Most cookie policies are written to be survived rather than read. This one is written so that you can actually tell what LaptopHaber.com does. If anything below is unclear, ask us and we will fix the wording.
What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store, so that the site can recognise something on your next request — that you have already dismissed a banner, for example. Related technologies do a similar job: local storage keeps data in the browser until it is cleared, and pixels are tiny images whose loading tells a server that a page was opened. Where this policy says "cookies", it covers all of them.
Cookies are either first-party (set by laptophaber.com) or third-party (set by another domain whose content is embedded in the page). They are also either session cookies, which disappear when you close the browser, or persistent ones, which survive until they expire or you delete them.
The legal position
In the UK, cookies are governed by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), with UK GDPR setting the standard for what counts as valid consent. In practice that means:
- Strictly necessary cookies need no consent. These are the ones without which a service you explicitly asked for cannot be delivered. "Necessary for our business" is not the same thing as "strictly necessary" and does not qualify.
- Everything else needs consent first. That includes analytics. Consent has to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous — which rules out pre-ticked boxes, implied consent from continued browsing, and cookie walls with no genuine alternative.
- Refusing must be as easy as accepting. A prominent "Accept" with a buried "Manage preferences" is not compliant.
- You can change your mind at any time, and withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it.
What this site actually sets
LaptopHaber.com is a static website. It has no login, no shopping basket and no user accounts, so there is very little it needs to remember. Concretely:
- Before you make a choice, only strictly necessary cookies are set. Nothing is counted, and no third-party script runs.
- If you accept analytics, a single privacy-respecting analytics cookie is set so we can see which guides are read and where people give up. It does not follow you to other sites.
- No advertising or cross-site tracking cookies are set, in any circumstances. We do not run retargeting, and we do not share visitor data with ad networks.
Submitting the enquiry form sends us the details you typed. How we handle those is covered in the privacy policy, not here.
Cookie categories in full
| Category | Purpose | Typical lifetime | Consent needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Makes the site work: remembering your cookie choice, protecting the enquiry form against automated abuse, and keeping a form submission intact if you reload the page. | Session to 12 months | No — exempt under PECR |
| Preference | Remembers small choices you make, such as a FAQ section you left open. Nothing here identifies you. | Up to 6 months | Yes |
| Analytics | Counts visits and shows which guides people actually read, so we know which pages to improve. Aggregated, never used to build a profile of you. | Up to 13 months | Yes |
| Marketing / advertising | Would track you across other websites to target adverts. We do not set any, and we do not intend to. | Not applicable | Yes — but none are set |
Third-party services
Some third-party services can set cookies of their own if they are enabled on a page. Where we use any of the following, it is loaded only after you have consented to the relevant category — not on page load:
- Analytics. Aggregated visit counts and page popularity. No cross-site profile.
- Embedded maps. Only on the contact page, and only if you choose to load the map. Until then you get a plain address and a link.
- Embedded video. Repair demonstrations, where used, are embedded in privacy-enhanced mode and loaded on click.
Web fonts are served from Google Fonts. Google states that the Fonts CSS and font-file endpoints do not set cookies; the request does reach Google's servers, which means your IP address is visible to them. If you would prefer the fonts self-hosted, tell us — it is a small change and we are happy to make it.
Changing your choices on this site
Your cookie preference is stored in a strictly necessary cookie so that we do not have to ask on every page. To change it, open the cookie settings link in the site footer, or clear this site's cookies in your browser and the choice will be requested again on your next visit.
Withdrawing consent stops any further non-essential cookies being set. It does not retroactively delete data already collected — for that, use your right to erasure under the privacy policy.
Browser-level controls
Your browser gives you controls that apply to every site, not just this one. You can block all cookies, block third-party cookies only, or clear what is already stored. Blocking strictly necessary cookies will break parts of most websites, including this one.
- Google Chrome — managing cookies
- Apple Safari — managing cookies
- Mozilla Firefox — managing cookies
- Microsoft Edge — managing cookies
Browsers in private or incognito mode discard cookies when the window closes, which means you will be asked for a cookie choice on every new session.
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
The old Do Not Track header was never standardised and most sites ignore it. We do not rely on it either, because it carries no legal weight in the UK.
Global Privacy Control (GPC) is the successor signal and it does carry legal weight in some jurisdictions. Since this site sets no advertising cookies and asks before setting analytics, a GPC signal changes nothing about what we do — there is nothing to opt out of that you have not already been asked about.
How long your consent lasts
We treat a consent choice as valid for six months, after which we ask again. The Information Commissioner's Office does not set a fixed period, but re-asking within a year is widely accepted as good practice, and six months errs on the side of the visitor.
You will also be asked again if you clear your cookies, switch browser, or use a different device.
Changes to this policy
If we add a service that sets new cookies, this page is updated before that service goes live, and the consent banner is reset so that you are asked again rather than opted in by default. The review date is shown in the contents panel and at the foot of every page.
Questions about this page? Write to hello@laptophabers.com or post to Unit 12, Riverside Workshops, 84 Long Lane, London SE1 4AU, United Kingdom. We reply to every written enquiry within five working days.