Cookie Policy

Effective date: August 15, 2026
Last updated: August 15, 2026

What cookies are

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store. On your next visit the browser sends it back, which is how a site remembers something about you: that you already answered a question, for example. "Similar technologies" means other browser storage that does the same job, such as local storage, plus pixels and embedded scripts.

Cookies are called first party when they are set by the site you are on (sbjpainting.com) and third party when they are set by another company whose content is embedded in the page (Google, in our case). They are called session cookies when they disappear as soon as you close the browser and persistent when they stick around for a set time.

How we use them

We keep this deliberately small. We use:

• One strictly necessary first-party cookie, to remember your cookie choice.
• Google Analytics 4, on by default and off the moment you say so, so we can see which pages are actually useful.
• An embedded Google map on our contact page, which can set Google cookies once it loads.

We do not use any advertising, remarketing, or cross-site tracking cookies. There is no Meta pixel, no Google Ads tag, no session recording, and no heat mapping on this site.

What this site sets

Strictly necessary (always on)

These make the site work and record your own privacy choice. They cannot be switched off, and they are not used to track you.

Strictly necessary cookies and storage

Name	Set by	Purpose	Duration
sbj_consent	sbjpainting.com (first party)	Stores your cookie choice (analytics on or off), the date you made it, and the version of this policy you saw, so the notice does not reappear on every page.	180 days
sbj_consent (local storage)	sbjpainting.com (first party)	A backup copy of the same value in your browser's local storage, used if the cookie is blocked or cleared. It is not sent to our server.	Until you clear site data
Hosting cookies	Hostinger (our host)	Hostinger can set an operational cookie in limited situations, such as bot mitigation or server-side caching. These are infrastructure only and are not used to profile visitors. We are not aware of any Hostinger cookie being set on the public production site.	Session, when set at all

Analytics (on by default, off whenever you want)

Google Analytics 4 tells us which pages get read, which ones people leave, and roughly where our visitors are (city level). We use it to decide what to write and fix next. It is not used for advertising, and Google Signals and ad personalization are left off.

These load with the page. You do not have to click anything to be counted, and you do not have to click anything to stop being counted either: use the button below, or the "Cookie preferences" link in the footer, and we remember it. Two groups start with analytics already off, and for them the Google script is not downloaded at all: visitors in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, and anyone whose browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal. Nothing in this table is set for them unless they switch analytics on themselves.

Analytics cookies, set unless you have turned analytics off

Name	Set by	Purpose	Duration
_ga	Google Analytics 4 (first-party cookie written by Google's script)	Assigns a randomly generated client ID so that repeat visits from the same browser are counted as one visitor rather than several.	About 2 years
_ga_<container-id>	Google Analytics 4 (first-party cookie written by Google's script)	Holds session state for our specific Analytics property: session count, session start time, and whether the session is still active. The suffix is our GA4 measurement ID.	About 2 years

Third-party embedded content

Two Google services load as part of the page itself.

Cookies and data from embedded third-party content

Service	Where	What happens	Duration
Google Maps embed	Contact page only	When the map loads it can set Google cookies such as NID, SOCS, and CONSENT on google.com domains. Google uses them for preferences, security, and, on Google's own properties, advertising. We do not control these cookies and we receive no data from them. The map is lazy loaded, so it only runs if you scroll to it.	Set by Google, typically 6 months to 2 years
Google Fonts	Every page	We load the Fraunces and Inter typefaces from fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. Google Fonts does not set cookies, but requesting a font file does transmit your IP address, browser, and operating system to Google, as any request to a third-party server does.	Not applicable (no cookies)

We also link out to our Facebook page. That is an ordinary link. No Facebook code runs on this site, and Facebook learns nothing about you unless you click through.

Google Consent Mode v2, in plain language

Consent Mode is a Google system that lets a website tell Google's tags what a visitor has agreed to. We use version 2. Here is exactly how it is set on this site:

• Analytics start granted. A small script in the page head, which runs before any tag, sets analytics storage to "granted" as the general default. That is why analytics run without you clicking anything.
• Except in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland. The same script sets a second, region-scoped default of "denied" covering the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Consent Mode applies the most specific matching rule, so in those countries analytics are denied from the start. We also stop the Google Analytics script from being downloaded there at all, so your browser makes no connection to googletagmanager.com unless you switch analytics on.
• Advertising signals are denied permanently, everywhere. Ad storage, ad user data, and ad personalization are set to "denied" in both defaults and are never granted, for anyone, under any choice available on this site. There is nothing you can click here that turns them on, because we do not advertise, remarket, or profile.
• Global Privacy Control overrides the default. If your browser sends a GPC signal we keep analytics denied wherever you are, and the script is not requested.
• Your choice is remembered. Whichever way you decide, we store it and apply it straight away on your next visit, and the notice stops appearing.

Change your choice

You can change this at any time, in either direction. Use the button below, or the "Cookie preferences" link in the footer of every page on this site.

Open cookie preferences

If the button does not respond, JavaScript is turned off in your browser. In that case no analytics can run at all, so nothing optional is being set.

A few details worth knowing:

• Turning analytics off is one click. "Turn analytics off" sits right next to the button that dismisses the notice and is exactly as easy to use. We do not hide it, and we do not make you open a settings panel to find it.
• Dismissing the notice records acceptance. The notice is telling you that analytics are already on, so closing it, whether with the "Got it" button or the Escape key, is taken as agreement with what it says and is stored as a choice. That is why it does not come back. If you did not want analytics, use "Turn analytics off" instead, or reopen the panel from the footer link at any point afterwards. In the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, where analytics are off to begin with, dismissing records nothing and changes nothing.
• Turning analytics off stops future collection. We stop collecting immediately, the _ga identifiers are expired, and nothing further is sent to Google. Data already collected stays in Google Analytics until its retention period expires, and you can ask us to have it deleted (see the Privacy Policy).
• Your choice lasts 180 days, after which the notice appears again, and sooner if this policy changes materially.

Global Privacy Control and other opt-out signals

If your browser or a browser extension sends a universal opt-out preference signal such as Global Privacy Control (GPC), we detect it and honor it. Analytics are on by default for everyone else, but with that signal present they stay off for you wherever you are, the Google Analytics script is never requested, and we do not interrupt you with the notice at all. If you want analytics on anyway, you can still switch them on yourself using the button above.

Managing cookies in your browser

Your browser gives you the final say. You can block or delete cookies for this site or for every site. Blocking all cookies will stop us remembering your choice here, so the notice will reappear each visit.

• Chrome (desktop): Settings, then Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies. To clear: Settings, Privacy and security, Delete browsing data.
• Safari (macOS): Safari menu, Settings, Privacy tab, then Manage Website Data. On iPhone or iPad: Settings app, Safari, then Clear History and Website Data.
• Firefox: Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Cookies and Site Data.
• Microsoft Edge: Settings, then Cookies and site permissions, then Manage and delete cookies and site data.
• Android Chrome: the three-dot menu, Settings, then Site settings, then Cookies.

Most browsers also offer a private or incognito window, which discards cookies when you close it.

Changes to this policy

If we add or remove a cookie, or change a service provider, we will update this page and change the "Last updated" date. Material changes reset the stored version, which clears your saved choice and brings the notice back so you can make it again.

More information

This policy sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains everything else we collect and what your rights are, and our Terms of Service. If anything here is unclear, ask us.