GARDENAR INFORMATION

Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy explains cookies and related browser storage in the context of Gardenar, a UK gardening website with articles and free calculators. The supplied front-end code does not install analytics or advertising tags or create its own cookies. That statement applies to the reviewed website files, not automatically to every host, security service or future feature used after deployment.

What cookies actually do

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website or a service it uses can ask a browser to store. Cookies can serve different purposes: maintaining a sign-in session, remembering a preference, measuring website use or helping an advertising service identify and limit repeated displays. Whether a cookie is necessary depends on what it does, not simply whether it belongs to the site or a third party.

Some technologies are similar to cookies without technically being the same thing. Examples include local storage, tracking pixels and certain methods of reading information from a device. Depending on the use, privacy and electronic-communications requirements can apply to these technologies too.

The important question for a visitor is not whether a website has a decorative banner. It is what information is stored or accessed, for what purpose, by whom and whether a genuine choice is offered when required.

What the supplied Gardenar website uses

The static Gardenar files reviewed for this update contain local JavaScript for navigation, filtering guides and calculating results. That JavaScript does not call a cookie-setting function, read or write local storage, or load Google Analytics or AdSense. Calculator results are shown in the page rather than being submitted to a Gardenar account or cloud database.

These observations are useful but have a limit. A hosting provider can add infrastructure services or technical controls that are not visible in the site's HTML. The files alone do not verify a live server's headers, externally injected scripts, content-delivery network or security configuration. Cookie use should be tested on the deployed domain, not assumed from a ZIP file.

Feature in the reviewed build	Browser behaviour in the supplied code	What could change later
Site search	Uses a search term in the URL	Analytics could log searches if added
Gardening calculators	Work in the browser	A new account or cloud-save feature could collect data
Guide filters and mobile menu	Change visible page content	Preference storage could be added
Advertising	No AdSense tag included	Ad providers may use cookies and other identifiers
Analytics	No analytics library found	New measurement scripts may require disclosure or consent

This is a description of the downloadable version, not a promise that Gardenar will never use cookies.

Strictly necessary versus optional uses

Some services need limited storage or access to provide a feature specifically requested by a visitor or to transmit a communication. Other uses, such as audience profiling and personalised advertising, are not automatically necessary for displaying a gardening article. The legal treatment depends on the specific technology and purpose.

UK rules for cookies and similar technologies are explained by the Information Commissioner's Office. A valid consent choice requires more than simply displaying a notice. Where consent is necessary, a visitor should receive clear information before the relevant non-essential technology is used and be able to make a meaningful choice.

A generic sentence such as “by using this site you accept all cookies” is not a substitute for a properly designed consent mechanism. Nor should a website label all analytics and advertising technology “essential” merely because it would prefer to collect the information.

The reviewed site code does not load advertising or analytics technology that would justify presenting a consent dialog for those particular functions. Adding a banner that claims to control nonexistent trackers would mislead visitors. At the same time, the lack of a banner in the static files does not prove that the final live installation is exempt from consent requirements.

Before publishing, the operator should inspect the live site in a fresh browser session and record what cookies or storage entries appear, which service sets them and what they are used for. If a host or security service sets an identifier, its purpose and legal treatment must be checked. If non-essential scripts are introduced, the consent experience should be built before those scripts run.

Google AdSense is not included in the supplied front-end build. If it is enabled later, the website's privacy and cookie disclosures must describe the relevant advertising technologies and providers. Ad tags can cause requests to external advertising services and the use of cookies or related identifiers, depending on configuration and consent.

Google has specific consent-management requirements for publishers serving personalised advertising in the UK and EEA, including the use of a Google-certified consent management platform integrated with the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework. The current site files do not implement such a system. Consult Google's publisher guidance and the current UK regulatory position before activation.

A publisher should not treat installing an ad script as the final step. Correct consent behaviour, a complete privacy notice, vendor information, and tests from the relevant regions are part of a responsible release.

How to inspect cookies yourself

Most browsers let you inspect website cookies and local storage through the privacy settings or developer tools. The names differ by browser and version, but a typical approach is to open the website, locate the browser's site-data view, and inspect entries associated with the domain and embedded services.

Try a private browsing session if you want to reduce the influence of previously stored data. Then visit a few pages and interact with the calculators. Compare the results with what appears in the browser's storage view. If the page includes external advertising or analytics in a future edition, relevant third-party requests may also appear in the browser's network view.

Deleting cookies generally removes the locally stored copies for that browser profile. It does not erase technical request logs already held by a website host, network provider or advertising business. Those records are governed by the relevant organisations' own policies and legal obligations.

Your browser choices

You can often block, remove or restrict cookies in browser settings. Some browsers have additional options for third-party cookies, tracking protection or clearing site data when the browser closes. These controls may affect sign-in or preferences on other websites, although the supplied Gardenar build does not require an account.

Browser tools are useful supplementary controls; they do not relieve a website operator of its duty to obtain consent when required. Likewise, disabling cookies does not necessarily prevent every form of online data processing. A page request still has to reach a server to display the website.

External links and other providers

Gardenar guides may link to external resources such as public weather or horticultural information. Once you open those services, their own cookie and privacy policies apply. A link is not the same as embedding a third-party tracker in the Gardenar page. Nevertheless, external services may process personal data when you access them.

If videos, maps, social media embeds or advertising are added to Gardenar later, their behaviour should be investigated separately. Some embedded content makes third-party requests before a visitor clicks anything; where that would be non-essential, a suitable consent or click-to-load design may be needed.

Review and updates

This policy should be updated whenever the site's code or providers change in a way that affects browser storage, analytics, advertising or visitor choices. It is not good enough to copy a competitor's cookie table, because that would describe services that may not exist here while missing services that do.

The Privacy Policy covers other forms of personal-data processing, including potential hosting logs and details that require operator confirmation. For cookie or privacy questions, contact gardenar@gmail.com or use the Contact page. No contact form is included in the static site.

Are there Google advertising cookies on Gardenar now?

No Google AdSense code is included in the supplied website files. Only live deployment checks can confirm which cookies or other identifiers visitors actually receive from the full hosting setup.

Does a calculation save my measurements?

The reviewed Gardenar calculators process the entered values in the browser and do not implement cookie or local-storage saving. A result is intended as a temporary planning estimate, not a stored account record.

Does “no analytics script” mean nobody processes my IP address?

No. The host and network services can process technical information to deliver a webpage. See the Privacy Policy for the distinction between on-page tracking and routine web-server processing.

Should I accept every cookie to read the guides?

The supplied pages do not include a cookie-consent choice because they contain no non-essential tracking scripts in their own code. If that changes, the operator should provide the legally required information and choices before non-essential technologies are used.