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Cookie and Similar Technologies Policy

How StableMetric uses cookies, local storage, scripts and similar browser technologies.

Last updated:

This policy explains how StableMetric uses cookies, local storage and similar browser technologies.

StableMetric is operated by Ironmark Digital Ltd.

For privacy enquiries, contact privacy@stablemetric.co.uk.

1. What are cookies and similar technologies?

Cookies are small pieces of information stored by your browser when you use a website.

Websites can also use other browser storage technologies, including local storage.

For simplicity, this policy explains both cookies and similar storage technologies because the same privacy rules can apply to them.

StableMetric uses:

  • strictly necessary cookies and storage
  • account authentication cookies
  • security cookies
  • a browser identifier used when contributing cost data
  • a storage item that remembers your cookie preference
  • optional analytics storage, but only after you accept analytics

2. Strictly necessary technologies

Some cookies and storage are required for StableMetric to provide a service you request or to protect the website.

These cannot always be disabled through StableMetric's cookie banner because parts of the site would not function correctly without them.

Typical name: .AspNetCore.Identity.Application

Purpose: Keeps you signed in to your StableMetric account and associates authenticated requests with your login session.

When used: When you sign in.

Type: First-party cookie.

Duration: Normally a session cookie unless you select "Remember me", in which case it may persist in accordance with the site's authentication configuration.

This cookie is required to provide signed-in account functions.

Typical name: .AspNetCore.Antiforgery...

The exact suffix may vary.

Purpose: Helps protect forms and account actions against cross-site request forgery and other unauthorised requests.

Type: First-party cookie.

Duration: Generally limited to the browser/session requirements of the security mechanism.

This is a security technology and is treated as strictly necessary.

Anonymous cost-contribution identifier

Name: sm-anonymous-id

Purpose: Helps StableMetric detect likely duplicate cost contributions and protect the integrity of the cost dataset.

Value: A randomly generated identifier.

Type: First-party cookie.

Duration: Up to 365 days.

Security: The cookie is HTTP-only, uses SameSite=Lax and is marked Secure in production.

It is not an advertising identifier and is not intended to contain your name or email address.

It is created when you submit cost data.

Name: stablemetric_cookie_consent

Technology: Browser local storage.

Purpose: Remembers whether you accepted or rejected optional analytics so that StableMetric can honour your choice on later visits.

Possible values: accepted or rejected.

Duration: The current StableMetric implementation keeps this preference until you change it or clear StableMetric site data in your browser.

This preference is used to remember a choice you have made rather than to analyse your behaviour.

3. Optional analytics

StableMetric uses Ironmark Insights for optional website analytics.

The analytics tracker is not loaded until you select Accept analytics.

If you reject analytics, StableMetric continues to work without the optional tracker.

Analytics helps us understand matters such as:

  • which pages and tools are used
  • how visitors move through the site
  • how long sessions last
  • how far users scroll
  • which downloads are selected
  • which external links are followed
  • whether pages appear useful or are quickly abandoned
  • technical and bot traffic
  • general website performance and content effectiveness

4. Ironmark Insights storage

When analytics is accepted, Ironmark Insights uses browser local storage.

Visitor identifier

Name pattern: im_vid_[tracking key]

Technology: Local storage.

Purpose: Holds a randomly generated pseudonymous visitor token so that visits from the same browser can be recognised for analytics purposes.

Duration: The current tracker does not apply a fixed local expiry to the visitor token while analytics remains accepted. StableMetric removes it when you reject or withdraw analytics consent, and your browser also removes it if you clear StableMetric site data.

The identifier is not intended to contain your name or email address.

Session identifier

Name pattern: im_sid_[tracking key]

Technology: Local storage.

Purpose: Maintains the current analytics session.

Session timeout: Normally 30 minutes of inactivity, subject to the analytics property's configured session settings.

The browser record contains the session token and timestamps used to determine whether the session has expired.

