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How our website uses cookies and similar technologies, what each one does, and how you can control them.
Effective 30 October 202612 minute read
Legal
In this document
This Cookie Policy is issued by Shields Group, the business that designs, installs, monitors and maintains intruder alarm, CCTV and video doorbell systems for homes and businesses under the Shields Group name (“Shields Group”, “we”, “us” and “our”). It explains how we use cookies and similar technologies on our website at shieldsgroup.co.uk (the “Site”), including the sign-in areas used by our staff and partners, and the choices you have about them.
It should be read together with our Privacy Notice, which explains more generally how we collect and use personal information, the lawful bases we rely on and your rights under data protection law.
A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your device through your browser. When you return to that website, or move to another page on it, your browser can send the cookie back, which allows the website to recognise your device or remember a setting.
Websites can also keep information in your browser using similar technologies. Our Site uses two of them:
Every item listed in the table in this policy is “first-party”: it is set by our Site, not by another company.
In this policy, “cookies” means cookies, localStorage and sessionStorage together, unless we need to distinguish between them. The law treats them all in the same way.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (“PECR”) control when a website may store information on, or read information from, your device. Without your consent, a website may do so only where the storage is strictly necessary to provide a service you have asked for, or where another legal exemption applies. Where cookies involve personal information, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018 also apply.
We divide the cookies on our Site into two types:
When you first visit the Site, our cookie banner asks for your choice. Your options are:
If you do not answer, we treat that as no consent: nothing is recorded unless and until you click “Accept All”. The Site works in the same way whichever option you choose.
Two essential items are kept in your browser when you answer the banner, whichever option you choose. shieldsCookieConsent remembers your answer, so that we can apply it and do not ask you on every page. shieldsConsentId is a random reference number saved with your answer. It is not linked to your name or contact details.
So that we can show that we asked for your choice and respected it, we keep a record of your answer. The record contains the random reference number, the answer you gave and the date. We keep it for up to 2 years.
The table below lists every cookie and storage item that our Site sets.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Type | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shieldsCookieConsent (localStorage) | Shields Group | Remembers your answer in our cookie banner, so that we can apply your choice and do not ask you on every page. | Essential | Persists until you change your answer or clear your browser storage. |
| shieldsConsentId (localStorage) | Shields Group | A random reference number saved with your answer, so that we can show we asked. It is not linked to you. | Essential | In your browser: persists until you clear your browser storage. Our record of your answer: up to 2 years. |
| sg_rv (localStorage) | Shields Group | A random visitor number, so that visit recording can tell when someone comes back. | Consent-based | Persists until you withdraw your consent, when it is removed, or until you clear your browser storage. Recordings are deleted after the period we set, never more than 90 days. |
| sg_rs (sessionStorage) | Shields Group | A random visit number that links together the pages of one recorded visit. | Consent-based | Until you close the tab, or after 30 minutes without activity. |
| sg_rq (sessionStorage) | Shields Group | Holds a few seconds of a recording if a page closes before it could be sent, until the next page of your visit loads. | Consent-based | Until the next page of your visit loads, and no later than when you close the tab. |
| WordPress sign-in cookies (names beginning “wordpress_”) | Shields Group, through WordPress | Keep members of our staff signed in securely to the Site’s administration area. Set only for staff who sign in. | Essential | Until you sign out or close your browser, or longer if you choose to stay signed in. |
| Partner portal sign-in cookies or storage | Shields Group | Keep authorised engineers, partners and staff signed in securely to our partner portal. Set only for authorised users who sign in. | Essential | Until you sign out or close your browser, or longer if you choose to stay signed in. |
Clearing an item from your browser does not delete information we already hold, such as our record of your answer or a recording made with your consent. The periods for those are shown above and in our Privacy Notice.
If, and only if, you click “Accept All”, we record your visit to the Site so that we can see how people use it, where they find it difficult and what we should improve. This is the only purpose for which our cookie banner asks for your consent, and your consent is our lawful basis for it under UK GDPR. If you click “Reject All”, or do not answer, nothing is recorded.
