Cookie policy
This page lists every cookie and similar storage item used on Island Dispatch, what it does, how long it lasts and who provides it.
Last updated: .
Summary
This site sets no cookies. We don't use advertising, social media or tracking cookies, and nothing optional runs unless you choose to turn it on. The only thing we store on your device is a note of your privacy choices, and only if you make one.
What we store on your device
| Name | Type | Purpose | Category | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
site-privacy-choices | Browser local storage (not a cookie) | Remembers whether you said yes or no to optional features, when you chose, and which version of this policy applied. Only created when you make a choice. | Strictly necessary | 12 months, or until you clear it | Island Dispatch (this site). We never receive it. |
Visit statistics
If you say yes, each time you view a page your browser sends us one anonymous message containing only the page address. We add it to a daily total. We do not use cookies or any identifier, we do not record your IP address, and we never share the figures with anyone else. It stays off unless you turn it on.
UK law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, and the ICO's April 2026 guidance on storage and access technologies) allows this kind of first-party statistics without consent, provided it is only used to improve the site, only produces totals that can't identify anyone, isn't shared, and visitors are told about it and can easily object. Because many of our readers are young, we go further and only count visits if you opt in. If you change your mind, counting stops from the next page you view.
When you make a choice, we also keep an anonymous record of it in our database, stored in the EU (a random reference number, the choice, the date and time and the policy version) so we can show that choices are respected. It contains nothing that identifies you, and is deleted after 2 years.
YouTube videos
Some stories include YouTube videos. Nothing from YouTube or Google loads until you press a video's play button. Before that, you only see a placeholder made by us, which explains what will happen. Pressing the button is your choice to load that one video from youtube-nocookie.com (YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode). We don't remember that choice: every video asks again.
Once a video is playing, Google (the provider) may store items on your device. These are controlled by Google, can change at any time, and may include local storage items such as yt-remote-device-id and yt-player-bandwidth, and in some cases cookies. Their purpose, according to Google, is to make the player work, remember player settings and measure use. Some can last indefinitely until you clear them. Read the Google cookie policy for details.
If you'd rather not load anything from Google, every video has a link to watch it on YouTube instead.
Dark mode
The site follows your device's light or dark setting automatically. Nothing is stored to do this.
Other companies
This site does not load scripts, fonts, images or stylesheets from any other company. Fonts come from your own device. The only exception is a YouTube video you choose to play. Links to other websites only take you there when you click them, and their own cookie policies then apply.
Change your choices
Privacy settings need JavaScript. With JavaScript turned off, nothing optional ever runs on this site, so there is nothing to change.
You can also clear stored data at any time using your browser's settings.