An expired session record is removed when the tracker next checks it. StableMetric also removes the session record when you reject or withdraw analytics consent.

Analytics retry queue

Name: ironmark_retry_queue

Technology: Local storage.

Purpose: Temporarily holds analytics events if they cannot immediately be transmitted, for example because the device is offline or the analytics service is temporarily unavailable.

Maximum stored items: 50.

Maximum retry attempts: 3 per queued item.

Maximum item age: 24 hours.

Expired or exhausted items are removed from the queue by the tracker. StableMetric also removes the retry queue when you reject or withdraw analytics consent.

5. What optional analytics records

Where analytics has been accepted, Ironmark Insights may receive information including:

  • visitor and session identifiers
  • page origin and path, without the query string or fragment
  • page path
  • page title
  • referring origin and path, without its query string or fragment
  • event date and time
  • IP address
  • user agent
  • browser and device information
  • approximate country
  • scroll milestones
  • session engagement
  • file downloads
  • outbound link destination origin and path, without its query string or fragment
  • text associated with an outbound or download link
  • information used to detect likely automated traffic

A visible-page engagement event may be sent periodically while you remain active on a page.

Analytics is used for measurement, service improvement, troubleshooting and maintaining reliable analytics data.

It is not used by StableMetric to determine what horse products you should buy or to build third-party advertising profiles.

StableMetric may display Featured Brands and clearly identified commercial content.

The StableMetric application can count Featured Brand impressions and clicks directly on the server.

Those basic counts do not require an advertising cookie and the StableMetric advertising records do not contain an account ID.

If optional analytics is enabled, clicking an external Featured Brand link may additionally be recorded as an outbound-link analytics event.

StableMetric does not currently use the reviewed codebase to load Google Analytics, Meta Pixel or a third-party behavioural advertising network.

If this changes, this policy and our consent controls will be updated before any newly required tracking is enabled.

7. Accepting or rejecting analytics

When the cookie banner appears, you can:

  • accept optional analytics
  • reject optional analytics
  • open the Cookies page for more information

Rejecting analytics does not prevent you from using StableMetric's public guides, tools or normal site functions.

Strictly necessary cookies may still be used.

8. Changing your mind

You can reopen Cookie settings from StableMetric and change your analytics choice.

If you withdraw consent:

  • the optional Ironmark Insights tracker will stop loading on subsequent page loads
  • new optional analytics activity will stop being sent through that tracker
  • analytics already collected before withdrawal is not automatically erased merely because consent has been withdrawn

StableMetric removes the Ironmark Insights visitor identifier, session identifier and retry queue from local storage when you reject or withdraw analytics consent.

While analytics remains rejected, the analytics tracker is not loaded. You can also clear all StableMetric cookies and local storage through your browser's site-data controls.

9. Clearing cookies and local storage

Modern browsers allow you to inspect, block or delete website data.

You can normally do this through your browser's privacy, cookies or site-data settings.

Deleting StableMetric site data may:

  • sign you out
  • remove your remembered cookie preference
  • remove anonymous browser identifiers
  • remove analytics identifiers
  • cause the cookie banner to appear again

Blocking all cookies may prevent account and security functions from working correctly.

StableMetric currently asks for your consent before loading Ironmark Insights.

You can refuse without losing access to the core StableMetric website.

You can withdraw that consent through Cookie settings.

Where information collected through analytics amounts to personal data, we process it in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

11. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy if:

  • the technologies StableMetric uses change
  • a new analytics or advertising provider is introduced
  • storage durations materially change
  • the purpose of a technology changes
  • applicable legal requirements change

The "Last updated" date at the top shows when this policy was last materially reviewed.

12. Contact

Questions about cookies, analytics or privacy can be sent to:

privacy@stablemetric.co.uk

StableMetric
Ironmark Digital Ltd
167-169 Great Portland Street
5th Floor
London
W1W 5PF
United Kingdom