COOKIE POLICY

what's a cookie?

First of all - what the hell are cookies, right? Cookies are small text files that essentially create the short term memory of your browser. Cookies allow your computer to remember a variety of things such as items you've put into a shopping basket, whether you're logged in or not or what type of device you're using. They contain information about the use of your computer but don't include personal information about you (so they don't store your name, for example).

The majority of sites will use some form of cookies, however there are some types that some people may wish to avoid, such as cookies used by some companies to track your usage across many sites in order to provide targeted advertising. For this reason, EU law means that websites have to tell you if they're using cookies, in order to give you the choice. 

not for you?

I can't personally stop cookies being sent to individual site users if you continue to browse, but if you decide you don't want cookies being stored in your computer, there are sometimes ways to delete them or prevent new ones being stored. This may affect your ability to use some services and will apply to all sites that you visit, not just this one. Here are some guides to disabling cookies:

• Internet Explorer http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835 (this page links to further information for different versions of IE - the mobile version is at http:/ /www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/web/changing-privacy-and-other-browser-settings.aspx).

• Chrome: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=95647

• Safari: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US (or http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1677 for mobile versions)

• Firefox: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/ Enabling%20and%20disabling%20cookies

• Blackberries: http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartphone_users/deliverables/ 32004/Turn_off_cookies_in_the_browser_60_1072866_11.jsp

• Android: http://support.google.com/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=169022

• Opera: http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/security/privacy/

GEMMASTYLES.COM MAY USE COOKIES FOR THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES:

ANALYTICS

This site runs on Squarespace, which includes analytics information. Cookies are used to find out how many people are visiting the site, how long they spend on the site, which pages are the most popular, etc. As an example, I might use information on what site visitors are searching for to improve the layout and help people find popular content.

commenting

Leaving comments on blog posts may result in cookies being sent to your browser.

social sharing

If you share pages or blog posts using social buttons, the social media platforms in question are likely to use cookies to track this - you can search the help sections of Facebook, Twitter etc. to read their policies on cookie and data usage.

affiliate links

I may sometimes use affiliate links. These are links which include information for retailers, letting them know that you found their products via this site, meaning that I may earn a small amount because I recommended something you bought.