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cookie policy

cookies on
this site.

a cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to keep. we use as few as we can get away with, and none of the optional ones are set until you say yes.

last updated 18 september 2026

what a cookie actually is

a cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to keep on your device. next visit, the site reads it back. some are thrown away the second you close the tab. others sit there for months, until they expire or you clear them out.

a cookie cannot run a program and it cannot go rummaging through the rest of your device. what it can do is recognise the browser you are using, which is why the law treats it as your business rather than ours.

a few things that are not technically cookies work the same way, like the small amount of data a review or video widget keeps in your browser's local storage. we treat those exactly the same as cookies, and everything below covers them too.

what we use them for

three things, and only three. remembering the answer you give our cookie banner, so we stop asking. counting visits, in the aggregate, so we can see which pages are worth keeping. and loading a couple of things from other companies, our trustpilot score being the main one, which bring storage of their own.

we do not use cookies to advertise to you. we do not build a profile of you. we do not sell what they tell us to anybody, and we are not planning to start.

the three groups

every cookie on this site sits in one of three groups. the banner asks about them separately, so you can say yes to one and no to another.

strictly necessary

cookies the site cannot do without. right now that means exactly one: the record of the cookie choice you make. the law does not ask for your permission for essential cookies, so this group has no off switch. there is only one cookie in it and it holds nothing about you.

analytics

counting visits and page views so we can see what people actually use. we use google analytics for this, and it only loads once you say yes. the cookies it sets are named below.

things from other companies

our live trustpilot score and our live chat window, which livechat run for us, plus any embedded video we add later. these load from someone else's servers, so they can set storage under their own policies. off until you say yes.

the cookies in detail

this is the full list. if we add one, this page changes first.

earth_consent
what it does
remembers which groups you said yes to, so the banner stops asking
set by
us, on earthbroadband.com. a first-party cookie, so nobody else can read it.
what it holds
a version number, the date you answered, and the names of the groups you allowed. no name, no email, no identifier, nothing that points back to you.
how long it lasts
6 months from the day you answer, then it expires on its own and we ask again
if cookies are blocked
some browsers refuse cookies outright. if yours does, we keep the same answer in your browser's local storage instead, stamped with the same date, so it still runs out after 6 months.
category
strictly necessary, cannot be turned off
_ga and _ga_RQGMSC70PE
what they do
google analytics 4 uses these two to count visits and page views. the first tells one browser apart from another so a return visit is not counted twice, the second keeps the state of your visit on this site.
set by
google, on earthbroadband.com, and only after you allow analytics. nothing loads from google before that.
what they hold
a randomly generated id for your browser and a timestamp. no name, no email, and nothing you have typed into a form on this site.
how long they last
2 years from your most recent visit, unless you clear your cookies or change your answer here first
category
analytics, only with your consent
livechat
what it does
runs the live chat window, so you can type to our team instead of ringing. it only loads when someone is there to answer.
set by
livechat inc, from their own domain, under their own cookie policy. they use theirs to keep your conversation going as you move between pages.
how long it lasts
livechat set and control these, so the durations are theirs rather than ours. their cookie policy carries the current list.
category
things from other companies, only with your consent
trustpilot
what it does
loads our live review score from trustpilot on the home and why earth pages
set by
trustpilot a/s, from their own domain, under their own cookie policy
how long it lasts
trustpilot set and control these, so the durations are theirs rather than ours. their cookie policy carries the current list.
category
things from other companies, only with your consent

until you say yes to that last group, the trustpilot score is not loaded at all. you will see a small placeholder where it would sit, with a button to load it if you want it. the live chat window is not loaded either, so the chat bubble will not appear.

how long your answer lasts

6 months. after that the banner comes back, so you get a fresh say instead of living with something you clicked once and forgot. it also comes back if you clear your cookies, change browser, or pick up a different device, because your answer lives in the browser you gave it in and nowhere else.

we do not keep a copy on our servers. no account, no log, no record of your choice anywhere except that one cookie in your own browser. that does mean we cannot look it up for you, which we think is the right trade.

changing your mind

whenever you like, and it takes effect straight away. the same options sit in the footer of every page on this site, under cookie settings.

turn a group off and we stop loading it immediately. cookies another company has already set on their own domain are theirs, not ours, so clearing your browser cookies as well is the thorough way to do it.

doing it in your browser instead

every browser can block or delete cookies, usually under settings and then privacy. chrome, safari, firefox and edge each have a help page showing exactly where. blocking the lot works fine, with one side effect: our banner will ask you again on every visit, because your answer has nowhere to live.

most browsers also offer a "do not track" setting. it never became a standard and almost nothing honours it, so we do not pretend to rely on it. we go by your answer to our banner, which is a choice we can actually act on.

where you stand legally

in the uk, cookies are covered by the privacy and electronic communications regulations, and any personal data involved by uk gdpr. for everything except the strictly necessary group we rely on your consent. you give it freely, you can withdraw it at any time with the buttons above, and withdrawing is exactly as easy as giving it. that is deliberate.

our privacy policy covers personal data more broadly: what we hold, why, how long we keep it and the rights you have over it.

questions, or a complaint

ring us on 01403 214069 or email earthbroadband@hometelecom.co.uk and a real person will pick it up. we are home telecom limited, unit 8 piries place, horsham, west sussex, rh12 1eh, registered in england as 07412021.

if we handle it badly you can complain to the information commissioner's office at ico.org.uk. we would rather you came to us first and gave us the chance to put it right.

changes to this policy

when we add or remove a cookie we update this page first. if the change needs your consent we ask you again rather than assuming your old answer stretches to cover it.