Legal
Cookie Policy
This policy explains which cookies and similar technologies FC Trenches uses, why we use them, how long they last, and how you can control them.
1. About this policy
This Cookie Policy explains how FC Trenches (fctrenches.com), operated by [Registered company name] (“we”, “us”), uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit or use the Platform, and the choices you have.
It should be read with our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle personal data more generally, including your rights, and our Terms and Conditions. Where information collected through cookies is personal data, the Privacy Policy applies to it.
We place and read cookies in line with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (“PECR”), the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Where you access the Platform from a country with its own rules on cookies, we apply this policy in a way that meets those rules.
2. What we mean
- Cookie
- A small text file that a website saves in your browser and can read back later.
- Similar technologies
- Other ways of saving or reading information in your browser or device, such as browser storage (“localStorage” and “sessionStorage”). In this policy, “cookies” includes these unless we say otherwise.
- First party / third party
- A first-party cookie is set by us, on fctrenches.com. A third-party cookie is set by another organisation, for example when content from that organisation is shown on, or opened from, the Platform.
- Session / persistent
- A session item is deleted when you close the browser tab or window. A persistent item stays until it expires or you delete it.
- Strictly necessary
- Needed to provide the service you have asked for, such as keeping you logged in, keeping your account secure, or remembering a choice you have made. PECR does not require consent for these.
- Platform
- The FC Trenches website at fctrenches.com and the services offered through it.
3. Our approach
We keep cookies to a minimum. In particular:
- we use strictly necessary cookies without asking, because the Platform cannot work without them;
- we use optional cookies (currently, analytics only) only if you agree, and none of them run until you have answered our cookie banner;
- we do not use advertising cookies and do not show third-party advertising; and
- we do not use cookies to follow you across other websites, and we do not sell personal information collected through cookies.
Saying no to optional cookies does not stop you using the Platform.
4. Strictly necessary cookies
These are used without asking for consent, under the PECR exemption for storage that is strictly necessary to provide a service you have requested. You can block them in your browser (see Controlling cookies in your browser), but parts of the Platform, including logging in, will then not work.
| Purpose | Set by | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping you logged in, so you stay signed in as you move between pages. | Us (first party) | Until you log out or your login expires |
| A copy of your basic account details, so pages load quickly. | Us (first party) | Until you log out |
| Account security: a random identifier for your browser, used to show you where you are logged in and to alert you to logins from new devices. | Us (first party) | Until you clear your browser’s site data |
| Remembering your answer to our cookie banner, and a random identifier that links your answer to our record of it (see Records of your choices). | Us (first party) | Until you change your choice or clear your site data |
| Protecting the Platform against bots, abuse and attacks. | Our security and network provider, on our behalf | Short-lived |
| Processing a payment securely and preventing fraud, when you are sent to our payment provider’s checkout. | Stripe (third party, on its own pages) | Set by Stripe — see Stripe’s own policies |
5. Settings you choose
These remember something you have actively chosen or saved. Because they exist only to carry out your own request, they are treated as strictly necessary and stay in your browser.
| Purpose | Set by | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your accessibility settings, so they apply as soon as a page loads. | Us (first party) | Until you change them or clear your site data |
| Posts you bookmark in the Social Hub. | Us (first party) | Until you remove them or clear your site data |
| The currency you choose for showing values in your Player Wallet. | Us (first party) | Until you change it or clear your site data |
| A choice for the current tab only — for example, continuing on a small screen, or showing a checkout result once. | Us (first party) | Until you close the tab |
6. Analytics cookies (only with your consent)
If you agree, we use PostHog to understand how the Platform is used so that we can fix problems and improve it. This includes session recordings, which show how pages are used; everything you type is hidden from them. PostHog stores this data in the European Union and acts on our instructions.
| Purpose | Set by | How long |
|---|---|---|
Usage measurement and session recordings (cookie and browser storage whose names begin ph_). | PostHog, on our behalf (first party) | Up to 1 year, or until you withdraw consent |
Until you agree, PostHog is not loaded at all. If you later turn analytics off, we stop it straight away and remove its cookie and storage from your browser.
7. Preference and marketing cookies
Our banner lets you record a choice for preference and marketing cookies, so that your answer is already in place if we use them in future. We do not currently use any preference or marketing cookies.
If we introduce them, we will update this policy first and use them only if you have agreed to that category.
8. Content from other services
Streams. Our Streams pages show live streams using the Twitch video player, both for the featured stream on the Streams page and when you open a stream. Twitch may set its own cookies when its player loads, under Twitch’s own policies.
Videos. When no one is live, the Streams page may show a video from YouTube. We use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, which is designed not to set YouTube cookies unless you play the video.
Images, fonts and flags. Some images, fonts and country flags are delivered by other services (Cloudinary, Google Fonts and flagcdn). As with any website, your browser shares technical information such as your IP address with them so that the content can be delivered. We do not use these services to track you.
Cookies set by other organisations are controlled by them, not by us. Please read their own privacy and cookie policies to understand how they use them.
9. Your choices
The first time you visit, our banner lets you accept all optional cookies, reject them all, or choose by category. Optional cookies stay off until you choose.
You can change your mind at any time, as often as you like, using Cookie Settings in the footer of our home page or the button below. Withdrawing consent does not affect anything done with your consent before you withdrew it.
If you are logged in, your choice is also saved on your account and applied when you log in on another browser.
We will ask you again if we change our banner in a way that needs a fresh answer, for example if we add a new category.
Some browsers can send signals such as “Do Not Track”. There is no agreed standard for responding to them, so we rely on the choices you make in our cookie settings instead. As we do not use advertising cookies or sell personal information, these settings cover every optional cookie we use.
10. Controlling cookies in your browser
Most browsers let you see, block and delete cookies and site data, usually in their privacy or security settings. The help pages of your browser explain how. Independent guidance is also available from the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
Please bear in mind that:
- if you block strictly necessary cookies, you will not be able to log in or use parts of the Platform;
- if you clear your site data, you will be logged out, your cookie choices and settings will be forgotten, and your next login may be treated as a login from a new device; and
- private or incognito windows usually delete everything when they are closed.
11. Records of your choices
To show that we have your consent, as the law requires, we keep a record each time you answer the banner or change your settings. It contains the choices you made, the date and time, the version of the banner, where you made the choice, a random identifier for your browser and, if you were logged in, your account.
We keep these records for as long as we need to be able to show that we had consent, as set out in our Privacy Policy. They are not used for any other purpose.
12. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when the cookies we use change. The version number and date at the top of this page show when it last changed.
We will not start using a new category of optional cookie without first asking for your consent.
13. Contact and complaints
Questions about this policy or about cookies on the Platform can be sent to info@fctrenches.com.
If you are unhappy with how we use cookies or handle your personal data, please contact 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.org.uk), or to the data protection authority where you live.