Privacy
Privacy
The short version: no tracking or analytics, banner ads only if you say yes (and never on the calculators), and the calculators don’t save what you type.
Cookies
We don’t use tracking or analytics cookies, and fonts, images and scripts all come from this site. We set no cookies of our own for visitors. The only one is a session cookie for the site owner’s admin area, which is only sent on admin pages.
When you first visit, a bar asks whether you’re happy with ads cookies. We keep your answer in your browser’s local storage (or, if that’s blocked, in a small cookie from this site called ads_consent) for 6 months, so we don’t have to ask on every page. It holds only “accept” or “reject” and the date, and it isn’t sent to anyone.
Banner ads
Some pages have up to two banner ads: one under the menu, and one part-way through the page. There are none on this page, the contact, terms and affiliate pages, the calculators (their page address can hold your figures), the “get help” page or the photo credits page. The ads come from 5od (5od.co.uk), a small ad service run by the owner of this site. They’re contextual: 5od chooses a banner to suit the page you’re reading, not you. 5od itself sets no cookies and builds no profile of you; your browser sends it the site, the ad position and size, and the address of the page.
The banners are for shops and brands in the Awin affiliate network. Awin’s banner images and links can set Awin’s own cookies: when a banner is shown, and when you click one, so that a purchase can be credited to us. That’s why nothing loads until you choose:
- Accept ads cookies: banners load, and Awin is told you agreed.
- Reject: no banners load at all, and your browser doesn’t contact 5od or Awin for ads.
- JavaScript off: no ads load and you won’t be asked.
Like any website, 5od’s server sees your IP address when your browser asks it for a banner. 5od doesn’t store raw IP addresses: it keeps a scrambled (salted and hashed) version for up to 2 days, only to limit abuse.
Changing your mind
Use Cookie settings (also at the bottom of every page) to see your current choice and change it at any time. If you switch from accept to reject, banners stop loading straight away. Any Awin cookies already set stay in your browser until they expire, or until you delete them in your browser’s settings (clearing this site’s data also resets your choice, and we’ll ask again).
The calculators
The calculators work out their answers on our server when you press the button and send the result straight back. We don’t store your answers or figures in a database. Because the forms send what you type in the page address, your figures will appear in your browser history and may appear in our web server’s standard access logs (see below). They aren’t linked to your name.
Server logs
Like most websites, our hosting keeps standard web server logs — such as the page requested, the time, your IP address and browser type — for security and to fix problems.
Links to other websites
Links to other websites go through a short redirect on this site (/go/…). When you follow one we count the click — the date, which link and which of our pages it was on — but nothing that identifies you. Once you arrive on another website (for example HMRC, a charity or Amazon.co.uk), that site’s own privacy policy applies. Amazon may use cookies to record that you came from us so that any qualifying purchase can be credited to us.
If you email us
We use your email only to reply and keep correspondence only as long as needed. Please don’t send personal tax details.
Questions
Email hello@taxloss.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.