Cookie Policy
Last updated: 25 August 2026
What this policy covers
This policy explains every cookie and similar technology used on the CrowdComms website, who provides it, what it does, how long it lasts, and how you can control it. It covers cookies as well as technologies that work the same way, such as browser local storage and session storage.
We keep this site deliberately light: no social media pixels and no ad networks beyond the Google Ads measurement described below, which is off unless you switch it on. What we use falls into four groups, described below.
How consent works on this site
When you first visit, a banner offers three equally easy choices: Accept all, Reject all, or Manage preferences for category-by-category control. Nothing non-essential is stored on your device before you choose.
- Your choice is stored in a first-party cookie (
cc_cookie) for 182 days, along with a consent receipt: an anonymous consent ID, a timestamp, the choices you made and the version of the notice you saw. - If your browser sends the Global Privacy Control signal and you have not already made a choice, we treat it as Reject all for everything non-essential. You can still opt in at any time.
- If we materially change what we use or who provides it, the banner asks again.
- You can change or withdraw your choices at any time using the Cookie preferences link in the footer of every page, or the button at the end of this policy. Withdrawing consent stops the related technologies and removes the cookies they set on this site.
Strictly necessary
These are required for the site to work and to remember your consent choices. They are always on. Consent-preference storage of this kind is exempt from consent requirements under UK and EU rules.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
cc_cookie | CrowdComms (this site) | Stores your consent choices and consent receipt | 182 days |
__cf_bm | Cloudflare (via HubSpot) | Bot protection and security on embedded HubSpot content | 30 minutes |
_cfuvid | Cloudflare (via HubSpot) | Security rate limiting on embedded HubSpot content | Session |
__hs_do_not_track | HubSpot | Records that you have refused analytics, so HubSpot does not track you. Set only if you reject or withdraw analytics consent | 6 months |
ccNavHoverSuppressUntil | CrowdComms (this site) | Session storage flag that briefly suppresses the navigation menu after you click a link. Contains no personal data | Session |
Analytics (only with your consent)
We use two analytics providers, and both are off until you allow them.
HubSpot is our marketing platform. With your consent, HubSpot analytics links your visit to our marketing records if you contact us, which helps us understand which pages are useful, and tells us which of our adverts and campaigns led to an enquiry.
Google Analytics 4, provided by Google, tells us how the site is used overall: which pages people read, how they found us, and how they move through the site. It is installed directly on this site; we use no tag manager container and no Google advertising features, so nothing here is used to build advertising profiles or to target ads.
Neither provider is contacted before you accept. Their scripts are not placed on the page at all until you allow analytics, and Google is told in advance, before any of its code can run, that analytics storage is denied. If you reject or later withdraw analytics, we stop both providers (we instruct HubSpot not to track you at all and switch Google Analytics off for this site) and the cookies in the table below are deleted from your device.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
__hstc | HubSpot | Main analytics cookie: visits and timestamps | 6 months |
hubspotutk | HubSpot | Visitor identity; links form submissions to your visit history | 6 months |
__hssc | HubSpot | Session tracking | 30 minutes |
__hssrc | HubSpot | Detects a new browser session | Session |
_ga | Google (Google Analytics) | Randomly generated ID that tells one browser from another, so visits can be counted | 2 years |
_ga_8W0KBDY8QN | Google (Google Analytics) | Keeps session state for this site's Google Analytics property | 2 years |
Google processes this data for us as our processor, and may transfer it outside the UK and EEA under the safeguards described in our Privacy Policy.
Our contact and demo forms are provided by HubSpot but work without these cookies: rejecting analytics never stops you contacting us.
Advertising (off unless you turn it on)
We advertise on Google, and with your consent Google Ads cookies measure whether that advertising works: whether an ad click led to an enquiry. This is its own choice, separate from analytics. Accepting analytics does not switch it on, it defaults to off, and rejecting it changes nothing about how the site works. If you accept and later withdraw, the cookies below are deleted from this site; the separate advertising cookie Google sets on its own domain stops being refreshed, which is as far as any website can reach.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_gcl_au | Conversion linker: connects an ad click to a later enquiry on this site | 90 days | |
_gcl_aw | Stores the identifier of the Google ad you clicked; set only after an ad click | 90 days | |
_gac_* | Campaign information shared between Google Ads and Google Analytics | 90 days |
Embedded content (only when loaded)
Some pages embed content from other providers: YouTube and Vimeo videos on our advice articles and archived posts, and the HubSpot meeting scheduler behind Book a Demo. None of them loads automatically. Each appears as a placeholder telling you what loading it means, and loads only when you choose to open it or when you have allowed it under Cookie preferences. YouTube placeholders show a preview image fetched from YouTube's image server; that request stores nothing on your device.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | YouTube (Google) | Playback settings and abuse prevention | 6 months |
YSC | YouTube (Google) | Tracks video views within a session | Session |
yt-remote-device-id and related | YouTube (Google) | Persistent device identifiers in local storage | Until deleted |
player | Vimeo | Remembers your playback preferences (volume, quality) | 1 year |
vuid | Vimeo | Analytics identifier for videos you have played | 2 years |
__hstc, hubspotutk and related | HubSpot | Analytics inside the meeting scheduler once loaded | Up to 6 months |
messagesUtk | HubSpot | Visitor recognition for HubSpot messaging tools, if shown | 6 months |
The third parties we use
We name every provider rather than referring to unspecified partners:
- HubSpot (forms, meeting scheduling, analytics), acting as our processor. See the HubSpot cookie policy.
- Cloudflare (security and bot protection for HubSpot-served content). See the Cloudflare cookie policy.
- Google (Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads measurement, each only with your consent and each behind its own choice). See how Google uses cookies and how Google uses data when you use our site.
- Google / YouTube (video playback, only after you load a video). See how Google uses cookies.
- Vimeo (video playback, only after you load a video). See the Vimeo cookie policy.
Change or withdraw your choices
Open your preferences at any time:
You can also delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please see our Privacy Policy or get in touch via our contact page.
Changes to this policy
When we change the technologies we use, the providers behind them, or their purposes, we will update this page and ask for your consent again through the banner.