Cookie Policy — Politics Online
Last updated: 20 July 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how Politics Online Limited uses cookies and similar technologies on Politics Online (“the Platform”) — our website, shop, revision resources and interactive lessons, reached at politicsonline.co.uk (the interactive lessons are hosted for us by Vercel and currently load from learning-design.vercel.app — same platform). It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. We use them to make the Platform work, keep it secure, and — with your consent — for analytics, advertising on public website pages, marketing and push notifications. The lessons themselves never use advertising or tracking cookies.
Cookies for browsing, shop and articles
| Cookie type | Purpose | Consent required |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Login, authentication, shopping cart (WooCommerce), fraud prevention, and storing your cookie-consent choices (Usercentrics). The Platform cannot work without these. | No |
| Analytics — Google Analytics | Usage analysis and optimisation. Runs in Google Consent Mode: all analytics storage is off by default and is only enabled if you accept via the consent banner. | Yes |
| Advertising — Google AdSense | Serves advertising on public website pages (never in the lessons). Runs in Google Consent Mode: ad storage and personalisation are off by default and only enabled if you accept via the consent banner. | Yes |
| Marketing — Brevo | Links your visits to our newsletter so we can understand what subscribers find useful. | Yes |
| Push notifications — WonderPush | Web push notifications, only if you opt in to receive them. | Yes |
| Analytics — Koko (self-hosted) | Counts page views on our own server — nothing is shared with any third party. One first-party cookie (a list of page IDs viewed that day, no personal data, unreadable by scripts) prevents double-counting; it expires at midnight. | No — anonymous and first-party |
| Shop attribution (WooCommerce) | First-party cookies recording how you arrived at the site (for example the referring page), attached to an order if you place one, to help us understand what brings customers here. | First-party; you can block it in your browser without affecting the site |
Cookie consent is managed by the Usercentrics consent banner shown on your first visit. Non-essential cookies are only set with your consent.
Changing or withdrawing your consent
- Reopen the banner at any time via the cookie/privacy settings control on the Platform, and change your choices.
- Or delete cookies in your browser settings — the banner will appear again on your next visit.
Cookies inside the lessons
The lesson pages use only strictly necessary cookies — no analytics, advertising, or tracking cookies of any kind — so no cookie banner appears there under UK PECR regulations. The cookies are:
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| pol-session | Your digitally signed login session (it cannot be forged or altered). HttpOnly (cannot be read by JavaScript), Secure (HTTPS only), SameSite=Strict. | 24 hours |
| pol-prefs | A copy of your display and accessibility preferences (theme, font size, dyslexia-friendly font, reduced motion) so pages load with your settings straight away. HttpOnly, Secure. | 30 days |
| pol-password-change | Set only while you set a new password — on first login or after a password reset — to authorise that single step. | Up to 15 minutes (single use) |
| pol-session-original | Set only during a supervised support-access session, preserving the support administrator’s own identity so the access is fully logged. | Duration of the supervised session (max 15 minutes) |
The lesson pages also use your browser’s local storage (a “similar technology” under PECR) for strictly necessary purposes only: remembering your position in a lesson, your audio-playback speed, your display preferences, a short-lived offline buffer of quiz progress, and small flags such as whether you have seen the welcome tour. None of this is tracking; it stays on your device and is removed when you clear your browser’s site data.
Third-party content
Lesson videos are streamed by Vimeo. We embed every video with Do-Not-Track enabled (dnt=1), which disables Vimeo’s tracking and analytics cookies. Playing a video sends your IP address to Vimeo as a technical necessity of streaming — see the sub-processor table in our Privacy Policy. Lesson audio narration is streamed from our database provider Supabase (UK servers) as a technical necessity of playback.
Managing cookies in your browser
You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings (look for “Privacy” or “Site data”). Blocking essential cookies will prevent login and checkout from working.
Changes and contact
We may update this policy when our cookie use changes; the latest version always appears on this page. Questions: admin@politicsonline.co.uk.
Politics Online Limited, 3rd Floor, 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE. Company number 15985148. ICO registration ZB870204.