Cookie policy

Last updated: 25th April 2025

1. Introduction

This Cookie Policy explains how Barnsbury Housing Association (“we”, “us”, “our”) uses cookies and similar technologies on our website to comply with the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) / Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

What are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They help us recognise your device and remember information about your visit.

2. How we use cookies

We use cookies to:

Remember your cookie consent preferences.
Understand how visitors interact with our website using analytics, helping us improve site performance and user experience.

3. Types of cookies we use

The cookies used on our website fall into the following categories:

Strictly necessary cookies:

Purpose: This cookie is essential for remembering your choices regarding cookie consent. It does not store personally identifiable information.
Legal basis: These cookies do not require your consent under PECR exemptions as they are necessary to remember your preference choice.
Specific cookie:
- privacy-cookies: Remembers whether you have accepted or rejected the use of non-essential analytics cookies.
Retention: 1 year.

Performance and analytics cookies:

Purpose: These cookies help us understand how visitors use our website by collecting and reporting information anonymously. We use this data (via Google Analytics) to monitor site performance, identify popular content, and improve the overall user experience.
Legal basis: We only use these cookies with your explicit consent, obtained via the cookie banner when you first visit our site.
Specific cookies (Google Analytics):
- _ga: Used to distinguish users by assigning a randomly generated client identifier.
- _ga_GA1.1.2106462494.1745827818: Used to persist session state for Google Analytics.
Retention: The _ga cookie typically persists for 2 years. Other Google Analytics cookies related to the session have shorter durations.

4. Third-party cookies

The performance and analytics cookies described above are provided by Google Analytics. While we implement these cookies on our website, they are set by Google.

Provider: Google LLC
Purpose: Website analytics.
Cookies: _ga, _ga_GA1.1.2106462494.1745827818
Data shared: When you consent to these cookies, pseudonymous identifiers and information about your interaction with our website (like pages visited, time spent) are shared with Google to provide us with aggregated analytics reports. Google may also use data collected for its own purposes as described in its policies.
Safeguards & third-party policies: We rely on the safeguards provided by Google. You can learn more about how Google uses data when you use partners’ sites or apps here: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and in Google’s main privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

5. Managing cookies

Initial consent: When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner explaining our use of cookies. You will be asked to provide your consent for the use of non-essential performance and analytics cookies. Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent and will be set to remember your choice.

Managing preferences via browser settings: If you wish to manage cookies after making your initial choice, including blocking or deleting cookies, you can do so through your web browser settings.

Most web browsers provide guidance on how to manage cookies. You can find instructions for common browsers via reliable third-party information sites such as https://www.aboutcookies.org and https://www.allaboutcookies.org.

6. Cookie retention

As detailed above:

Our strictly necessary consent preference cookie (privacy-cookies) is stored for 1 year.
Our primary Google Analytics cookie (_ga) is stored for up to 2 years. Other associated analytics cookies have shorter durations.

You can delete cookies earlier via your browser settings.

7. Changes to this cookie policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. We review this policy annually or as needed to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the “effective date” at the top of this policy.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies, please contact us.