Cookies Policy

This policy explains what Happy People Learning Centre stores on your device when you use hplcentre.com, why we store it, and what you can do about it. It sits alongside our privacy policy, which explains what we do with personal information more generally.

Cookies are small text files a website asks your browser to keep. Websites can also use similar technologies, such as local storage, which works in much the same way. Where this policy says cookies, it means both.

The short version

We use a small amount of storage to make the site work: to keep you signed in, to remember your basket and to remember your display preferences. We do not use advertising cookies, we do not track you across other websites, and we do not sell anything about you. Our visitor statistics are collected without cookies and cannot identify you.

Strictly necessary storage

These are needed for the site to function. Without them you could not sign in or buy a course, so they are not something we can offer to turn off. They are set only when you actually use the feature.

• Sign-in session - a cookie set by our authentication provider, Auth0, once you sign in. It keeps you signed in as you move between pages and is deleted when you sign out. Set only if you have an account and sign in
• hpl-cart - stores the courses in your basket in your browser's local storage, so your basket survives a refresh. It stays until you empty your basket, complete an order or clear your browser data
• Checkout - when you pay, you are taken to Stripe's own secure checkout page. Stripe sets its own cookies there, on its own website, to process the payment and prevent fraud. Their cookie notice applies to that page

Preference storage

• hpl-theme - remembers whether you chose the light or dark version of the site, so it looks the same next time. Stays until you clear your browser data
• hpl-policy-notice - remembers that you have dismissed the notice about these policies, so it does not reappear on every page. Stays until you clear your browser data

Visitor statistics, without cookies

We use Vercel Web Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to see how many people visit, which pages are read and how quickly pages load for real visitors.

Neither uses cookies and neither stores anything on your device. Visitors are counted using a hash generated from the incoming request, which is reset every day, so the same person cannot be recognised from one day to the next, and cannot be followed to any other website. No advertising profile is built and nothing is sold on.

Content from other websites

Some of our pages include a video. We use YouTube's no-cookie domain, and the player is not loaded at all until you click play - until then, YouTube receives nothing and sets nothing. If you do play a video, YouTube may set its own cookies, and Google's privacy policy governs what it then does. Not playing the video avoids this entirely.

Our fonts are served from our own website rather than from a font network, so loading a page does not tell any third party that you visited.

What we do not use

• No advertising or retargeting cookies
• No social media tracking pixels
• No Google Analytics or comparable third-party analytics
• No profiling, and no automated decisions about you
• No selling or sharing of your data with data brokers

Why we show a notice rather than ask permission

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, permission is needed for storage that is not strictly necessary for a service you asked for - most obviously advertising and tracking cookies. Everything above is either strictly necessary or a preference you set yourself, and our visitor statistics use no storage at all.

So the law requires us to tell you clearly what we store and why, which is what the notice on the site and this page do, rather than to ask you to consent. If we ever add something that does need your consent, we will ask for it properly before it is used, and this policy will change first.

Controlling what is stored

You can delete or block cookies and local storage in your browser settings; every major browser offers this, usually under Privacy. Blocking everything will stop the site from working properly - you will not be able to stay signed in, and your basket will empty when you move between pages.

Clearing your browser data for this site removes everything listed above, including the record that you dismissed our notice, so the notice will appear again.

Changes to this policy

If we change what we store, we will update this page and, where your permission becomes necessary, ask for it before anything new is set. The date at the top tells you when this policy last changed.

Questions

Email hello@hplcentre.com, or write to Happy People Learning Centre, 27 Freetrade House, Lowther Road, Stanmore, HA7 1EP.