When you accept, your browser downloads open-source recording software called rrweb from jsDelivr, a public content delivery network. It captures what each page showed and how it changed as you used it, rather than filming your screen, so that your visit can be replayed as a reconstruction.
Your visitor number is not linked to your name. If you send us an enquiry during a recorded visit, the recording notes which enquiry it was, so that recording can then be connected with you. The purpose remains the same: to understand and improve how the Site and our quote form work.
Recordings are stored on our website hosting with IONOS, which acts on our behalf. They can be viewed only by people we have specifically authorised, through our private, password-protected portal. We do not share them with anyone else, and we do not use them for advertising.
Recordings are deleted automatically after the period we set, which is never more than 90 days. Our heatmaps, which show where people clicked and how far they scrolled, keep only those positions, without anything that identifies you, for the same period.
Some parts of our pages are loaded directly from other organisations’ servers. When this happens, your browser connects to that organisation, which receives your IP address and the standard technical information that browsers send with every request, such as your browser type and which website made the request. This is needed for the content to reach you.
| Provider | What it provides | When it is used | What it receives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Fonts | The typefaces used on our pages | When our pages load | Your IP address and standard browser information |
| Unsplash | Some of the photographs on our pages | When a page showing one of those photographs loads | Your IP address and standard browser information |
| OpenFreeMap | The map tiles and map style for our coverage map | When the coverage map comes into view on your screen | Your IP address, standard browser information and which part of the map is being shown |
| unpkg | The map software (MapLibre) that draws our coverage map | When the coverage map comes into view on your screen | Your IP address and standard browser information |
| postcodes.io | Postcode lookup for our postcode checker | When you use the postcode checker | The postcode you type, your IP address and standard browser information. We do not keep the postcode. |
| FormSubmit and Web3Forms | Delivery of our website forms to us | When you send us a form | The information you enter in the form, your IP address and standard browser information |
| jsDelivr | The rrweb visit recording software | Only after you click “Accept All” | Your IP address and standard browser information |
The maps in our partner portal, and on the page we may send customers to follow their engineer’s arrival, also use map tiles from OpenFreeMap.
We do not use any of these providers to show you adverts or to track you across other websites. Each provider handles the information it receives under its own privacy policy, which you can find on its website. If you follow a link from our Site to another website, that website’s own cookie and privacy policies apply.
Our Site runs on WordPress. When a member of our staff signs in to the administration area, WordPress sets sign-in cookies to keep them signed in securely. When an engineer, partner or member of staff signs in to our partner portal, sign-in cookies or similar storage do the same. These items are set only for people who sign in, never for ordinary visitors.
They are essential, because the sign-in areas cannot work securely without them, so they do not need consent. They are not used for advertising or to track anyone across other websites.
The wider information the partner portal processes, such as account details, jobs and location while on shift, is explained in our Privacy Notice and in the information we give partners when they join.
If we ever wish to use cookies for a new purpose that requires consent, we will update this policy and ask for your consent before using them.
You can change your choice at any time. Open Cookie settings at the bottom of any page and choose the option you want.
Withdrawing your consent does not affect the lawfulness of recording that took place while your consent was in place. Recordings already made are deleted automatically within the period described above. If you would like a recording deleted sooner, email contact@shieldsgroup.co.uk with roughly when you visited and which pages you looked at, so that we can find it.
Your choice is stored in your browser, so it applies only to the browser and device you used. If you use a different browser or device, or clear your browser storage, the banner will ask you again.
Most browsers let you see, block and delete cookies and other site data. These controls are usually in your browser’s settings, under privacy or site data, and your browser’s help pages explain how to use them.
Using Cookie settings is the most reliable way to stop visit recording on our Site.
We will update this policy when the cookies or similar technologies our Site uses change, or when the law or regulatory guidance changes.
This policy was last updated on 30 October 2026.
If you have any questions about this policy or about how we use cookies, email our data protection lead at contact@shieldsgroup.co.uk. If you are a customer, you can also write to us at the address shown in your Order or on your latest invoice.
If you are unhappy with how we have used your information, please tell us first so that we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Email our team and we will respond to your query.
