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AES Maintenance: Cookie Policy

DRAFT: not for publication. Not legal advice. AES's solicitor must review before go-live (Gate D). Items in [square brackets] are placeholders to be completed.

Solicitor checklist: (1) confirm Laravel session cookie name and configuration (name, domain, SameSite, Secure flags) to complete section 1; (2) list the exact CSRF token and session cookie names before launch; (3) confirm that no third-party analytics, tracking or advertising cookies are added after Phase 5; (4) if embedded Stripe.js is ever added to a page (not Stripe Checkout), review whether a consent banner becomes necessary; (5) note for the team that any tracking, heatmaps or CRMs added later will require a consent banner and privacy policy update.

1. What this policy covers

This policy explains how aes-maintenance.co.uk uses cookies and similar storage technologies. AES Maintenance uses only strictly necessary cookies to make the site work and secure your account. We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies at launch.

Strictly necessary cookies

Our website uses the following strictly necessary cookies, which cannot be disabled:

| Purpose | Type | [Cookie name] | Duration | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | User session | Session cookie | [to be confirmed] | Session (deleted when you close your browser) or [duration] | | Security and form protection | CSRF token | [to be confirmed] | Session or [duration] |

These cookies allow you to stay signed in, submit forms safely and book services. Without them, the website cannot function.

Local storage

We may use browser local storage (a similar technology to cookies) to store non-sensitive information such as your preferred timezone or session references. Local storage data never includes passwords, card details or personal information.

2. How to control cookies

Browser settings

You can control or delete cookies in your browser settings:

If you delete strictly necessary cookies, you will be signed out and will need to sign back in.

Cookie-blocking extensions

Some browser extensions block all cookies, which will prevent you from booking services on aes-maintenance.co.uk. To book, you will need to allow cookies for this site.

3. Third-party cookies

Payment provider (Stripe)

When you complete a booking and make payment through Stripe Checkout, Stripe sets its own cookies on your device to secure the payment process. Stripe's cookies are governed by Stripe's privacy policy (stripe.com/gb/privacy) and terms, not this policy. Stripe's cookies are necessary to complete your payment and cannot be disabled while paying.

We do not use embedded Stripe.js on our pages; payment is handled via Stripe's hosted Checkout page, which means Stripe's tracking is limited to the checkout process itself.

Postcodes.io

When you enter your postcode in the booking wizard, we send it to postcodes.io to validate your service area. Postcodes.io does not set cookies that track you across the web; it only processes the postcode lookup.

4. Analytics and tracking

We do not use:

This may change in future phases. If AES adds any analytics or tracking, we will update this policy and offer you a choice.

5. Do I need to consent to cookies?

No consent banner is displayed on this site because we use only strictly necessary cookies, which are exempt from the requirement to ask permission under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (PECR) Regulations 2003 in the UK and similar ePrivacy rules in the EU.

If this changes (for example, if we add analytics, advertising or tracking), we will display a consent banner and update this policy. If Stripe.js is ever embedded directly on an AES page (rather than using Stripe Checkout), we will review whether consent becomes necessary.

6. Your privacy

For full details of how we collect and use personal data, including session data, see our [Privacy Notice].

7. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy if our cookie use changes. This policy was last updated [date]. For the current version, visit aes-maintenance.co.uk/cookies.