1. What are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work correctly, to remember your preferences, and to provide information to the owners of the site.
Similar technologies, such as web beacons, pixels, and tags, work in a comparable way and are also covered by this policy. For simplicity, we refer to all these as ‘cookies’ throughout this document.
Cookies set by us are called ‘first-party cookies’. Cookies set by parties other than Novus, such as Google, LinkedIn, or Meta, are called ‘third-party cookies’. Third-party cookies enable features or functionality provided by those parties and are subject to their own privacy policies.
2. How We Use Cookies
We use cookies on www.www.novus-strategy.com for the following purposes:
- To ensure the website functions correctly (strictly necessary)
- To understand how visitors use the site and measure content performance (analytics)
- To measure the effectiveness of our advertising and enable retargeting (advertising and conversion tracking)
- To remember your preferences on return visits (functional)
We do not use cookies to collect sensitive personal data, and we do not sell data collected via cookies to third parties.
3. Cookie Categories
3.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They are set in response to actions you take, such as submitting a contact form or setting your cookie preferences. They do not store any personally identifiable information and do not require your consent.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
| complianz_policy_id | Complianz | Records the accepted cookie policy version to avoid re-prompting returning visitors. | 1 year |
| complianz_consent_status | Complianz | Stores your cookie consent choices so preferences are remembered across pages. | 1 year |
| cmplz_marketing | Complianz | Records whether you have consented to marketing/advertising cookies. | 1 year |
| cmplz_statistics | Complianz | Records whether you have consented to analytics cookies. | 1 year |
| cmplz_functional | Complianz | Records whether you have consented to functional cookies. | 1 year |
| PHPSESSID | WordPress / SiteGround | Standard PHP session identifier used to maintain your session while browsing. Deleted when you close your browser. | Session |
| wordpress_test_cookie | WordPress | Tests whether your browser accepts cookies. Deleted when you close your browser. | Session |
3.2 Analytics Cookies
Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with the website by collecting and reporting information anonymously. We use Google Analytics (including GA4) for this purpose. These cookies are only set if you have given your consent via our cookie banner.
Data collected by Google Analytics is transferred to Google’s servers in the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and UK adequacy mechanisms. You can learn more about how Google uses this data at: policies.google.com/privacy.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
| _ga | Google Analytics | Assigns a unique visitor ID to distinguish users and calculate aggregate site metrics (visits, session duration, pages viewed). | 2 years |
| _ga_[ID] | Google Analytics (GA4) | Property-specific cookie that stores and counts page view events for GA4 reporting. | 2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics | Stores and updates a unique value for each page visited; used to generate a user journey report. | 24 hours |
| _gat | Google Analytics | Used to throttle the request rate when using Google Tag Manager; limits data collection on high-traffic sites. | 1 minute |
| _gat_gtag_[ID] | Google Tag Manager / GA4 | Throttles the request rate for GA4 property-specific data collection. | 1 minute |
3.3 Advertising and Conversion Tracking Cookies
These cookies are set by our advertising partners — Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Meta — to measure the effectiveness of our campaigns, track conversions, and (where applicable) enable retargeting audiences. They are only set if you have given your consent via our cookie banner.
