UKTech.News has published an updated Cookie Policy, effective from 04/06/2025, outlining how the website uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance user experience, deliver personalized advertising, and gather analytics. The policy applies to all visitors from the United Kingdom and is designed to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

What Are Cookies and How Are They Used?

Cookies are small text files stored on a user's device when visiting a website. They help the site remember preferences, track browsing behaviour, and enable certain functionalities. The policy categorizes cookies into several types: technical or functional cookies (essential for site operation), statistics cookies (for anonymous usage analysis), advertising cookies (to deliver relevant ads), and marketing/tracking cookies (used for creating user profiles across websites).

Functional cookies can be placed without explicit consent as they are necessary for the website to work. Examples include session cookies that keep a user logged in or remember items in a shopping cart. Statistics cookies, such as those from Google Analytics, require the user's permission. Similarly, advertising and marketing cookies only activate after the visitor gives consent via the cookie banner.

Third-Party Services and Data Sharing

The policy lists numerous third-party services that place cookies on behalf of UKTech.News. These include Google various services (for website development and analytics), CloudFlare (content delivery network and bot filtering), Criteo (remarketing), Facebook (social sharing and retargeting), LinkedIn (social plugins and ad targeting), Hotjar (heatmaps and session recordings), and several others like Stripe for payments, HubSpot for marketing automation, and Snowplow for deep analytics.

Each service has its own privacy policy, and the cookie policy provides links for users to review how their data is handled. Some services store data in the United States, which means transfers are governed by appropriate safeguards under UK data protection law, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

User Consent and Control

Upon first visit, users see a pop-up banner explaining cookie usage. They can select which categories they accept and save preferences. The policy uses the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) for managing vendor consents, including both consent-based and legitimate interest purposes. Users can give or withdraw consent per purpose (statistics, marketing) and object to legitimate interest processing.

Special features, special purposes, and features are outlined within the TCF vendorlist, allowing granular control. The cookie policy also explains how to manage consent via browser settings or by deleting cookies manually. If all cookies are disabled, some functionality may be impaired.

Legal Basis and Your Rights

The legal basis for processing personal data through cookies includes consent (for non-essential cookies) and legitimate interest (for certain purposes like fraud prevention or load balancing). Under UK GDPR, users have specific rights: the right to know why data is processed, the right to access their personal data, the right to rectify or delete it, the right to withdraw consent, the right to data portability, and the right to object to processing.

To exercise these rights, users can contact the publisher at the provided email (mydata@ex.comwearemvi.com) or phone number. Complaints can also be directed to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's supervisory authority for data protection.

Overview of Specific Cookies and Their Purposes

The policy includes a detailed table of cookies placed by each service, with names, expiration durations, and functions. For example:

• Google Analytics places cookies like _ga (2 years) and _gid (1 day) to store and count pageviews.
• Facebook uses _fbp (3 months) for cross-site tracking and fr (3 months) for ad delivery.
• CloudFlare sets __cf_bm (30 minutes) to filter bot traffic.
• Complianz (the consent management platform) stores multiple cookies like cmplz_marketing and cmplz_statistics (each for 365 days) to remember user preferences.
• One Signal uses cookies for push notification opt-in status.
• HubSpot employs __hstc (13 months) for tracking visitor identity and hubspotutk (13 months) for marketing automation.
• LinkedIn sets cookies such as bcookie (1 year) for browser details and lidc (1 day) for load balancing.

Many cookies have an expiration of "persistent" or "session," meaning they either remain on the device indefinitely or disappear when the browser is closed. The policy also notes that some cookies are marked as "purpose pending investigation," indicating that the publisher is still classifying their exact function.

Data Retention and Security

Retention periods vary per cookie type. For example, Google Analytics retains data for up to 2 years, while some advertising cookies expire after a few months. The publisher states that data is not shared with third parties except as necessary for the services listed, and many services have their own data retention policies. Users are encouraged to review the privacy statements linked in the policy.

Implications for Publishers and Users

This updated Cookie Policy reflects the evolving landscape of digital privacy regulation in the UK. With the ICO increasingly focusing on cookie compliance, publishers like UKTech.News must ensure transparent disclosure and meaningful user choice. The use of the TCF framework aligns with industry standards, allowing users to control data processing across multiple vendors from a single interface.

For users, the policy emphasizes that they can object to legitimate interest purposes, which is a right not always clearly communicated. The inclusion of detailed tables and vendor-specific information demonstrates a commitment to transparency, though the sheer number of cookies (especially those pending investigation) may raise concerns about oversight. Users are advised to regularly check their cookie preferences and browser settings to maintain control over their data.

Source: UKTN News