Cookies and Analytics

Banburyshire.com does not use cookies to track you, and there is no cookie banner because there is nothing that needs your consent. This page lists exactly what the site stores in your browser and how we count visits.

Why there is no cookie banner

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations require consent before a website stores anything in your browser that is not strictly necessary for what you asked it to do. Everything we store meets that test, and our visit counting stores nothing at all. In September 2026 we removed Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, the Meta pixel and the consent banner that came with them.

How we count visits

We use Plausible Analytics, which is built to measure a site without identifying anyone. It sets no cookies and writes nothing to your browser's storage. To tell one visit from another during a day it combines your IP address and browser details into a short code that changes every day and cannot be turned back into either. Nothing follows you to other websites, nothing is shared with advertisers, and the script is served from our own domain rather than from a third party.

What we see in the dashboard is aggregate: page views, which sites send visitors here, approximate country and region, device type, and how often people do things like sign up for the newsletter or contact a business.

If you would rather not be counted at all, a browser content blocker that blocks scripts will stop it, and the site works normally without it.

What the site stores in your browser

A session cookie, when you sign in

Signing in to a business account sets a cookie named bs_session. It keeps you logged in and is the only cookie the site sets. It cannot be read by scripts, is only sent over secure connections, lasts up to thirty days from your last visit and is removed when you sign out. Strictly necessary.

Two small preferences

• When you close the newsletter sign-up prompt, we note that in your browser so it does not appear again. It holds no identifier, only a flag.
• If you choose an advertising plan before creating an account, the plan you picked is remembered in your browser so the form starts on it, and is cleared once it has been used.

Both use your browser's local storage, are set only when you take the action described, and never leave your device.

Stripe, when you pay

Paying for a listing takes you to a checkout page run by Stripe, which sets its own cookies to prevent fraud. Those belong to Stripe and are covered by its privacy policy.

Content loaded from other companies

Some pages include content served by other companies. Your browser fetches it directly from them, so they see your IP address and may apply their own policies:

• Mapbox provides the interactive maps on walk pages. It sets no cookies.
• YouTube provides embedded videos, loaded in privacy-enhanced mode so that no cookies are set unless you press play.
• Instagram provides the photographs in the feed on the home page.

Managing cookies

You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings. Deleting the session cookie simply signs you out. Blocking local storage stops the two preferences above being remembered but changes nothing else.

Changes to this page

If we ever add something that does need your consent, we will ask for it before it is set, and this page and the privacy policy will be updated first.