Cookie Policy
We use the smallest set of cookies we can get away with. This page explains exactly what each one does, why it's there, and how to switch off the ones you don't want.
1. What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file stored on your device when you visit a website. Cookies allow the website to remember things about you — what's in your basket, whether you're logged in, your preferences — and let the site work the way you'd expect.
This policy also covers similar technologies that work in much the same way: local storage, session storage, web beacons, pixels, and tracking links. We refer to all of them collectively as "cookies" for simplicity.
2. Our position
We believe a checkout shouldn't be a surveillance opportunity. We don't use behavioural advertising, we don't run remarketing pixels, and we don't share your data with social media platforms for ads. The cookies we do use are either strictly necessary (the site won't work without them) or analytics (anonymous, helps us understand what's working). The latter only run if you accept them in the cookie banner.
3. Cookies we set
The following cookies originate from our domain (thesourdoughhub.co.uk). The exact set depends on what you're doing on the site at the time.
Strictly necessary
| Cookie | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
cart | Remembers what you've added to your basket between page loads. | 14 days |
cart_sig | Verifies the integrity of your cart so we can spot tampering. | 2 weeks |
cart_ts | Records when your cart was last updated, used for cart recovery. | 2 weeks |
secure_customer_sig | Keeps you securely signed in to your account, if you have one. | 20 years (signed-out: deleted) |
_shopify_y / _y | Shopify's session identifier, required for the storefront and checkout to function. | 1 year |
_shopify_s / _s | Shopify's per-session identifier, used to load the cart and authenticate the session. | 30 minutes |
cookie_preferences | Remembers your choices in our cookie banner so we don't ask you again on every visit. | 12 months |
Analytics (consent-based)
| Cookie | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics 4 — distinguishes one visitor from another, anonymously, so we can measure how many people visit, what pages are popular, and where visitors arrive from. IP anonymisation is enabled. | 2 years |
_ga_* | Per-property Google Analytics state for the same purpose as _ga. | 2 years |
We do not set cookies for: behavioural advertising, social media tracking pixels, third-party data brokers, retargeting networks, or A/B testing services that share data outside of our domain.
4. Third-party cookies on related services
When you visit certain pages, third-party services may set their own cookies. These are limited to:
- Shopify checkout — once you click "Checkout," you're on Shopify's secure checkout domain. Shopify sets cookies needed to process payment. Shopify cookie information.
- Payment providers — if you choose PayPal, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Shop Pay, those services may set their own cookies during the payment flow. We don't have visibility into those, only the confirmation that payment succeeded.
We don't load any third-party content with tracking capabilities (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube etc.) on our regular site pages without your consent.
5. How to control cookies
On our site
The first time you visit, you'll see a cookie banner with three options: "Accept all", "Reject all (non-essential)", and "Manage preferences". Your choice is recorded in cookie_preferences and respected for 12 months. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the small "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page.
In your browser
You can also control cookies through your browser settings. The exact steps vary, but the relevant settings are:
- Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data
- Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
- Safari: Preferences → Privacy
- Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions
Blocking strictly necessary cookies will break parts of the site — in particular, you won't be able to add things to your cart or check out. Blocking analytics cookies has no effect on your experience, just on our ability to understand how the site is used.
6. Do Not Track
Where your browser sends a "Do Not Track" or Global Privacy Control signal, we honour it as a request to opt out of analytics cookies. You will still see the cookie banner once, with non-essential cookies pre-set to "off".
7. Changes to this policy
If we add or remove a cookie, we'll update the table above and refresh the "last updated" date. Material changes will trigger a fresh cookie banner so you can revisit your choices.
8. Contact
If you have questions about cookies on our site, please email hello@thesourdoughhub.co.uk.