In short
Switchity sets one cookie that is needed for the site to work, which remembers your cookie choice. Analytics cookies from Google are set only if you accept them. Some pages embed tools from other companies, such as our mobile comparison tool and maps, which may set their own cookies. You can change your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page.
What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file a website stores in your browser. The site can read it on later visits. Cookies can remember a setting, tell a site that two page views came from the same browser, or help a site measure how it is used. Similar techniques, such as browser storage and tracking pixels, are covered by this policy too.
Cookies that are strictly necessary for a site to work can be set without asking. Any other cookie needs your consent under the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Where a cookie involves personal data, UK GDPR also applies. Our Privacy Policy covers that side.
How we ask for your consent
When you first visit, a banner run by CookieYes asks whether you accept analytics cookies. Nothing other than the necessary cookie is set until you choose. If you accept, Google Analytics cookies are set. If you reject, they are not.
Microsoft Clarity, which records how visitors use our comparison pages with all text masked, does not run at all until you accept. Before you have made a choice, Google's analytics code runs in a restricted mode called Consent Mode. In that mode it sets no cookies and sends only limited, non-identifying signals so we can count visits. Full analytics only starts after you accept.
Your choice is stored for 12 months. To change it, use the Cookie settings link in the footer of any page. The banner will reappear and you can switch analytics on or off.
Cookies we set
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Category | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cookieyes-consent | CookieYes, on our domain | Records whether you accepted or rejected analytics cookies so we can respect your choice and prove it | Necessary | 12 months |
| _ga | Google Analytics | Tells apart one browser from another so visits are not double counted. Contains a random ID, not your name | Analytics | 2 years |
| _ga_<id> | Google Analytics | Keeps track of a single visit and the pages viewed within it | Analytics | 2 years |
| _clck | Microsoft Clarity, on our comparison pages only | Holds a random ID for your browser so the pages you view are grouped into one visit. Contains no name or address | Analytics | 12 months |
| _clsk | Microsoft Clarity, on our comparison pages only | Joins the pages you view in one visit into a single recording, with all text on the page masked | Analytics | 1 day |
| CLID | Microsoft Clarity (clarity.ms) | Records that Clarity has seen this browser before | Analytics | 12 months |
We do not set advertising or marketing cookies, and we do not use tracking pixels from social networks or advertising platforms.
Tools from other companies that may set cookies
Some pages embed content that runs on another company's servers. While that content is on the page, the company may set cookies on its own domain, under its own cookie policy. We only embed these tools where the page needs them.
- Stickee mobile and SIM only comparison tool on our mobile phone and SIM only pages. Stickee uses cookies to run the comparison and to record the click when you choose a deal, so a resulting sale can be matched back to Switchity.
- Stickee tracking link when you click any broadband deal. You pass briefly through a Stickee address before reaching the provider. Stickee may set a cookie on its own domain to attribute a sale.
- Google Maps on our local area pages, showing where the area is.
- Google Tag Manager on our comparison pages. It loads the analytics events for the comparison journey and sets no cookies of its own.
- Ookla speed test on our speed test page.
Browser storage that is not a cookie
When you enter your postcode and pick your address, we keep them in your browser's session storage so they follow you from page to page. Session storage is cleared when you close the tab and is never sent to our servers as stored data. We also use it to remember small things such as a notice you have dismissed. None of this identifies you and none of it is used for tracking.
Controlling cookies in your browser
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking all cookies may stop parts of the site working. The main browsers explain how:
Changes to this policy
If we add or remove a cookie, we will update the table above and the date at the top of this page.
Contact
Questions about cookies: hello@switchity.co.uk. Switchity Limited, company number 14331601, Pendleton Grove, Birmingham, West Midlands, B27 7LT.
