Cookies and Analytics

Cotswolds.info does not use cookies to track you, and there is no cookie banner because there is nothing that needs your consent. This page lists exactly what the site stores in your browser and how we count visits.

Why there is no cookie banner

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations require consent before a website stores anything in your browser that is not strictly necessary for what you asked it to do. Everything we store meets that test, and our visit counting stores nothing at all.

How we count visits

We count visits with the analytics built into the software that runs the site, which is made to measure a site without identifying anyone. It sets no cookies and writes nothing to your browser's storage: a visit is counted on our own server as the page is sent to you. To tell one visit from another during a day it combines your IP address and browser details with a random value that changes every day into a short code that cannot be turned back into either, and each day's random value is deleted when the next one is made. Nothing follows you to other websites, nothing is shared with advertisers, and no third party is involved.

What we see in the dashboard is aggregate: page views, which sites send visitors here, device type, and how often people do things like contact a business or follow a link to book.

Because visits are counted on our server rather than by a script in your browser, a content blocker does not stop the count, but the count never identifies you.

What the site stores in your browser

Cookies when you sign in

Signing in to a business account sets a cookie named mrd_member that keeps you logged in; its full name, like that of the link and form cookies below, carries the Host security prefix, which ties it to this site. It cannot be read by scripts, is only sent over secure connections, lasts up to thirty days from when you sign in and is removed when you sign out. Asking for a sign-in link by email sets mrd_link, which ties the link to the browser that asked for it and expires after fifteen minutes, and signing in with a passkey sets mrd_webauthn for the two minutes it takes. Strictly necessary.

A security cookie, when you use a form

When you use a form on the site without signing in, such as an enquiry to a business, a cookie named mrd_csrf is set. It holds a random value that proves the form was sent from this site and not from another one, cannot be read by scripts, is only sent over secure connections and lasts thirty days. Strictly necessary.

The site keeps nothing in your browser's local storage, and these are the only cookies it sets. Cloudflare, the network in front of the site that keeps automated attacks out, sets one more: a cookie named cf_bm (its full name starts with two underscores) that tells people from bots. Its contents are encrypted, and it expires after 30 minutes without a visit.

Booking sites, when you follow a booking link

Some links to places to stay and tours earn us a commission. After you follow one, the booking site, and the network that runs its programme, may set cookies on their own site so the booking is credited to us. They are set on their site, not ours, and are covered by their own cookie policies. We set none for this.

Content loaded from other companies

Some pages include content served by other companies. Your browser fetches it directly from them, so they see your IP address and may apply their own policies:

• OpenStreetMap provides the map tiles for the interactive map on a walk page, fetched only when you open the map.
• YouTube provides any embedded video, loaded from its privacy-enhanced domain only when you press play.

Managing cookies

You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings. Deleting the sign-in cookie simply signs you out. Blocking cookies stops you signing in and may stop a form from sending, but changes nothing else.

Changes to this page

If we ever add something that does need your consent, we will ask for it before it is set, and this page and the privacy policy will be updated first.