Cookies Policy

What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They serve various purposes including remembering your preferences, enabling certain functionality, and helping website owners understand how visitors use their sites.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser settings to decline them if you prefer. However, disabling certain cookies may affect your experience on our website.

How We Use Cookies

Brightmelt Habitat uses cookies to improve your browsing experience, ensure proper website functionality, and understand how visitors interact with our site. We take a responsible approach to cookies, using only those necessary for our legitimate purposes or those you've consented to.

We categorise cookies based on their purpose and seek your consent for non-essential cookies before placing them on your device.

Types of Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary for our website to function properly. They enable core functionality such as navigation, access to secure areas, and proper page loading. Without these cookies, certain services you've requested cannot be provided.

Essential cookies do not require your consent as they're necessary for website operation. You cannot opt out of these cookies without severely impacting your ability to use our site.

Specific essential cookies include:

Cookie consent record, which remembers your cookie preferences so we don't ask repeatedly during each visit. This cookie expires after twelve months.

Session management cookies that maintain your session as you navigate between pages, preventing you from having to re-authenticate constantly. These are temporary and deleted when you close your browser.

Security cookies that help protect against malicious activity and ensure secure transmission of information when you interact with our site.

Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use our website by collecting information about which pages are visited most frequently, how long people spend on different pages, and what paths they take through the site.

We use this information to improve website structure, identify content that's helpful or confusing, and ensure our site serves visitor needs effectively. All data collected is aggregated and anonymised, meaning we cannot identify individual visitors.

These cookies require your consent. You can enable or disable analytics cookies through our cookie preference centre accessible via the banner displayed on your first visit or through your browser settings.

Analytics cookies we use include:

Page view tracking, which records which pages are accessed and in what order. This helps us understand popular content and typical user journeys.

Time on site measurement, indicating how long visitors spend on different pages. This helps identify engaging content and pages that may need improvement.

Traffic source identification, showing how visitors found our website, whether through search engines, direct visits, or referrals from other sites.

Marketing Cookies

Marketing cookies track your browsing activity across different websites to build a profile of your interests. These cookies can be used to show you targeted advertising relevant to your apparent interests.

Currently, we do not use marketing cookies on our website. If we introduce them in future, we will update this policy and seek your explicit consent before placing such cookies on your device.

Third-Party Cookies

Some cookies on our website are placed by third-party services we use. We carefully select these services and ensure they meet appropriate privacy and security standards.

When third-party cookies are used, they're subject to the privacy policies of those third parties. We recommend reviewing their policies to understand how they handle data collected through cookies.

We use the following categories of third-party services that may place cookies:

Analytics providers that help us understand website performance and visitor behaviour. These services collect data on your behalf under our direction.

We do not currently use advertising networks, social media plugins, or embedded content from other sites that might place third-party cookies, but if we introduce such features, we'll update this policy accordingly.

Session Cookies vs Persistent Cookies

Cookies can be temporary or long-lasting depending on their purpose.

Session cookies exist only while you're actively browsing our website. They're automatically deleted when you close your browser. We use session cookies primarily for essential functions like maintaining your session as you navigate between pages.

Persistent cookies remain on your device for a set period, even after you close your browser. They're used to remember your preferences or maintain analytics tracking across multiple visits. Each persistent cookie has an expiry date after which it's automatically deleted.

We keep persistent cookie lifespans as short as practical while still serving their intended purpose. Cookie consent records last twelve months, while analytics cookies typically expire after twenty-four months.

Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You have several options for controlling cookies on our website and in general.

Our cookie preference centre appears when you first visit our site. You can accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or customise your preferences by category. Your choices are saved and applied to future visits from the same device and browser.

To change preferences after your initial choice, click the cookie settings link in our website footer or delete our cookies from your browser, which will cause the preference centre to appear again on your next visit.

Browser-level controls offer another way to manage cookies. All modern browsers allow you to refuse cookies, delete existing cookies, or receive notifications before cookies are placed. The specific steps vary by browser.

For browser-specific instructions:

Chrome users can manage cookies through Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Cookies and other site data.

Firefox users access cookie controls through Options, then Privacy & Security, then Cookies and Site Data.

Safari users find cookie settings in Preferences, then Privacy.

Edge users navigate to Settings, then Cookies and site permissions.

Blocking all cookies will prevent our website from functioning properly. We recommend allowing essential cookies while customising your preferences for other categories.

Cookies and Personal Data

Information collected through cookies constitutes personal data under data protection law when it can identify you directly or indirectly. We handle cookie data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and GDPR obligations.

Essential cookies used for website functionality are processed based on our legitimate interest in providing a working website you've chosen to visit.

Analytics and marketing cookies are processed based on your consent. You can withdraw consent at any time by changing your preferences through our cookie settings or browser controls.

Data collected through analytics cookies is anonymised and aggregated, meaning it cannot identify individual visitors. This protects your privacy while still providing useful insights about website performance.

Cookies from Embedded Content

Currently, our website does not include embedded content from other sites such as videos, maps, or social media feeds that might place cookies. If we introduce such content in future, we'll update this policy to explain what cookies might be placed and how to control them.

Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers offer Do Not Track functionality, sending a signal to websites requesting they don't track your browsing activity. There's currently no universal standard for how websites should respond to these signals.

We respect user privacy regardless of Do Not Track settings. Our analytics cookies are used only with consent, and we don't engage in cross-site tracking or build detailed profiles of individual visitors.

Changes to This Policy

We review our cookies policy periodically and update it when we introduce new cookies, remove old ones, or when regulations change. Significant updates will be communicated through our website.

The most current version is always available at this address. We encourage you to review it occasionally to stay informed about how we use cookies.

If we introduce new categories of cookies requiring consent, we'll seek that consent before placing them on your device, either through an updated cookie banner or preference centre.

Questions About Cookies

If you have questions about our use of cookies or need help managing your preferences, please contact us:

Email: [email protected]
Address: Brightmelt Habitat Limited, 42 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AY

We'll respond to cookie-related queries within five business days and help you understand or change your cookie settings as needed.

Additional Resources

For more information about cookies and how to manage them, these resources may be helpful:

The Information Commissioner's Office provides guidance on cookies at ico.org.uk

AboutCookies.org offers detailed information about cookies and how to control them in various browsers.

AllAboutCookies.org provides similar guidance and explanation of cookie technology.