In short
- Six cookies that Golden Ledger needs, set by Golden Ledger itself, for signing in or for remembering a choice you made.
- Google Analytics and advertising cookies only if you allow them in the cookie banner. Reject them and everything still works.
- We never share your answers, documents or building details with analytics or advertisers.
- Two items of storage on your device, written only when you change a display setting or type a reply.
- Change your choice at any time with Cookie settings, at the foot of every page of Golden Ledger or below.
On this page
Analytics and advertising cookies
With your consent, we use analytics and advertising cookies to understand how people use Golden Ledger and to reach councils and owners who may need it. We never share your answers, documents or building details with analytics or advertisers.
If you allow analytics cookies, Golden Ledger loads Google Analytics on our public website and the pages where you claim a building. It records which pages are opened (with access codes, account numbers and building references removed from the address), how you arrived, and steps such as starting to enter an access code. Google Analytics does not run on the pages you see once signed in. There, if you allowed analytics cookies, our own server tells Google Analytics about steps such as saving an answer (which question, never the answer), signing in (how, for example with Google or an email code, never who), uploading a document (its type only), claiming a building, setting up a company, sending answers to your council (a count) or a council accepting answers (a count), with a coded version of your account number that cannot be turned back into it. If you also allow advertising cookies, Google may use this to measure our adverts and show them to people who may need Golden Ledger. Advertising cookies do nothing unless analytics cookies are allowed too. MatchKey Technology Limited decides how this information is used, and our privacy notice says who receives it and for how long.
| Cookie | Needs | What it is for | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Analytics consent | Set by Google Analytics. Holds a random number that lets Google Analytics count you as one visitor across pages and visits. | 2 years |
_ga_<id> | Analytics consent | Set by Google Analytics. Remembers your current visit, so pages you open are counted as one visit. | 2 years |
_gcl_au | Advertising consent | May be set by the Google tag when you allow advertising cookies, so Google can tell whether one of our adverts led to a visit. | 3 months |
In _ga_<id>, <id> is the code of our Google Analytics property. If you withdraw consent, we stop Google Analytics on that page and delete these cookies.
Storage on your device
Browser storage works like a cookie but is never sent to us: it stays on your device and only the page itself can read it.
| Name | When it is written | What it is for | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
gl-display | Only when you change a Display setting | Remembers your display settings (text size, spacing, contrast, motion) on this device. | Until you clear it |
gl:follow-up-response:… | Signed in, while you type a reply to a council question | Keeps the reply you are typing if the page reloads. | Until you send or clear the reply |
The website's typefaces are served from Golden Ledger itself, so opening a page contacts no font service.
When we ask for consent
The law asks a website for consent before it stores anything on your device or reads it from there, unless the storage is strictly necessary to provide a service you asked for (Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, regulation 6 and Schedule A1, paragraph 4, as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and in force since 5 February 2026). The cookies Golden Ledger needs are for signing in, keeping sign-in secure or remembering a choice you made, so we do not ask about them. Analytics and advertising cookies are not needed for the service, so we ask first, and nothing from Google Analytics loads until you say yes. Our lawful basis for the information they collect is your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)).
When is the sign-in cookie set?
Only when you start signing in, or when you open a page that needs you to be signed in. Reading the public pages does not set it.
wos-auth-verifier holds a random code and the address of the page you were going to, encrypted so that only Golden Ledger can read it. It lets the sign-in step be checked when it comes back. It lasts 10 minutes and is deleted when sign-in finishes.
Clearing or blocking them
You can clear or block cookies and site storage in your browser settings at any time. If you do:
- blocking wos-auth-verifier or wos-session stops you signing in;
- clearing gl_agent_company means you choose your company again next time;
- clearing gl-display puts your display settings back to the standard ones;
- clearing a reply draft loses any reply you had not sent;
- clearing gl_consent means we ask about analytics and advertising cookies again.
Reading the public pages works without any of them.
To change or withdraw your choice about analytics and advertising cookies, use Cookie settings at the foot of every page of Golden Ledger, or in the section above. Withdrawing does not affect what was collected before.
Questions
Ask us at privacy@goldenledger.co.uk. How we use personal information in general is in our privacy notice.