1. What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website.
They help websites function properly, improve performance, and provide usage insights.

Cookies can be:

• Essential – required for the website to work
• Analytics / performance – help us understand how visitors use our site
• Marketing – used for advertising (Guard IQ does not use these)

2. How Guard IQ uses cookies

We keep cookie use minimal and practical.
Guard IQ uses:

A. Essential cookies

These ensure the website loads correctly and forms operate as expected.
They cannot be disabled, as the site would not function without them.

B. Analytics cookies (non-essential)

We use Google Analytics to understand:

• Which pages are visited
• How visitors navigate the site
• Device type and browser
• Approximate geographical region

Data is anonymised where possible.

Analytics cookies are only activated if you accept them via our cookie banner.

We do not use advertising cookies.

3. What cookies are set?

Google Analytics cookies (non-essential)

Examples include:

Cookie	Purpose	Duration	Type
_ga	Tracks website usage statistics	Up to 2 years	Analytics
_ga_<container-id>	Session-level analytics	Up to 2 years	Analytics
_gid	Distinguishes users	24 hours	Analytics

Google may process data outside the UK/EU under Standard Contractual Clauses.

Essential cookies

Set by your hosting platform or CMS to ensure the site operates.
These vary but typically include:

• Session management
• Security checks
• Load balancing

We do not use essential cookies for tracking.

4. Managing your cookie choices

On your first visit, you will see a cookie banner allowing you to:

• Accept all cookies
• Reject non-essential cookies
• Change cookie settings at any time

You can also control cookies via your browser:

• Block all cookies
• Delete existing cookies
• Allow only essential cookies

If you block analytics cookies, the website will still work normally.

5. Third-party services

Analytics and communication tools used by Guard IQ include:

• Google Analytics (site usage)
• Google Search Console (site performance monitoring)
• WhatsApp (if you click to message us)

These services may place cookies or process data in line with their own privacy policies.

6. Updates to this Cookie Policy

We may update this policy occasionally to reflect changes in how we use cookies.
The latest version will always appear on this page.