1. What cookies are
A cookie is a small file a website stores on your device. We use "cookies" as shorthand for similar technologies: local storage, session storage, web beacons, and anything else that behaves the same way.
2. Categories
Your consent is not required for "Strictly necessary". All others are controlled via the cookie banner on your first visit — reopen it any time to change your choice.
Strictly necessary
Sign-in, session, security, fraud prevention. Blocking these breaks core functionality.
Functional
Remember preferences — language, region, dismissed banners.
Analytics
Count unique visitors, track popular pages. In UK/EU-aligned regions, these are off by default until you consent.
Marketing
Advertising attribution, retargeting, lookalike audience building. Off by default everywhere — strictly opt-in.
3. Consent by region
Strict opt-in (banner with no pre-ticks; analytics and marketing off until consent): UK, Georgia, Quebec-resident Canada.
Notice-and-choice: US, South Africa, UAE, Mexico, Singapore, rest of Canada.
4. Cookies we use
Listed from the cookies our code and third-party scripts set.
Strictly necessary
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
ds_session | digitalserpents.com | Session authentication | Session |
ds_admin_session, ds_partner_session, ds_rep_session | digitalserpents.com | Session authentication for staff, partner and sales portals | Session lifetime |
__stripe_mid | Stripe | Fraud prevention during checkout | 1 year |
__stripe_sid | Stripe | Fraud prevention during checkout | 30 minutes |
Functional
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
ds_region | digitalserpents.com | Remember your chosen region | 1 year |
ds_currency | digitalserpents.com | Remember your chosen billing currency in Canada | Persistent |
ds_ref | digitalserpents.com | Attribute a sign-up to the referral link you followed | 60 days |
ds_engaged | digitalserpents.com | Remember that you've visited so we can show a “pick up where you left off” prompt — only set if you accept analytics | 30 days |
ds_exp | digitalserpents.com | Stable assignments for the A/B tests we run on marketing pages, so you see the same variant on repeat visits — only set if you accept analytics | 90 days |
ds_cookie_consent | digitalserpents.com | Record your cookie-banner choice | 1 year |
Analytics (consent-gated)
Set only after you accept in the cookie banner. Google Consent Mode v2 keeps these denied by default.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics | Distinguish unique visitors | 2 years |
_ga_<id> | Google Analytics | Persist session state per GA4 property | 2 years |
Marketing (consent-gated)
Off by default where prior consent is required, and controlled by your cookie banner choice.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_fbp | Meta | Advertising attribution | 3 months |
__hstc, hubspotutk | HubSpot | Recognise returning visitors for sales and marketing | 6 months |
__hssc | HubSpot | Track the current visit | 30 minutes |
5. Managing preferences
Reopen the cookie banner to change your choice, or use your browser's cookie settings. We honour Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals — we treat them as opt-out of sale/sharing and of marketing cookies.
6. Changes
We rescan cookies at least every 6 months. Material changes (new categories, new purposes) trigger a fresh consent request in opt-in regions.