Cookie Policy
Effective: 25 February 2025 · Last Updated: 25 February 2025
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, tablet, smartphone, or other device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, to provide information to website owners, and to enhance the user experience.
Cookies are stored by your web browser and can be read by the website that created them when you revisit. They can last for varying periods — some are deleted when you close your browser (session cookies), while others remain on your device for a set period or until you manually delete them (persistent cookies).
This Cookie Policy should be read alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains how we process personal data collected through cookies.
2. How We Use Cookies
Elm Processing uses cookies and similar technologies on our website for the following purposes:
- Essential functionality — to ensure the website works properly and securely, including remembering your cookie preferences
- Performance and analytics — to understand how visitors use our website, which pages are most popular, and how we can improve the user experience
- Functionality — to remember choices you make (such as language or region preferences) and provide enhanced, personalised features
- Marketing — to deliver relevant content and, where applicable, to measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns
3. Types of Cookies We Use
We categorise the cookies used on our website into the following groups:
| Category | Consent Required? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly Necessary | No | These cookies are essential for the website to function properly. They enable core functionality such as security, network management, cookie consent management, and accessibility. The website cannot function correctly without these cookies, and they cannot be switched off in our systems. |
| Performance / Analytics | Yes | These cookies collect anonymous information about how visitors use our website, such as which pages are visited most often and whether visitors encounter error messages. This data helps us improve the performance and usability of the site. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information. |
| Functionality | Yes | These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your preferred language, region, or display preferences) and provide enhanced, more personal features. They may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. |
| Marketing / Targeting | Yes | These cookies may be set through our website by our advertising partners. They may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant content on other websites. They do not directly store personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and device. |
4. Detailed Cookie List
Below is a detailed list of the cookies used on our website:
4.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cookie_consent | Elm Processing | Stores your cookie consent preferences so we do not ask you again on each visit | 12 months | HTTP / First-party |
| __csrf_token | Elm Processing | Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection token to secure form submissions | Session | HTTP / First-party |
| session_id | Elm Processing | Maintains your session state while you navigate the website | Session | HTTP / First-party |
4.2 Performance / Analytics Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics | Registers a unique ID used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website | 2 years | HTTP / Third-party |
| _ga_* | Google Analytics | Used by Google Analytics to collect data on the number of times a user has visited the website, and the dates for the first and most recent visit | 2 years | HTTP / Third-party |
| _gid | Google Analytics | Registers a unique ID used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website | 24 hours | HTTP / Third-party |
| _gat | Google Analytics | Used to throttle the request rate to Google Analytics, limiting data collection on high-traffic websites | 1 minute | HTTP / Third-party |
4.3 Functionality Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lang_pref | Elm Processing | Remembers your preferred language setting | 12 months | HTTP / First-party |
| theme_pref | Elm Processing | Remembers your display theme preference (if applicable) | 12 months | HTTP / First-party |
4.4 Marketing / Targeting Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We do not currently use marketing or targeting cookies. If this changes, we will update this policy and seek appropriate consent before setting such cookies. | ||||
5. Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies on our website are set by third parties whose services we use. We do not control these cookies. The main third-party service we currently use is:
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect anonymous, aggregated information such as the number of visitors, the pages they visit, and the source from which they arrived.
Google Analytics data is processed by Google LLC. Google may transfer and store this data on servers in the United States. Google has certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and we have configured Google Analytics to anonymise IP addresses before storage.
You can learn more about Google's data practices at: Google Privacy Policy
You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on.
6. Cookie Consent
In accordance with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 ("PECR") and ICO guidance, we obtain your consent before setting any cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of the website.
When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner that gives you the option to:
- Accept All Cookies — consent to all categories of cookies
- Essential Only — allow only strictly necessary cookies and reject all optional cookies
- Manage Preferences — choose which categories of cookies you wish to accept
Your cookie preferences are stored in a first-party cookie (cookie_consent) for 12 months. You can change your preferences at any time by:
- Clicking the "Cookie Settings" link in the website footer
- Clearing your cookies in your browser and revisiting our website (this will trigger the consent banner again)
Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent, as they are essential for the website to function. They cannot be switched off.
7. Managing Cookies in Your Browser
In addition to managing cookies through our consent mechanism, you can control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to:
- View the cookies stored on your device
- Delete all or specific cookies
- Block all cookies or cookies from specific sites
- Set preferences for first-party vs. third-party cookies
- Receive notifications when cookies are being set
Here are links to cookie management instructions for the most popular browsers:
8. Impact of Disabling Cookies
If you choose to block or delete cookies, some features of our website may not function correctly. Specifically:
- Strictly Necessary Cookies: Blocking these may prevent the website from functioning at all, including form submissions and security features
- Analytics Cookies: Blocking these will mean your visit is not recorded in our analytics, but the website will continue to function normally
- Functionality Cookies: Blocking these may mean the website cannot remember your preferences
We recommend keeping strictly necessary cookies enabled for the best experience.
9. Other Tracking Technologies
In addition to cookies, we may use the following similar technologies:
- Web beacons (pixel tags) — small transparent image files that may be included in our emails to track whether emails are opened and which links are clicked. This helps us measure the effectiveness of our communications
- Server logs — our web servers automatically log certain information when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser type, referring URL, and pages visited. This data is used for security monitoring and website performance analysis
- Local storage — some website features may use your browser's local storage to store preferences or temporary data. This functions similarly to cookies but is managed differently by your browser
These technologies are subject to the same consent requirements as cookies under PECR, except where they are strictly necessary for the provision of the service.
10. Updates to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use, changes in technology, or changes in applicable law. When we make changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.
If we introduce new categories of cookies or make material changes to how we use cookies, we will seek your consent again through our cookie consent mechanism.
We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, please contact us:
Phone: 03330 495 551
Post: Elm Requirements Ltd T/A Elm Processing Ltd, 167-169 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PF, United Kingdom
For more information about how we process personal data, please see our Privacy Policy.