01. What Are Cookies & Local Storage?
Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites function efficiently, improve browsing performance, and provide anonymous reporting information.
In addition to cookies, we may utilize standard web browser local storage (HTML5 LocalStorage) to preserve user preferences (such as your session progress and local display settings) directly in your browser.
02. How We Use Cookies on ukbrightminds.org
We use cookies and associated technologies for the following purposes:
- Ensuring Website Integrity & Performance: Ensuring pages render rapidly, interactive STEM demonstration carousels operate smoothly, and navigation persists.
- Booking & Scheduling Integration: Facilitating live interactive appointment selection for your free 30-minute introductory lesson through Calendly.
- Security: Protecting our contact forms and preventing fraudulent or malicious automated bots from spamming our platform.
03. Categories of Cookies We Use
A. Strictly Necessary Cookies (Essential)
These cookies are vital for the basic operation of our website and cannot be deactivated in our systems. They enable essential security features, navigation, and accessibility. You can configure your browser to block these cookies, but certain core sections of the site will not function correctly.
B. Functional Cookies
These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as content manager previews, audio playback preferences, and layout options) to provide an enhanced and personalized experience.
C. Performance & Analytics Cookies
These cookies collect aggregated, fully anonymised data regarding which pages are visited most frequently and whether visitors encounter broken links. They do not collect information that directly identifies individual students or parents.
04. Cookie Inventory Table
| Cookie / Key | Provider | Purpose | Expiry | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__cf_bm |
Cloudflare / CDN | Differentiates human visitors from bots to protect against DDoS attacks. | 30 minutes | Strictly Necessary |
ukbm_state |
ukbrightminds.org | Preserves user UI preferences, modal states, and accessibility choices. | Persistent (Local) | Functional |
opted_in |
Calendly Inc. | Maintains booking tool session state when selecting a trial time slot. | 1 year | Functional / Third-Party |
_ga / _gid |
Google Analytics | Anonymised aggregate traffic metrics to identify page loading bottlenecks. | Up to 13 months | Analytics (Optional) |
05. Third-Party Cookies & External Integrations
When you interact with integrated external features on our site—such as booking a session via our Calendly widget or playing embedded educational videos—these third-party providers may place cookies on your device.
These third-party cookies are governed by the respective providers' privacy and cookie statements:
- Calendly Privacy & Cookie Policy: calendly.com/privacy
- Google Workspace Privacy: policies.google.com/privacy
06. Managing & Disabling Cookies in Your Browser
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Most modern web browsers allow you to manage or clear your cookie settings at any time:
- Google Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Third-party cookies → Block or clear cookies.
- Apple Safari (Mac & iOS): Preferences / Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data → Remove.
- Mozilla Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data.
- Microsoft Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies.
Please note that blocking essential cookies may prevent our Calendly booking module from loading properly. If you encounter issues scheduling online, you can always book directly by emailing hello@ukbrightminds.org.
07. Contact & Questions
If you have questions regarding our use of cookies or tracking technologies, please contact us:
UK Bright Minds Technical & Privacy Desk
We are dedicated to transparent, privacy-first technology.