1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently, remember your preferences, and provide information to website owners about how visitors interact with their site.
Similar technologies include pixel tags, web beacons, and local storage — these are covered by this policy and referred to collectively as "cookies."
2. How We Use Cookies
Digital Villains uses cookies to:
- Ensure our website functions correctly (session state, security)
- Remember your preferences and settings between visits
- Measure and analyse how visitors use our site so we can improve it
- Understand which pages, products, and services generate the most interest
- Serve relevant marketing content on third-party platforms (only with your consent)
- Detect and prevent fraud and abuse
We do not use cookies to collect sensitive personal data (e.g. financial information) or to build profiles for resale to data brokers.
3. Types of Cookies We Use
Essential Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary for the website to function. They enable core features such as page navigation, form submissions, and security. You cannot opt out of essential cookies without disabling parts of the website.
Legal basis: Legitimate Interests (necessary for service delivery).
Analytics Cookies
These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website. Data collected is aggregated and anonymised where possible. We use this information to improve page performance, identify popular content, and fix usability issues.
Legal basis: Consent (you can opt out at any time).
Marketing & Retargeting Cookies
With your consent, we may use cookies to track visits to our site after you click on one of our digital ads. This lets us measure campaign effectiveness and show you relevant ads on other platforms (e.g. Google, Meta). We only activate these cookies if you have explicitly agreed.
Legal basis: Consent (you can opt out at any time).
Preference & Functionality Cookies
These cookies remember choices you make (such as your region or language) to provide a more personalised experience. They are set only if you interact with relevant site features.
Legal basis: Legitimate Interests / Consent.
4. Cookie Reference Table
| Cookie Name | Provider | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__session |
Digital Villains | Essential | Maintains your session state across page requests | Session |
dv_cookie_consent |
Digital Villains | Essential | Stores your cookie consent preferences | 1 year |
_ga |
Google Analytics | Analytics | Distinguishes unique users; tracks session data | 2 years |
_ga_* |
Google Analytics | Analytics | Persists session state for GA4 | 2 years |
_plausible |
Plausible Analytics | Analytics | Privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics (no PII) | None (cookieless) |
_fbp |
Meta (Facebook) | Marketing | Identifies browsers for ad delivery and measurement | 3 months |
_gcl_au |
Google Ads | Marketing | Measures ad conversion rates | 3 months |
ls_uid |
Lemon Squeezy | Essential | Identifies your session during checkout | Session |
This list is reviewed regularly. Cookie names and durations may vary slightly depending on your browser and region.
5. Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies on our site are set by trusted third-party services we use. We do not control these cookies; their use is governed by the respective third party's privacy policy:
- Google Analytics / Google Ads — Google Privacy Policy
- Meta (Facebook Pixel) — Meta Privacy Policy
- Lemon Squeezy — Lemon Squeezy Privacy Policy
- Vercel — Vercel Privacy Policy
6. Managing Your Cookies
Via Our Consent Banner
When you first visit our website, a cookie consent banner allows you to accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or customise your preferences by category. You can change your preferences at any time by clicking "Cookie Settings" in the footer.
Via Your Browser
You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling all cookies may affect the functionality of our website. Browser guides:
Opt-Out Tools
7. Your Consent
Under the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and UK GDPR, we are required to obtain your prior consent before setting non-essential cookies. Essential cookies are exempt from this requirement as they are necessary for the site to function.
Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before withdrawal. You can withdraw or update your preferences at any time via the cookie settings panel in the footer.
8. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy as our technology, services, or legal obligations change. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current version. If we add new cookie categories or third-party providers, we will refresh your consent banner so you can review and re-consent.
9. Contact Us
If you have questions about how we use cookies:
Digital Villains — APAW Holdings Limited
63–66 Hatton Garden, Fifth Floor, Suite 23, London EC1N 8LE
Email: enquires@digitalvillains.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0207) 947 06