreeing to the two optional groups means some information may be handled in other countries, including the United States, under the protections those companies publish. What they do with it is governed by their own policies, and both are linked from our Privacy Policy. We do not sell anything about you to anyone, and no other advertising company receives anything from our sites.

09

Changes, and how to reach us

When the cookies we use change, this page is updated and the date at the top changes with it. If a change affects what you already agreed to, the notice appears again and your earlier answer is not carried over.

Questions about any of this go to a real person: