Cookies

What a cookie is and how long it lasts

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks the browser to store on the device you are using. It holds a short string of data that the site can read back on a later request, which lets it recognize a returning browser or keep a process consistent from one page load to the next. Cookies are set by the site you are visiting and, on some sites, by a service that site embeds.

A session cookie lasts only as long as the browsing session: the browser discards it when it closes, so nothing remains on the device afterwards. A persistent cookie carries an expiry and stays for a set period, after which the browser removes it automatically. Neither kind runs code, opens files or reads anything else stored on the device; each is a value the browser keeps and returns to the site that set it. This policy describes the cookies that birchandharbour.com sets and the one value the site stores outside a cookie.

Which categories this site uses

Cookies are usually grouped into four categories. Below is each one, with a plain answer for this site rather than a summary that leaves the question open.

Necessary. WordPress, the software this site is built on, sets cookies of its own for people who log in to the administration area or who leave a comment. A visitor who does neither is not given a cookie by it. No other necessary cookie is set.

Functional. None. The site does not use cookies to remember display preferences, language choices or the progress of a form.

Analytics. None. The site loads no analytics script, so no cookie is set to count visits, record page views, capture referrers or track behaviour across a session.

Marketing. None. The site loads no advertising and no third-party tracking script of any kind. Every stylesheet, script and image on a page is served by the site itself, so no advertising network, measurement service or embedded widget receives a cookie from here.

The banner, the two buttons, and where the answer lives

On a first visit, a banner appears with a short statement and two buttons: Accept and Reject. Both do the same two things and nothing else — the choice is recorded and the banner closes. Nothing is loaded, unlocked or blocked as a result today. The answer is recorded so that anything added to the site later can respect it. There is no third state, no preferences panel, no per-category switch and no link that reopens the banner.

The choice is not stored in a cookie. It is a single value held in the browser's own local storage, under a key belonging to this site, containing either "accepted" or "rejected". Because it sits in local storage rather than in a cookie, the value is never sent to the server and is not shared with any other site.

To change the answer, clear this site's data in the browser, through the same settings described in the next section. The stored value is removed with the rest of the site's data, and the banner appears again on the next visit.

Clearing or blocking cookies in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge

Every current browser lets you view, block and delete the data a site has stored, through its settings, in a privacy, security or data section. The exact wording moves between releases and between operating systems, so the notes below describe where the setting lives rather than reciting a menu path that may already have changed.

Chrome keeps cookie and site-data controls in its privacy and security settings, where individual sites can also be removed from the stored list.

Firefox groups the same controls under cookies and site data within its privacy and security settings, with a separate entry for clearing data when the browser closes.

Safari places them in its privacy settings, including a manage website data view that lists what each site currently holds.

Edge keeps cookies and site permissions in its settings, alongside a list of stored site data that can be cleared per site or in full.

Clearing this site's data in any of them removes the stored answer to the banner as well as any WordPress cookie left by an administration login or a comment.

Who to ask about this document

Questions about this policy, about what the site stores, or about a cookie you believe was set in error can go to Birch & Harbour through the contact page at /contact/. The inbox is [email protected] and the phone number is +1 (604) 498-6160.

If the question concerns something you saw stored in a particular browser, include the page you were viewing and the browser and version you used. That detail is usually enough to identify whether the entry came from this site or from another one.

The privacy policy and the terms

This document covers cookies and stored values only. The privacy policy at /privacy/ sets out what information is collected through the site, how it is used, when it is shared, how long it is kept and what choices you have over it.

The terms at /terms/ cover the conditions attached to using the site itself. Where a question touches on both a cookie and personal information, the privacy policy is the document that answers it.