What cookies are

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They can be essential for basic functions or used to understand how the site is used.

How Utility Ridge uses cookies

We use essential cookies (or local storage equivalents) to remember your cookie preference so the banner does not reappear every visit. We may use analytics cookies only if you Accept on the banner; Rejecting leaves the site fully usable without optional analytics.

Your choice is stored under the key utilityridge_cookie_consent in localStorage.

Name / keyPurposeDurationProvider
utilityridge_cookie_consentStores Accept or Reject choice for the cookie bannerUntil cleared by you (localStorage)Utility Ridge
session / security (host)Maintain basic site delivery and abuse protection where applicableSession or short-livedHosting provider
analytics (only if accepted)Aggregate visit counts and referrers to improve contentUp to 13 monthsAnalytics provider configured by Utility Ridge

Essential items are required for remembering consent and operating the site. Analytics items do not load when you choose Reject.

Managing and disabling cookies

Use the banner’s Accept or Reject buttons on first visit. You can clear site data in your browser to reset the choice and see the banner again. Browser settings also let you block cookies globally; blocking essential storage may cause the banner to reappear more often.

Third-party cookies

If analytics are enabled after Accept, the analytics provider may set its own cookies subject to its policy. Embedded fonts from Google Fonts may result in network requests to Google; that delivery uses connections rather than first-party tracking cookies from Utility Ridge.

Impact of disabling

Rejecting optional analytics does not block consultations, forms, or content. You may see less tailored improvements to which articles we write next because we will have less aggregate usage data.

More on privacy

Personal data practices are described in our Privacy Policy.