Cookie Notice
Last updated: 6 September 2026
This notice explains what Besttalk stores on your device, why, and how you control it.
It sits alongside our Privacy Notice, which covers everything else we do with your information.
The short version
- Nothing optional is stored until you choose. No analytics or advertising technology runs on your first visit until you have told us what you want
- Refusing is exactly as easy as accepting — same button, same prominence, one click
- You can change your mind at any time from "Cookie preferences" at the bottom of any page
- We ask you again every six months, so a choice you made long ago does not stand forever
- Analytics never receives your health information — not the conditions you select, not your questionnaire answers, not what you tell us about your situation
What we are talking about
Websites store small amounts of data on your device. Cookies are the best-known kind, but they are not the only one — browsers also offer storage areas called local storage and session storage, and the rules are the same for all of them. Where this notice says "cookies", it means all of it.
We group everything into three categories.
Necessary — always on
These make the website work. Without them we could not run the site, so they cannot be switched off, and the law does not require us to ask permission for them.
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
btk_consent |
Remembers your cookie choices. We cannot honour your refusal unless we remember it | 6 months |
sessionData |
An anonymous reference for your visit, so your progress through "find a psychologist" survives a page refresh | 1 day |
| Sign-in tokens | Keep you signed in and secure. Stored in your browser's local storage, not a cookie | Until you sign out |
| Security and load-balancing | Protect the site and route your requests. Set automatically by our hosting provider | Session |
Analytics — only if you accept
Helps us understand which pages people use and where the site is confusing.
| What | Set by | How long |
|---|---|---|
_ga, _ga_<container id> |
Google Analytics — tells returning visits apart | Up to 2 years |
_gid |
Google Analytics — groups a single day's activity | 24 hours |
Google Analytics is loaded through Google Tag Manager, and neither loads at all unless you accept analytics. If you refuse, or have not yet chosen, we also actively clear any of these already on your device.
What Google does not receive. Analytics counts things — pages viewed, a booking completed. It is never sent the conditions you selected, your questionnaire answers, anything you typed about your situation, or your email address. We took the deliberate decision to remove identifying information from what analytics sees, because linking a named person to a therapy booking would disclose something about their health, and no cookie banner can make that acceptable.
Advertising — only if you accept
Lets us see whether an advert led someone to book, so we know what is worth paying for.
| What | Set by | How long |
|---|---|---|
gclid |
Us — records that you arrived from a Google advert | 90 days |
_gcl_* |
Google — links an advert click to a booking | Up to 90 days |
We are not currently running any advertising, so nothing is stored in this category today. We ask about it now so that if we start again we do not have to interrupt everyone a second time. It is switched off unless you turn it on.
Changing your mind
"Cookie preferences" at the bottom of every page. It opens the same panel as the original banner, with your current choices shown. Withdrawing is as easy as consenting — that is your right under the law, and we would rather it were genuinely true than technically true.
When you withdraw, the page reloads. A script already running cannot be unloaded, and reloading is the only way we can honestly promise nothing further is sent.
We ask again every six months. Beyond that, a stored answer is too old to mean much. We will also ask again if we add or change the technologies behind these categories, so your choice always reflects what is actually running.
Your browser can also control this
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, and browsers offer a "do not track" or anti-tracking setting you may already have on.
Blocking all cookies will stop parts of Besttalk working — you may not be able to stay signed in or complete a booking. Blocking only the optional categories is what our own controls do, and does no harm.
Where this information goes
Analytics and advertising data is handled by Google, based in the United States. Those transfers rely on the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, a UK Government arrangement recognising that certified US organisations provide adequate protection. We check the certification and re-check it annually.
Necessary cookies stay within our own systems, hosted in the United Kingdom.
Questions
privacy@besttalk.co.uk
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office — ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint · 0303 123 1113.