What cookies are
Cookies are tiny text files a website can store in your browser. Related technologies, like localStorage, do a similar job: they let a page remember something small between visits, such as a
setting you have chosen. We use the plain word “cookies” loosely on this page to
cover both.
Our approach: keep it minimal
We only store what earns its place. The essentials keep the site working the way you expect; everything else is optional and off until you say yes. We do not use cookies to build an advertising profile of you, and we never share this data with ad networks.
Strictly-necessary storage
These are needed for the site to function and to respect the choices you have made. They do not track you across other websites, and they cannot be switched off from within the site because it would stop things working. Examples:
- Banner dismissal: when you close the site announcement banner, we note
that in your browser (
localStorage) so it does not reappear on every page. - Consent choice: when you accept or decline analytics, we remember that
decision (the
cookie_consentvalue) so we can honour it and stop asking.
Analytics (optional)
To understand which pages people find useful, we use two analytics tools. Vercel Web Analytics gives us cookieless, aggregate traffic numbers. PostHog tells us more: page views, rough device and referrer information, which links and buttons get used, click and scroll heatmaps, how long our pages take to load, and any JavaScript errors the site throws at you. Neither is used to advertise to you or to follow you around the wider web. Our PostHog data is held in PostHog’s European cloud.
PostHog also records a session replay: a reconstruction of your visit to this site, so we can see where a page confuses people, along with anything the site logs to your browser console. Everything you type is masked before it leaves your browser, so the email address you put in the waitlist form is never part of a replay. Replays cover this website only, never the Auracle service or anything you tell Aura, and they are deleted after 30 days.
Because PostHog needs to recognise a returning visitor, accepting analytics sets the ph_… entries listed below. That is the honest trade: decline, and we lose the detail
but you keep an empty browser store.
Analytics is optional and off by default. It only loads once you accept
from the consent banner; if you decline, we never load it at all. You can change your mind
at any time by clearing the cookie_consent value (see below) and choosing again.
No advertising or cross-site tracking
We do not use advertising cookies, cross-site tracking pixels, social-media trackers, or data brokers. There are no third parties following you from this site to another. Vercel and PostHog are suppliers acting on our instructions under contract, and analytics requests to PostHog are routed through our own domain, so nothing here is shared with an advertising network.
The storage we use
Here is the full, current list. It is short by design.
| Key | Type | Category | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
auracare-seed-dismissed | localStorage | Strictly necessary | Remembers that you dismissed the site announcement banner, so it stays hidden. | Until you clear your browser storage |
cookie_consent | localStorage | Strictly necessary | Records your analytics choice from the consent banner, so we honour it and stop asking. | Until you clear your browser storage |
Vercel Web Analytics | Cookieless | Analytics (optional) | Privacy-conscious, aggregate usage measurement. Cookieless, and only loaded once you accept analytics. | No persistent storage |
ph_phc_…_posthog | Cookie + localStorage | Analytics (optional) | PostHog. Holds a random visitor and session identifier so repeat visits and page journeys can be counted, rather than looking like a crowd of strangers. Only set once you accept analytics. | 12 months, or until you clear your browser storage |
ph_phc_…_window_id | sessionStorage | Analytics (optional) | PostHog, along with a couple of sibling ph_ keys. Bookkeeping for the tab you are in: which window a session replay belongs to, and a short-lived copy of the identifiers above, so one visit in two tabs is not counted as two visits. | Cleared when you close the tab |
Managing and clearing cookies
You are always in control. You can decline analytics from the banner, and you can clear or block storage directly in your browser at any time:
- Chrome / Edge: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and site data, or use “Clear browsing data”.
- Safari: Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data, then remove auracare.org.uk.
- Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Manage Data.
Clearing site data will also remove your saved consent choice and the banner-dismissal flag, so you may be asked again on your next visit. Blocking all storage may stop some parts of the site from remembering your preferences.
Changes to this policy
As the site evolves, we may update this policy. When we do, we will revise the “last updated” date above. Material changes will be made clear on the page.
Contact
Questions about cookies or your privacy? Email us at privacy@auracare.org.uk and we will be glad to help.