All advertising cookies involve transfers to servers in the United States, covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses. Each platform’s own privacy policy governs how they use this data:
- Google: policies.google.com/privacy
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
- Meta: facebook.com/privacy/policy
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
| _gcl_au | Google Ads | Used by Google AdSense to experiment with advertising efficiency on websites using their services. | 3 months |
| _gcl_aw | Google Ads | Stores click information from Google Ads campaigns to measure conversion events. | 90 days |
| _gcl_dc | Google Ads | Used for cross-domain conversion measurement in Google Ads campaigns. | 90 days |
| IDE | Google (DoubleClick) | Used by Google to register and report actions on the website after viewing or clicking one of Google’s advertisements, in order to measure the effectiveness of an ad. | 13 months |
| li_fat_id | LinkedIn member indirect identifier used for conversion tracking, retargeting, and analytics. | 30 days | |
| li_sugr | Stores a browser identifier used by LinkedIn to make a probabilistic match of a user’s identity outside the LinkedIn platform. | 90 days | |
| bcookie | Browser identifier cookie from LinkedIn used to identify browsers for ID syncing. | 2 years | |
| lidc | Facilitates data centre selection for LinkedIn services. | 24 hours | |
| UserMatchHistory | LinkedIn Insight Tag | Used for LinkedIn Ads ID syncing to match LinkedIn members with advertising campaigns. | 30 days |
| AnalyticsSyncHistory | Stores information about the time a sync with the lms_analytics cookie took place. | 30 days | |
| _fbp | Meta (Facebook) Pixel | Used by Meta to deliver a series of advertisement products, such as real-time bidding from third-party advertisers. | 3 months |
| _fbc | Meta (Facebook) Pixel | Stores last click attribution information when a user clicks a Facebook ad before visiting the site. | 3 months |
| fr | Meta (Facebook) | Used by Meta to deliver, measure, and improve the relevance of ads. Contains a unique browser and user ID for targeted advertising. | 3 months |
3.4 Functional Cookies
Functional cookies allow the website to remember choices you have made and provide enhanced features. They are only set if you have given your consent. The functional cookies on this site are primarily used by WordPress internally and do not affect general visitors who are not logged into the WordPress admin.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
| wordpress_logged_in_[hash] | WordPress | Used internally by WordPress to confirm whether the current visitor is a logged-in WordPress user. Not applicable to general site visitors. | Session |
| wp-settings-[ID] | WordPress | Saves customised view preferences for the WordPress admin interface. | 1 year |
4. Roles and Responsibilities
4.1 Our consent banner
When you first visit www.www.novus-strategy.com, you will see a cookie consent banner. No non-essential cookies are set until you have actively made a selection. You can choose to accept all cookies, accept only certain categories, or decline all non-essential cookies.
You can review or change your preferences at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link in the footer of any page on our website.
4.2 Browser settings
Most browsers allow you to manage cookies directly through their settings. You can configure your browser to block cookies, delete existing cookies, or alert you when a cookie is set. Please note that blocking certain cookies may affect the functionality of this website.
Instructions for managing cookies in the most common browsers:
- Google Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data
- Mozilla Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
- Microsoft Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Cookies and site data
- Safari (Mac): Preferences > Privacy > Cookies and website data
- Safari (iPhone/iPad): Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security
For general guidance on cookies and how to manage them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
4.3 Third-party opt-outs
You can also opt out of specific third-party data collection using the links below. Note that opting out through these mechanisms may not prevent all data collection by these platforms; it primarily affects whether data is used for personalised advertising.
| Platform | Opt-out / preference centre |
| Google Analytics | tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout (browser add-on) |
| Google Ads personalisation | myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy |
| LinkedIn advertising | linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls |
| Meta (Facebook) advertising | facebook.com/settings?tab=ads |
| General digital advertising (EU) | youronlinechoices.eu |
5. How We Manage Consent
Cookie consent on this website is managed through Complianz, a WordPress consent management plugin. Complianz works alongside Google Tag Manager to gate the firing of all analytics and advertising tags, meaning no non-essential cookies or tracking scripts are activated until you have actively consented.
Complianz records your consent choices (not your browsing behaviour) and stores these records in the EU (Netherlands). Each consent record is associated with a unique, anonymised browser identifier, not with your name or email address.
Your consent is valid for 12 months. After this period, you will be asked to confirm your preferences again when you next visit the site.
6. Updates to this Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time, for example when we add new tools, change our advertising platforms, or in response to changes in the law. When we do, we will update the version number and ‘Last updated’ date at the top of this page.
We recommend checking this page periodically, particularly if you have previously given or withdrawn consent for specific cookie categories.
7. Contact Us
If you have any questions about how we use cookies, or about your personal data more broadly, please contact us:
| Contact method | Details |
| privacy@www.novus-strategy.com | |
| Post | Data Protection Lead, Novus Strategy & Consulting Ltd, Kemp House, 128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX |
| Full Privacy Policy | www.www.novus-strategy.com/privacy-policy |
To exercise your rights under UK GDPR, please refer to our full Privacy Policy or contact us directly at the address above.