Cookie Policy
The cookies we use, and why. Optional cookies never run unless you accept them.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored in your browser. We use a handful of essential ones to keep you signed in and to remember your cookie choice — and, only with your consent, optional ones to understand how the site is used and whether our advertising works.
How consent works
The first time you visit, a small banner offers two choices. Accept all turns on the optional analytics and advertising cookies below. Essential only means exactly that: nothing optional is stored on your device, and the advertising tag never loads. Either way the site works fully — the banner doesn't block anything, and your choice is remembered for 12 months. You can change it at any time on this page.
Cookies we use
| Name | Type | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| sb-…-auth-token | Strictly necessary | Keeps you signed in to your refnation account. Set by our sign-in provider (Supabase), including short-lived helpers used during sign-in itself. | Session / up to 1 year |
| rn_consent | Strictly necessary | Remembers your cookie choice so we don't ask you again. | 12 months |
| ph_… | Analytics (optional) | Product analytics (PostHog, hosted in the EU, with requests routed through our own domain). Measures which pages and features are used so we can improve the site. Only set after you choose “Accept all”. | Up to 12 months |
| X ads tag | Advertising (optional) | We advertise refnation on X (Twitter). If you accept, X's measurement script loads and tells us — and X — whether one of our ads led to a visit or a sign-up. X may set cookies on its own domains as part of this. Never loads if you choose “Essential only”. | Set by X |
Analytics without cookies
If you choose “Essential only”, we still count visits and feature use — but statelessly: analytics runs in your browser’s memory for the page you’re on and stores nothing on your device. Our hosting provider (Vercel) also gives us aggregate, cookieless page statistics that never store anything on your device either. Neither involves advertising or cross-site tracking.
Local storage
Separately from cookies, the site uses your browser’s local storage for functional purposes — for example, keeping votes you cast before signing up so they can be attached to your account if you create one. This is essential to features you’ve chosen to use, holds no advertising identifiers, and stays on your device.
Your choice
Your current choice: not set — the banner will ask on your next page
Switching to “Essential only” also deletes any optional cookies and local storage already set by this site. You can additionally block or clear cookies for refnation.uk in your browser settings at any time — signing in won’t work without the essential ones.