The short, honest version: browsing this site sets no cookies unless you say yes. The one optional set is Google Analytics, and we ask first. The only cookie we set without asking is the one that keeps you signed in to your own account, and only once you have made one.
One optional cookie set, and only if you say yes
By default this site sets no cookies. If you press "Allow analytics" on the banner, we set Google Analytics cookies so we can see which pages help visitors and which confuse them, and make the site better. That is the whole use: no advertising trackers, no tracking pixels, no selling or sharing of your data, and IP addresses are anonymised. If you press "No thanks", nothing is set and the site works exactly the same. You can change your mind at any time, in either direction: the "Cookie choices" link in the footer of every page brings the banner back, and withdrawing is the same one click as agreeing. Withdraw, and the analytics cookies are not used again; clearing this site's data in your browser removes them entirely.
The banner, and your choice
Cookie banners exist to ask your consent for cookies a site wants but does not strictly need. Ours asks exactly one question, once: whether we may set the Google Analytics cookies described above. "Allow analytics" and "No thanks" are equal one-click answers, your choice is remembered either way, and nothing is set before you answer.
That follows the rules we work under: the GDPR, Spain's LOPDGDD and LSSI (the EU and Spanish rules on data protection and online services), and the UK's PECR for visitors from the UK. Their core rule is simple: no non-essential cookies without consent. So we ask first, every time, and "no" is a one-click answer that costs you nothing.
The one third-party request: Google Fonts
The site loads its two typefaces from Google Fonts. When a page loads, your browser fetches the font files from Google's servers. That means Google sees your IP address and standard browser details. Google states that its Fonts service does not set cookies. The request sits under Google's own privacy policy.
If you allow analytics, your browser also talks to Google Analytics; that request is described above and only ever happens after your yes. There are no other third-party requests on this site.
If we ever add more cookies
If we ever add any other cookie that is not strictly necessary, we will ask for your consent first, with a clear yes or no, before anything is set. That is what the law requires, and it is also just honest. We will rewrite this page at the same time, so it stays true.
The one cookie that keeps you signed in
If you create a free Grants Finder account and sign in, we set one cookie that keeps you connected so you do not have to log in again on every visit and every page. This is a "strictly necessary" cookie: the account simply cannot work without it, so the law lets us set it without a banner. But it still deserves plain honesty, so here it is in full:
- Name:
ts_session. - What it does: remembers that you are signed in, and nothing else. It carries no advertising value, follows you to no other site, and is never read by any third party.
- How long it lasts: up to 30 days of staying connected, and it is deleted the moment you sign out.
- Who can read it: only our own site. On the live site it is marked HttpOnly and Secure, which means no script, ours or anyone else's, can read it, and it only ever travels over an encrypted connection.
If you never make an account, this cookie is never set. It is the only cookie we set without asking first, because it is the only one the site cannot function without once you have chosen to sign in.
One more thing, said plainly because it matters: while you are signed in, the finder learns from what you search, view and save, exactly as our privacy notice describes. That learning happens on our servers, from the pages your browser asks for. It sets no extra cookie, stores nothing else on your device, and reads nothing from it beyond this one session cookie. If we ever wanted more than that, we would ask first.
While the Grants Finder is in preview, accounts live in your browser only, and this cookie is set by the page rather than by our server; it does the same job. When the real account service goes live, the same cookie is set by the server as HttpOnly and Secure, exactly as described above.
Questions
Anything unclear: marc@thestart.agency. Our privacy notice covers the rest of how we handle personal data. When this page changes, the date at the top changes with it.