1. What cookies are

Cookies are small text files stored by a browser. They help a website remember a choice or understand whether a page is loading correctly. Grenval uses a restrained approach and does not use cookies to build a health profile. Technically, a cookie is a small piece of text sent from a web server and stored on a reader's device, then sent back to the same website on a later visit so the site can recognise a returning browser rather than a returning person by name. Similar storage technologies, such as local storage held within the browser itself, can serve a comparable purpose without necessarily being called a cookie, and this policy treats them in the same way for the sake of clarity. Grenval's approach is deliberately narrow: the website avoids third-party advertising cookies, does not use cookies to infer sensitive characteristics such as a health condition, and only stores what is needed to operate the site and to remember a consent choice.

  • a) A cookie set by grenval.info directly is described as a first-party cookie.
  • b) A cookie set by an embedded provider, such as a map service, is described as a third-party cookie and is covered in Section 6.
  • c) Local storage used for the same consent-recording purpose is treated under this policy in the same way as a cookie.

2. Essential storage

The cookieChoice item records whether a visitor selected Accept All or Reject. It lasts for 12 months. This storage supports the consent banner and is not used to identify a person across unrelated websites. Because this storage is strictly necessary to remember a visitor's own choice about cookies, it is set regardless of whether Accept All or Reject is selected, since the website needs to know which option was chosen in order to avoid showing the banner repeatedly. The value stored is limited to a simple marker of the choice made and a timestamp, and it does not contain a name, email address or any other personal identifier. If a visitor clears their browser storage before the 12-month period ends, the cookieChoice item is removed along with it, and the consent banner will appear again on the next visit as though no choice had previously been made.

  • a) Name: cookieChoice · Type: first-party, strictly necessary · Duration: up to 12 months.
  • b) Purpose: remembers whether Accept All or Reject was selected in the consent banner.
  • c) Content: a choice marker and a date, with no personal identifier included.

3. Session technologies

Some basic hosting functions may rely on short-lived session information. Such information normally ends when the browsing session closes. It is used for reliable delivery rather than personalised advertising. An example of this kind of short-lived storage is a marker that helps the server confirm that a page has loaded correctly during a single visit, which is discarded automatically once the browser tab or window is closed and is never written to long-term storage. This category of storage is generally recognised as strictly necessary under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, meaning it does not require the same prior consent as an optional analytics or advertising cookie, though Grenval still discloses it here for transparency. No session-level storage used on grenval.info is shared with an advertising network or used to build a cross-site browsing history.

  • a) Type: first-party, strictly necessary · Duration: ends when the browser session closes.
  • b) Purpose: supports reliable page delivery during a single visit.
  • c) No session-level storage is shared with an advertising network or used for cross-site tracking.

4. Optional measurement

If optional measurement is enabled in a future version, it will be described here before deployment. It will not be activated without a suitable choice. Any listed analytics item will have a stated provider, purpose and lifespan. At present, grenval.info does not run any analytics, advertising or profiling cookie, so no optional cookie table currently appears in this section, and Accept All has no additional effect beyond recording the choice described in Section 2. Should Grenval introduce a measurement tool such as a privacy-focused analytics service in the future, the cookie's name, provider, purpose and maximum lifespan will be added here in advance of activation, and existing visitors will be shown the consent banner again so that a fresh, informed choice can be made before any optional cookie is set.

  • a) Current optional analytics cookies in use: none.
  • b) Any future analytics cookie will be documented here, including provider name and maximum lifespan, before it is set.
  • c) A returning visitor will be asked to make a fresh choice if a new optional cookie is introduced after their last visit.

5. Managing choices

A visitor can reject optional storage, clear cookies through browser settings or contact Grenval. Clearing the consent item may cause the banner to appear again. Browser settings vary, so the browser help pages provide the most current instructions. Most desktop and mobile browsers, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, provide a settings menu where stored cookies can be viewed individually and deleted, either for grenval.info specifically or for all sites visited. A visitor who wishes to change an earlier choice can also use the Cookie Settings link available from the consent banner or footer, without needing to clear their entire browser history. Where a visitor blocks all cookies at the browser level, including the strictly necessary cookieChoice item, the consent banner may reappear on every visit, since the website will have no way of remembering that a choice was previously made.

  • a) Reject optional cookies directly from the consent banner at any time.
  • b) Use the browser's own settings menu to view and delete cookies stored by grenval.info.
  • c) Contact [email protected] for help if a cookie-related setting is unclear.

6. Third parties

Embedded content, such as a map on the contact page, may be delivered by another provider and may set its own technologies. Grenval does not control those settings. Visitors should consult the provider’s privacy information before using an embedded service. The Google Maps embed used on the contact page, for example, is loaded directly from Google's own servers, and interacting with that map may result in Google setting its own cookies under its separate privacy policy, over which Grenval has no visibility or control. Grenval has chosen embedded providers that are widely used and generally recognised in the United Kingdom, but including a third-party service on a page does not make Grenval responsible for that provider's own data practices. A visitor who prefers not to load third-party content can typically avoid doing so by not scrolling to or interacting with the relevant embed, though on some pages the map may load automatically as part of the page's normal display.

7. Updates

This policy was updated on 24 September 2026. It may be revised if the website’s tools change. The latest version is always available from the footer. A revision to this policy will typically follow the introduction of a new tool or supplier, and where a change affects an optional cookie, Grenval will prompt a fresh consent choice rather than relying on a decision made under the previous version of the policy. Minor corrections, such as a wording clarification that does not change what is actually collected, may be made without a separate announcement, though the date at the top of this section will still be updated to reflect the most recent revision. A visitor who wants to understand what has changed between two versions of this policy can contact [email protected] for a summary of the differences.

  • a) 24 September 2026 — current version published, describing the cookieChoice item, session-level delivery storage, and the Google Maps embed referenced in Section 6.
  • b) Any future revision adding an analytics or measurement cookie will be recorded here with the date the change takes effect, ahead of that cookie being set on a visitor's device.
  • c) Where a third-party provider named in Section 6 changes its own cookie practices, this policy will be updated to reflect that change within a reasonable period after Grenval becomes aware of it.