Cookie Policy
Discover our approach to managing how your device interacts with cookies on our website.
Discover our approach to managing how your device interacts with cookies on our website.
Last updated: 17 NOVEMBER 2025
View as PDF↗1. What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (i.e. computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit a website. They allow the website to recognise you, remember your preferences, and understand how you use the site.
Cookies cannot execute programs or deliver viruses to your computer. They can only read information that they have been allowed to store on your device, and they cannot access any other data on your device.
2. Why do we use cookies?
York Community Consulting uses cookies to:
- Help the Website function properly
- Remember your preferences and login information
- Understand how visitors use our Website to improve it
- Protect the Website from abuse and spam
- Monitor performance and security
- Meet legal and regulatory requirements
3. What cookies do we use?
3.1 Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential for the Website to function. They enable you to:
- Use the portal and account features
- Navigate between pages
- Access secured areas
- Maintain security and prevent fraud
Necessary cookies are set automatically and do not require your consent, as such your preferences do not apply to these cookies. Examples include session cookies, authentication tokens, and CSRF protection cookies.
3.2 Analytics Cookies
These optional cookies help us understand how visitors use our Website. They collect information about:
- Which pages are visited most often
- How users navigate the Website
- How long visitors spend on pages
- Error messages and technical issues
This information is used to improve the Website's functionality and user experience. Data collected is anonymised and used in aggregate only.
We use PostHog for our Website's analytics. Our instance is hosted on EU servers and subject to PostHog's standard data processing terms designed to ensure GDPR compliance.
You must consent to analytics cookies before they are set on your device. We block all analytics cookies until you provide a consent response.
3.3 Marketing / Advertising Cookies
We do not currently use marketing or advertising cookies on our Website. If this changes in the future, we will update this policy accordingly.
3.4 Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies are set by third parties on our behalf (for example, analytics providers). These third-party cookie providers may also set their own cookies to track your behaviour across the internet. We do not have full-control over these third-party cookies, and you should review their privacy policies directly.
Third-party providers we currently use on our Website include PostHog, hCaptcha, and Cloudflare. See Section 8 for links to their privacy policies.
4. Our Website Cookies
This section outlines which cookies are run on our Website, split by category: Necessary and Analytics. Note that these tables are not exhaustive. Additional cookies from third-party services (e.g. Google, YouTube, Twitter/X) may be set if embedded content is used.
You can inspect the current cookies set by our Website using your browser's developer tools.
4.1 Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary and as such do not require your consent to run on our Website.
| Name | Purpose | Provider | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| __Host-next-auth.csrf.token | CSRF protection for authentication | YCC | Session |
| __Secure-next-auth.callback-url | Authentication redirection tracking | YCC | Session |
| __Secure-next-auth.session-token | User session management | YCC | 1 Month |
| __cf_bm | Cloudflare Bot Management for hCaptcha | Cloudflare | 30 Minutes |
4.2 Analytics Cookies
These cookies require your consent to run on our Website.
| Name | Purpose | Provider | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| ph_phc_[...]_posthog | PostHog Analytics Tracking | PostHog (EU Cloud) | 1 Year |
5. Local Storage
In addition to cookies, our Website uses local storage to store information on your device. Local storage allows us to remember your cookie consent preferences, session states, and other settings to improve your experience on the Website.
Like cookies, data stored in local storage may contain personal or behavioural information, and so we treat it with the same privacy standards. We disclose below the type of data stored, its purpose, retention period, and consent requirements.
You can control and delete local storage data through your browser settings, similar to cookies, but note that disabling or removing this data may affect the Website's functionality.
5.1 Necessary
As with cookies, some Local Storage data does not require your consent to be stored in your browser.
| Name | Purpose | Provider | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| nextauth.message | Storing session trigger messages | YCC | Session |
| cookie_consent | Stores cookie consent choice | YCC | Persistent |
| __ph_opt_in_out_phc_[...] | Stores PostHog opt-in/out preference | PostHog (EU Cloud) | Persistent |
5.2 Analytics
This data is stored, only when you consent to the Analytics cookies, to enhance the functionality of our metrics.
| Name | Purpose | Provider | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| __ph_phc_[...]_posthog | PostHog local storage for anonymous analytics data | PostHog (EU Cloud) | Persistent |
| lastSeenSurveyDate | Records last seen PostHog survey date | PostHog (EU Cloud) | Persistent |
| seenSurvey_[...] | Records completion of PostHog surveys | PostHog (EU Cloud) | Persistent |
6. Your Cookie Choices
6.1 How to Manage Your Preferences
When you first visit our Website, you will see a cookie consent banner allowing you to:
- Accept all cookies
- Customise your preferences for each cookie category
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the "Manage Cookie Preferences" link in the footer of our Website.
If you decline analytics cookies, we use a cookieless analytics mode that collects limited, fully anonymised data without storing cookies.
When you withdraw consent for analytics cookies, all associated cookies and local storage data are immediately deleted from your device. However, your consent preference is retained to honour your decision and prevent future cookie placement without your renewed permission.
6.2 Browser Controls
You can also control cookies through your web browser's settings. Most browsers allow you to:
- Accept or reject cookies
- Delete existing cookies
- Receive a warning before a cookie is stored
You should consult your browser's help documentation or privacy settings to learn how to manage cookies. Note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our Website, particularly the portal and account features.
6.3 Do Not Track
Some browsers include a "Do Not Track" feature. Our Website respects opt-out choices through our cookie consent banner. We continue to monitor developments in browser-based privacy signals.
7. How long do we keep cookies?
Necessary cookies are kept for the duration of your session or up to 1 month for authentication purposes.
Analytics cookies are retained for up to 1 year on your device. Note our arrangement with PostHog means that session recordings are retained for up to 30 days, and remaining analytics data is kept for up to 1 year.
Once you withdraw consent to optional cookies, they are immediately deleted from your device.
8. Third-Party Privacy Policies
Our Website may embed or link to third-party services that set their own cookies. These services have their own privacy policies which you should review.
PostHog: Privacy Policy | Statement on GDPR Compliance
hCaptcha: Privacy Policy | Statement on GDPR Compliance
Cloudflare: Privacy Policy | Statement on GDPR Compliance
We are not responsible for third-party cookies or their practices. Your use of third-party services is at your own risk and subject to their terms.
9. International Data Transfers
Our analytics provider processes data on servers located within the European Union. Other services used by this Website (such as hCaptcha) may process data internationally. Where these services involve transfers outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards such as adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or the UK extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
For further details, see our Privacy Policy .
10. Changes to this Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our cookie usage, legal requirements, or other factors.
The "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy reflects the most recent version. Any changes will be posted on this page, and your continued use of the Website after updates are published means you accept the revised Cookie Policy.
If we make material changes (e.g., adding new third-party cookies), we will endeavour to seek your renewed consent where required by law.
11. Questions or Concerns?
If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or how we use cookies on our Website, please contact us using the following methods outlined below.
Email: team@yorkcommunityconsulting.co.uk
Contact Form: https://www.yorkcommunityconsulting.co.uk/contact
Post: York Community Consulting, Careers and Placements, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.