Cookie policy
Last updated: 2 September 2026
The short version
Nothing except the consent cookie itself runs until you agree to it. If you decline, no analytics, no session recording and no advertising cookies are set at all.
Everything below loads through Google Tag Manager, and consent is handled by Cookiebot. You can change your mind at any time using the cookie settings link in the banner.
Strictly necessary
These are set regardless, because without them the site cannot remember your choice.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| CookieConsent | Cookiebot | Remembers what you agreed to | 1 month |
| __cf_bm | Tells humans and bots apart | 1 day | |
| bcookie | Spam detection and security | 12 months | |
| li_gc | Stores your consent state for LinkedIn | 180 days |
The LinkedIn entries are classed as necessary by Cookiebot. They only appear once LinkedIn's tag has loaded, and that needs your marketing consent first.
Preferences
Only set if you accept preference cookies.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| lidc | Picks which server cluster serves you | 1 day |
Analytics
Only set if you accept analytics.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics | Tells returning visits apart from new ones | 24 months |
| _ga_* | Google Analytics | Keeps session state | 24 months |
| _clck | Microsoft Clarity | Links your activity across pages | 12 months |
| _clsk | Microsoft Clarity | Groups a single visit together | 1 day |
| _cltk | Microsoft Clarity | Holds the recording session id | Session |
| CLID | Microsoft Clarity | Identifies the browser for recordings | 12 months |
| c.gif | Microsoft Clarity | Tracking pixel that sends the data back | Session |
Microsoft Clarity records your session. That means how you move, scroll and click on the page, played back later as a recording, plus heatmaps built from many visitors. Clarity masks text you type into forms by default, so your name, email and message are not captured in the recording.
Advertising
Only set if you accept marketing cookies. These let advertising platforms tell whether an ad led to an enquiry.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | Google Ads | Links an ad click to a later enquiry | 3 months |
| _gcl_ls | Google Tag Manager | Same job, held in local storage | Until you clear it |
| _fbp | Meta | Measures whether a Meta ad led to anything | 3 months |
| fr | Meta | Ad delivery and measurement | 3 months |
| lastExternalReferrer | Meta | Records the last site you came from | Until you clear it |
| lastExternalReferrerTime | Meta | Records when you came from it | Until you clear it |
| MUID | Microsoft (Bing, Clarity) | A single user id shared across Microsoft sites | 12 months |
| MR | Microsoft (Bing, Clarity) | Tracks visitors across sites for ad targeting | 7 days |
| SRM_B | Microsoft (Bing) | Records how you use the search bar | 12 months |
| SM | Microsoft (Clarity) | Syncs your id across Microsoft ad services | Session |
| ANONCHK | Microsoft (Clarity) | Checks whether ad measurement can be stored | 1 day |
| li_sugr, UserMatchHistory | Matches visits to LinkedIn ad campaigns | Up to 3 months |
Microsoft Clarity is a Microsoft product, so turning it on also brings in the Bing advertising cookies above. MUID and MR are each set by two Microsoft domains.
A few rows here are not strictly cookies. _gcl_ls, lastExternalReferrer and lastExternalReferrerTime sit in local storage, and c.gif is a tracking pixel. They are listed as cookies because they do the same job and the banner controls them the same way.
Not cookies, but you should know about them
If you send me an enquiry, the form records how you reached the site. That is how I see which marketing produces work. There are two parts to it, and they are treated differently.
bgt_sess, kept for this tab only
When you arrive, the source is noted in your browser's session storage under the key bgt_sess. It holds where you came from, any advertising click identifier, and the page you landed on.
It exists for one reason. My contact form sits on its own page, so you almost always click at least once before reaching it. Without this, that first click erases where you came from, and the enquiry arrives with no source at all.
This is not shared with anyone. It is not used to build a profile, and it cannot follow you to another website. It is deleted the moment you close the tab. It is not covered by the banner, because it does no more than carry your own visit from one page of my site to the next.
bgt_attr, kept for 90 days
If you accept marketing cookies, a longer record is also stored in your browser's local storage under the key bgt_attr. It holds how you first found the site as well as how you arrived most recently: the source, any advertising click identifier, the landing page and the date.
This one survives closing the tab, so it can tell me that a visit in March led to an enquiry in May. It is written on every page you view. If you come back after more than 90 days it resets and a fresh record starts. Return sooner and the existing one carries on. If you never come back, it stays in your browser until you clear your browsing data.
It is declared in Cookiebot under marketing, so it is listed in the banner alongside the cookies above. Refuse marketing cookies and it is never written. Your enquiry then arrives with the source for that visit only, and no history before it.
Either way, the enquiry itself records which of the two applied. I would rather see that a source is genuinely unknown than be shown a guess.
Turning them off
- Use the cookie settings link in the banner to change or withdraw consent
- Every browser lets you block or delete cookies in its settings
- Opt out of Google Analytics everywhere with the Google opt-out add-on
- Blocking cookies will not stop you using this site. Nothing here depends on them
Questions
Email ben@bgtdigital.com. See also the privacy policy for what happens to data once you submit a form.