Cookie policy
Last updated: 14 September 2026
1. What are cookies?
We only use cookies that serve a purpose. No advertising, no cross-site tracking, no selling your data.
Cookies are small text files that a website places on your device when you visit. They are widely used to make sites work, to remember your preferences, and — on some sites — to track you for advertising. We do not use cookies for advertising or tracking. Every cookie we set either keeps the site working, remembers a choice you made, or measures anonymous page views (only with your permission).
2. Why we use cookies
Three reasons: to keep you securely logged in, to remember your preferences, and (only with your consent) to count anonymous page views.
We use cookies for three purposes: (1) to keep the site secure and functional — without session and CSRF cookies the login system does not work; (2) to remember choices you have already made, such as whether you closed the cookie banner; and (3) to understand which pages are useful to visitors, using Vercel Web Analytics. Purposes 2 and 3 require your consent; purpose 1 does not.
3. Which cookies we use
Eight cookies in total across four categories, plus a small number of browser local-storage items used by the site and by Sarah, our automated assistant. Two cookies require Stripe to be active; two are set only after you consent.
The table below lists every cookie set on optitechautomation.co.uk, who sets it, what it does, and how long it lasts. As well as cookies, we use your browser’s local storage (which PECR treats the same way) for a few functional items that only exist to make features you use work: sarah_wishes (Sarah’s daily question counter — resets each day), sarah_profile (the trade you told Sarah, so she doesn’t ask you twice), and short-lived session markers that remember you have already seen the homepage intro animation this visit (otiIntroSeen, oa3SigSeen). These items stay on your device, contain no advertising identifiers, are never shared with anyone, and disappear if you clear your browser storage.
3a. Strictly necessary (no consent required)
These cookies are essential for the site to work. You cannot turn them off without breaking core features such as logging in and form submission.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
sb-[project]-auth-token | OptiTech Automation / Supabase | Keeps you logged in to the platform | Session | Strictly necessary |
__Host-next-auth.csrf-token | OptiTech Automation / Next.js | Prevents cross-site request forgery attacks on form submissions | Session | Strictly necessary |
optitech-cookie-consent (browser storage, not a cookie) | OptiTech Automation | Stores your cookie consent choice in your own browser, using local storage rather than a cookie, so we do not show the banner on every page load. It is never sent to us | Until you clear your browser storage | Strictly necessary |
3b. Functional (consent required)
These cookies remember choices you have made to improve your experience. They are only set after you click "Accept" in the cookie banner.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
dismissed-banner-state | OptiTech Automation | Remembers whether you dismissed an announcement banner | 30 days | Functional |
optitech-theme | OptiTech Automation | Remembers your display preference (light or dark mode) | 30 days | Functional |
optitech-last-section | OptiTech Automation | Remembers the last section of the site you visited, so navigation feels continuous | Session | Functional |
3c. Analytics (consent required)
Anonymous page view counting only. No personal data, no cross-site tracking. Only active after you consent.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
_vercel_insights_id | Vercel (first-party) | Anonymous page view analytics — counts visits to pages so we can improve the site. No personal data is attached. | 1 year | Analytics |
3d. Payment-required (active when using payment features)
These cookies are set by Stripe when you use a payment form. They are technically necessary for secure payment processing and cannot be disabled without breaking checkout. Stripe's own privacy policy applies to these cookies.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__stripe_mid | Stripe | Fraud prevention and secure payment processing by Stripe | 1 year | Payment (necessary) |
__stripe_sid | Stripe | Session identifier for Stripe payment processing | 30 minutes | Payment (necessary) |
4. Your choices
You can accept or decline non-essential cookies at any time. Strictly necessary cookies cannot be turned off without breaking the site.
4a. Cookie banner
When you first visit optitechautomation.co.uk you will see a cookie banner with two choices. "Accept all" allows functional and analytics cookies. "Essential only" restricts us to strictly necessary cookies, and so does closing the banner without choosing, because nothing optional loads until you say so. You can change your mind at any time: the "Cookie settings" link at the foot of every page forgets your choice and the banner asks again. The choice itself is kept in your browser's local storage, not in a cookie, so clearing site data in your browser has the same effect.
4b. Browser settings
Every major browser lets you view, block, or delete cookies. The links below take you to the settings page for the most common browsers:
- Google Chrome cookie settings
- Mozilla Firefox cookie settings
- Apple Safari cookie settings
- Microsoft Edge cookie settings
Blocking strictly necessary cookies (such as the Supabase auth session cookie) will prevent you from logging in to the platform. We recommend accepting strictly necessary cookies while declining analytics if you prefer.
5. Third-party cookies
Two third parties set cookies on our site: Stripe (for payments) and Vercel (for anonymous analytics). Neither is used for advertising.
5a. Stripe (payment processing)
Stripe sets the __stripe_mid and __stripe_sid cookies when a payment form is active. These are necessary for Stripe's fraud detection and secure card processing. OptiTech Automation has no control over these cookies; they are governed by Stripe's privacy policy at stripe.com/gb/privacy. Stripe is certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
5b. Vercel Web Analytics (page view analytics)
Vercel Web Analytics sets the _vercel_insights_id cookie to count anonymous page views. This is a first-party analytics service — the data is collected by Vercel on our behalf and is not shared with other parties for advertising or profiling. The cookie contains no personally identifiable information. Vercel's privacy policy is at vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.
5c. Google Fonts (typefaces)
The typefaces on this site are served by Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com). Your browser fetches the font files from Google when a page loads, which means Google receives your IP address and the page address as part of that request, the same as for any file on the web. Google Fonts sets no cookies and we send it nothing else. This is the only third party contacted on a normal page view, and it is listed here because a policy that names every cookie and skips the fonts is not a complete one.
We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, TikTok Pixel, or any other advertising or retargeting cookie. No cross-site tracking takes place on this website.
6. Legal basis
Cookie use on optitechautomation.co.uk is governed by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR 2003), which implement the EU ePrivacy Directive in UK law and continue to apply post-Brexit. Under PECR Regulation 6, we may set strictly necessary cookies without consent. All other cookies (functional, analytics) require prior, freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent, which we obtain via the cookie banner. Payment-related Stripe cookies are set by Stripe as a third-party technical necessity when Stripe.js is loaded by a payment form; they fall under Stripe's own PECR compliance.
7. Changes to this policy
We will update this policy if we add, remove, or change any cookies on optitechautomation.co.uk. Material changes will be notified via the cookie banner, which will reset your consent so you can make a fresh choice. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version of this policy, which covers this website. The OptiTech Automation platform app is a separate estate with its own cookie policy and its own version number, kept separately because the two set different cookies.
8. Contact us about cookies
If you have a question about how we use cookies or want to withdraw consent, contact us:
To raise a concern with the regulator: Information Commissioner's Office, ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.