This policy describes the cookies and similar browser storage used by the replacement timlord.co.uk application. It should be read with the Privacy policy.
Your choice comes first
Non-essential services are disabled by default. The first-visit controls give equal access to accepting or rejecting optional cookies, with a separate preferences view. Scrolling or continuing to browse does not count as consent, and rejecting optional services does not block ordinary public content.
Essential storage
Essential storage supports security, authentication, a service you request, and the record of your privacy choice. It cannot be disabled through the site because the relevant feature would otherwise not work.
timlord_consent_v1Records policy version, analytics choice, external-media choice and decision time.180 daystimlord.reaction-token and timlord.reaction-liked (local storage)A random value created by your browser only if you press Like, so the same reaction is not counted twice and the control can show what you have already liked. Only a one-way hash of the random value reaches the server.Until you clear site dataLikes
Liking a piece of content is a first-party feature of this site. No identifier is created until you press Like. At that point your browser generates a random value, keeps it in its own local storage, and sends it once so the like can be recorded; the server stores only a one-way hash of it.
No IP address, browser details, email address, account or social-network identifier is stored with a like, and nothing about it is shared with Facebook, Instagram, X or any other platform. This is a first-party functional reaction identifier, not an advertising or Meta identifier. Clearing site data in your browser removes it.
Sharing
The share controls are ordinary links. Displaying them sends nothing to Facebook, X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or anyone else, and no social network script, plugin or tracking pixel is loaded. A request reaches one of those services only if you choose that destination yourself. Where your device offers its own share sheet, the site hands over to it and the choice of app stays with you.
Analytics
Google Analytics 4 is classified as optional analytics. The Google tag is not requested and no Google measurement ping is sent before analytics consent. If enabled, the site uses the existing destination G-7B413ZVXXH and may create first-party cookies such as _ga and a property-specific _ga_* cookie.
Only selected non-sensitive public index paths are measured. Admin, preview, login, member and content-detail paths are excluded by the application analytics abstraction. Query strings, emails, usernames, member identifiers, form contents and protected content are not deliberately sent.
The implementation uses privacy-conservative Basic Consent Mode v2. analytics_storage becomes granted only after consent. ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization remain denied. No Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok tracking is installed.
External media and players
Approved third-party embeds are treated as optional functional media. That currently means privacy-enhanced YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Music: the providers a music release can be played from, and the video provider used inside articles.
Before consent the page shows a local placeholder naming the provider it would contact, and makes no request to that provider at all — no iframe, no script, no cookie. You may allow external media as a saved preference, or load one item deliberately for the current page only. A one-time load is not remembered.
Choosing to load a player means your browser connects to that provider, which may then process your visit under its own terms and privacy policy. That part is outside this site’s control, which is why nothing is loaded until you ask for it. The site never sends your identity, your email or any account information to a provider; it only asks for the specific release you chose to hear.
Only a finite list of providers is supported, and the embed address is always derived by this application from a stored provider link. Arbitrary embed code cannot be published. The existing server-side provider and iframe allowlists remain in force, and each provider is granted only the minimum iframe permissions its player needs.
Change or withdraw consent
Open Cookie settings in the footer to see and update the current choices. Disabling analytics takes effect immediately for application events, removes the Google tag, and attempts to clear removable first-party _ga cookies. A later reload leaves Analytics blocked. Browser controls can also delete stored cookies.
Policy changes
The consent cookie includes a schema version. A material change to the categories or purposes can increment that version and ask visitors to choose again. Questions can be sent to Tim Lord at hello@timlord.co.uk.