Cookie Policy

1.1 A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, pixels, tags and software development kits. In this Policy we refer to all of them as "cookies".

1.2 Cookies may be set by the website you are visiting ("first party") or by another organisation whose content or services that website uses ("third party"). Some last only for your browsing session and are deleted when you close your browser; others persist for a defined period so that the site can recognise you when you return.

2.1 Regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 ("PECR") requires us to obtain your consent before storing or accessing information on your device, unless the cookie is strictly necessary for the provision of a service you have explicitly requested. Consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous, and must be as easy to withdraw as it is to give.

2.2 Where a cookie also involves the processing of personal data, we do so in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, as described in our Privacy Policy.

2.3 We do not treat continued browsing, scrolling, or the absence of a response to our banner as consent.

3.1 Our own website: Sections 4 to 8 of this Policy describe cookies set on Mocono's own website, where Mocono is the controller and is responsible for providing information and obtaining consent.

3.2 Publisher websites: Our paywall, entitlement and subscriber management scripts run on the websites of publishers who license our platform. Cookies set by those scripts are set on the publisher's behalf, on the publisher's domain, and under the publisher's control. The publisher decides which of our features to enable and how they are configured.

3.3 Who is responsible: As between Mocono and the publisher, it is the publisher's responsibility to provide the required cookie information and to obtain and record consent where PECR requires it. Mocono acts as a processor in respect of any personal data involved, in accordance with our Data Processing Addendum. If you are a reader or subscriber of a publication and want to know what is stored on your device, please consult that publisher's own cookie notice.

3.4 Section 9: Section 9 describes, in general terms, the kinds of cookies our platform is capable of setting on a publisher website. It is provided so that publishers can complete their own notices accurately. It is not a statement that all of them are in use on any particular site.

4.1 Strictly necessary: These enable core functions of our website, including page navigation, session management, secure log-in to your Mocono account, protection against common security attacks, balancing traffic across our servers, and remembering your cookie preferences. Our website and your account cannot function properly without them. They are exempt from the consent requirement under PECR and are set on the basis of our legitimate interests in operating and securing our website. Most expire when you close your browser; those that persist do so only for as long as is necessary for the function they perform.

4.2 Functional: These remember choices you make, such as language, region or display preferences, so that you do not have to set them again. They are set only with your consent.

4.3 Analytics and performance: These help us understand how our website is used — which pages are visited, how visitors arrive, and where they encounter difficulty — so that we can improve it. We do not treat analytics cookies as strictly necessary, and they are set only with your consent.

4.4 Marketing and advertising: These help us measure the effectiveness of our marketing and, where relevant, show our advertisements to you on other websites. They may involve sharing information with third party advertising and analytics providers. They are set only with your consent.

4.5 Further detail: If you would like more detail about a particular cookie set on our website, including its name, purpose and lifespan, please contact us using the details in section 10 and we will be happy to provide it.

5.1 Our banner: When you first visit our website you will be asked whether to accept or reject non-essential cookies. Rejecting is as straightforward as accepting, and no box is pre-ticked. Non-essential cookies are not set unless and until you consent.

5.2 Changing your mind: You may change your choice at any time using the cookie settings link in the footer of our website. Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it and takes effect immediately, but it does not remove cookies already stored on your device.

5.3 Browser controls: Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies and offer a private browsing mode. Blocking strictly necessary cookies will prevent parts of our website and your account from working correctly. Guidance is available in your browser's own help pages.

5.4 Do Not Track: Our website does not currently respond to Do Not Track browser signals, as there is no agreed standard for how they should be interpreted.

6.1 Some cookies on our website are set by third parties who provide services to us, such as analytics, advertising measurement or embedded content. Those third parties may process information about you for their own purposes, and we do not control their cookies. We recommend reading their own privacy and cookie notices. Third party cookies are set only after you have consented.

7.1 Some cookies contain or generate personal data, such as a unique identifier or an IP address. Where they do, our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, the lawful basis on which we rely, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and your rights — including your rights of access, objection and erasure, and your right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

8.1 Cookies are kept only for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which they were set. Session cookies are deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies expire automatically after a set period, and we keep those periods as short as is practical for the function concerned. Where you withdraw consent, the relevant cookies are no longer set from that point onwards.

This section is provided so that publishers using our platform can describe our cookies accurately in their own notices. Which of these are actually set on any given website depends on the features that publisher has chosen to enable.

9.1 Authentication and session: These identify a logged-in subscriber and maintain their session as they move between pages, so that they are not asked to log in repeatedly.

9.2 Entitlement: These record which content a subscriber is entitled to access, so that the paywall does not block content they have paid for.

9.3 Checkout: These retain a subscriber's selection through the subscription or purchase process.

9.4 Metering: Where a publisher operates a metered paywall, a cookie may be used to count how many free articles a reader has viewed before the paywall is applied.

9.5 Attribution and analytics: Where a publisher enables them, cookies may record which campaign, referrer or content led to a subscription, and may record content consumption for reporting and propensity scoring.

9.6 Consent position: In our view, the authentication, entitlement and checkout cookies described above are strictly necessary for the provision of a service the subscriber has explicitly requested — namely access to content they have paid for — and therefore fall within the PECR exemption. Publishers should nonetheless describe them in their own cookie notice. Attribution and analytics cookies require consent. Whether a metering cookie is strictly necessary is not settled, as it supports the publisher's business model rather than a service the reader has explicitly requested, and each publisher should take its own view.

9.7 Configuration: Our platform can be configured to defer non-essential cookies until a consent signal is received from the publisher's consent management platform. Publishers are responsible for implementing that integration correctly on their own websites.

10.1 Changes: We may update this Policy to reflect changes to our website, our platform or the law. The date shown at the top of this Policy indicates when it was last revised.

10.2 Contact: Questions about this Policy, or requests for further detail about any particular cookie, should be sent to privacy@mocono.co.uk. Our registered office is 47 Butt Road, Colchester, Essex, England, CO3 3BZ.

This Policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy, our Publisher Terms and Conditions and our Data Processing Addendum.