Cookie Notice
What is set, what it is for, how long it lasts, and how to change your answer at any time.
Last updated 5 September 2026
How consent works here
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations require your consent before anything that is not strictly necessary is stored on your device. So:
- Nothing optional is set before you say yes. Not on page load, not while the banner is open, not at all.
- Accept and reject are the same size, the same shape and equally prominent, side by side at the same level. Rejecting takes exactly one click, the same as accepting.
- Refusing costs you nothing. Every part of the service works identically either way.
- There is no pre-ticked box anywhere on this site.
Strictly necessary
These are needed for the service to work and are set without consent, as the law permits.
- SessionKeeps you signed in between pages.Retained: Session, cleared when you close the browser
- Assessment stateHolds your place while you assess a pair, so a refresh does not lose it.Retained: 24 hours
- Cookie choiceRemembers whether you accepted or rejected optional cookies, so we stop asking.Retained: 12 months
- SecurityProtects forms against cross-site request forgery.Retained: Session
Optional — only with your consent
These are never set unless you choose to accept them, and are removed if you later refuse.
- Product analyticsAggregate counts of which parts of a read-out get opened, so we know what is worth building.Retained: 13 months
- Error reportingRecords that a page failed and on which browser, so it can be fixed.Retained: 90 days
What we do not set
- No advertising or retargeting cookies.
- No social network tracking pixels.
- No cross-site profiling of any kind.
- No fingerprinting, and no local storage used as a substitute for a cookie you refused.
Controlling cookies in your browser
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies from its settings. Blocking the strictly necessary ones will stop you staying signed in. Guidance for each browser is on the Information Commissioner’s Office website at ico.org.uk.
More
How we handle personal data generally, including your rights and how to complain to the ICO, is in the privacy notice.