Last updated 4 October 2026. If anything here is unclear, email secretary@summertownstars.org.
1. Our approach
We use the smallest number of cookies needed to run the site. Specifically:
- •We do not use cookies for advertising, remarketing or behavioural profiling.
- •We do not set analytics cookies. We use two visitor measurement tools and neither of them uses cookies, explained in section 4.
- •We do not embed social media tracking pixels.
- •We do not share cookie data with anyone.
Everything we set is a first-party cookie that is strictly necessary for the site to work. Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, strictly necessary cookies do not require consent, which is why you are not asked to accept anything when you arrive.
If we ever introduce a cookie that is not strictly necessary, we will add a consent banner at that point, update this page, and ask before setting it.
2. Browsing the public pages
No cookies are set. You can read the home page, About, Teams, Fixtures, News, Join, Training, Pathways, Club Life and Shop without a single cookie being stored on your device.
Our hosting provider processes standard server request information, your IP address, browser type and the page requested, in order to serve the page and protect against abuse. That is server log data rather than a cookie, and it is covered in our Privacy Policy.
3. Signing in to the Members Area
These are set only once you use the Members Area. All are first-party, all are marked HttpOnly so JavaScript cannot read them, all are Secure so they travel only over an encrypted connection, and all use SameSite protection against cross-site misuse.
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
__Host-next-auth.csrf-token | Protects sign-in and form submissions against cross-site request forgery. | Until you close your browser |
__Secure-next-auth.callback-url | Remembers which page to return you to after signing in. | Until you close your browser |
__Secure-next-auth.session-token | Keeps you signed in as you move around the Members Area. Holds a signed token, not your password. | Until you sign out or close your browser |
Without these you could not sign in, stay signed in, or submit a form safely. Signing out removes them, as does clearing cookies in your browser.
4. How we count visitors, without cookies
We use two measurement tools, and we chose both because neither of them uses cookies or stores anything on your device.
Vercel Web Analytics tells us how many people visit and which pages are read. Visitors are counted using a hash generated from the incoming request, which resets every 24 hours and cannot be used to follow anyone between days or across other websites.
Metricool gives the committee the same visit figures alongside the club's social media numbers, so one report covers both. Its tracker is a small piece of JavaScript that tells Metricool's server a page was viewed. It sets no cookies, stores nothing on your device and assigns you no identifier. Your IP address is used in passing to work out roughly which country the visit came from, and is not stored. Metricool acts as our data processor under a data processing agreement, sees the data only on our behalf, and does not combine it with anything else or pass it on.
Both tools report totals rather than individuals. Neither can tell us who you are, and nothing either of them does requires your consent, which is why there is still no banner. We do not use Google Analytics.
5. Payments
Payment processing does not run on these pages. Subscriptions and registration fees are handled by Stripe, on Stripe's own checkout, and Stripe sets its own cookies there to protect the transaction against fraud. That happens on their pages under their notices, not on ours.
6. Cookies we do not set
- •Advertising or remarketing cookies
- •Social media tracking cookies or pixels
- •Cross-site or third-party tracking cookies of any kind
- •Anything that builds a profile of you or your child
7. Controlling cookies
Because we set only strictly necessary cookies there is little to manage, and no preference centre to configure. Your options are to sign out of the Members Area, which clears your session, or to block or delete cookies for this site in your browser settings. Blocking them will stop you being able to sign in.
8. Changes to this policy
We review this page at least once a year and whenever the site changes. If we add any cookie that is not strictly necessary, we will update this page, add a banner and ask for your agreement before setting it.