Privacy

This page explains what themacspecialist.uk (“we”) collects when you use the site. In short: very little.

Cookies

We don’t use tracking or analytics cookies, and fonts, images and scripts all come from this site. We set no cookies of our own for visitors. The only one is a session cookie for the site’s administrators when they sign in to the admin area (/admin/); ordinary visitors never get it.

When you first visit, a bar asks whether you’re happy with ads cookies. We keep your answer in your browser’s local storage (or, if that’s blocked, in a small cookie from this site called ads_consent) for 6 months, so we don’t have to ask on every page. It holds only “accept” or “reject” and the date, and it isn’t sent to anyone.

Banner ads

Some pages have up to two banner ads: one under the menu, and one part-way through the page. There are none on this page, the contact, terms and affiliate pages, the search page or the photo credits page. The ads come from 5od (5od.co.uk), a small ad service run by the owner of this site. They’re contextual: 5od chooses a banner to suit the page you’re reading, not you. 5od itself sets no cookies and builds no profile of you; your browser sends it the site, the ad position and size, and the address of the page.

The banners are for shops and brands in the Awin affiliate network. Awin’s banner images and links can set Awin’s own cookies: when a banner is shown, and when you click one, so that a purchase can be credited to us. That’s why nothing loads until you choose:

• Accept ads cookies: banners load, and Awin is told you agreed.
• Reject: no banners load at all, and your browser doesn’t contact 5od or Awin for ads.
• JavaScript off: no ads load and you won’t be asked.

Like any website, 5od’s server sees your IP address when your browser asks it for a banner. 5od doesn’t store raw IP addresses: it keeps a scrambled (salted and hashed) version for up to 2 days, only to limit abuse.

Changing your mind

Use Cookie settings (also at the bottom of every page) to see your current choice and change it at any time. If you switch from accept to reject, banners stop loading straight away. Any Awin cookies already set stay in your browser until they expire, or until you delete them in your browser’s settings (clearing this site’s data also resets your choice, and we’ll ask again).

Forms

The site has no forms that collect personal information. The finder, filters, compare and search tools work through the page address (for example ?device=iphone-17), and nothing you choose is stored. If you email us, we use your email only to reply and delete it when it’s no longer needed.

Links to Amazon and other sites

Outbound links pass through a short redirect (/go/…). We record that a link was clicked, with the date, the link name and the page it was on — no IP address and nothing that identifies you. When you reach Amazon.co.uk or another website, its own privacy policy and cookies apply. Amazon uses its cookies to know you came from us so it can pay us a commission. See our affiliate disclosure.

Videos

If a page shows a YouTube video, it uses a click-to-play player. Nothing loads from YouTube (youtube-nocookie.com) until you press play.

Server logs

Like any website, our web host keeps short-term technical logs (such as IP address, page requested and browser type) for security and to fix faults. We don’t use them to profile visitors.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask what we hold about you and ask us to delete it. Email hello@themacspecialist.uk. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).