What Comet stores, and why.

Comet is operated by Comet Website Builder Ltd, a company registered in Scotland under company number SC903672.

This policy applies to:

• the main Comet website;
• the Comet website builder;
• Comet account and billing areas; and
• other Comet-operated pages that link to this policy.

Customer-created websites may use different cookies depending on the features and integrations selected by their owners. Those websites should provide their own cookie information and consent controls — see section 8.

1. What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on or accessed from your device when you visit a website. Cookies and similar technologies can be used to:

• keep a website secure;
• remember whether you are signed in;
• save preferences;
• support payments and account functions;
• understand how a service is used; and
• enable optional third-party features.

Similar technologies may include local storage, pixels, tags and software development tools. In this policy, we refer to these collectively as "cookies" unless a distinction is necessary.

2. Who is responsible?

For cookies used on Comet's own website, builder and account areas, the responsible organisation is:

Comet Website Builder Ltd
Email: contact@cometwebsitebuilder.com
Registered office: 39 Countesswells Crescent, Aberdeen, AB15 8LN
Registered in Scotland
Company number: SC903672

For optional cookies placed on a customer-created website at the direction of that website's owner, the owner may be responsible for deciding how those technologies are used. Please read the privacy and cookie information provided on the relevant website.

3. Types of cookies we use

Strictly necessary cookies. These cookies are required for Comet to operate securely and provide functions requested by you. They may be used to:

• authenticate your account;
• keep you signed in;
• protect against fraud and security threats;
• remember your cookie choices;
• support checkout and subscription management;
• distribute traffic securely; and
• maintain essential builder or publishing functions.

Because these cookies are necessary to provide the service, they cannot normally be disabled through Comet's cookie controls. You can still block them through your browser, but parts of Comet may stop working correctly.

Functional cookies. Functional cookies remember optional preferences or enable additional features. They may remember:

• interface preferences;
• accessibility settings;
• language or regional choices; and
• optional embedded functionality.

Where consent is legally required, functional cookies will remain disabled until you choose to enable them.

Analytics cookies. Analytics cookies help us understand how people use Comet. They may tell us:

• which pages are visited;
• how visitors move through the service;
• which devices or browsers are used;
• whether errors occur; and
• whether changes improve the customer experience.

We will not enable analytics cookies requiring consent unless you choose to allow them. Where Google Analytics or another analytics provider is used, information may be processed by that provider in accordance with its own privacy information.

Marketing cookies. Marketing cookies may be used to measure advertising or show more relevant promotional content. Comet will not enable marketing cookies requiring consent unless you actively choose to allow them. Comet does not currently use marketing technologies, so this category is inactive.

4. Cookies currently used by Comet

Comet's own website, website builder, and account and billing areas do not currently set any cookies. To keep you signed in, remember in-progress work and remember editor preferences, Comet uses your browser's local storage instead of cookies.

Two things sit outside what Comet's own code controls, and may apply independently of it:

• Cloudflare, which hosts and secures Comet, may set its own strictly necessary cookies (for example __cf_bm or cf_clearance) as part of its security and bot-protection systems, depending on the settings configured on our Cloudflare account. This is not something we can list precisely from our own code.
• Stripe, our payment provider, sets strictly necessary cookies (for example __stripe_mid and __stripe_sid) to support secure checkout and prevent fraud. Paid billing is not switched on at the time of writing, so these are not currently set; this section will be updated with specific durations once it is.

No analytics or marketing cookies are currently used on Comet's own website, builder, or account and billing areas. Cookies are not added to this section based only on assumptions — this list reflects what is actually present, and is reviewed as Comet's own infrastructure changes.

5. Cookie choices

When you first visit Comet, we may display cookie controls that allow you to:

• accept all optional cookies;
• reject all optional cookies; or
• choose individual categories.

Strictly necessary cookies will remain active because they are required to operate the service. Optional cookies will remain disabled unless and until you provide any consent required for their use.

Choosing "Reject optional" must not prevent you from accessing the ordinary functions of Comet, except where an optional feature genuinely depends on a particular technology.

6. Changing or withdrawing consent

You may change your cookie choices at any time by selecting the Cookie settings link displayed on Comet. Withdrawing consent will prevent relevant optional cookies from being used in the future.

Where technically possible, we will also remove existing optional cookies set by Comet. You may need to remove some third-party cookies through your browser or the third party's own controls. Withdrawing consent will not affect processing that occurred lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

7. Third-party services

Comet may use trusted providers to operate particular features. These may include:

• Cloudflare, for hosting, security, storage and content delivery;
• Stripe, for secure payments and subscription management;
• Google Analytics, if analytics is enabled;
• YouTube or Vimeo, where video content is embedded; and
• other providers clearly identified in our cookie controls.

Some third-party features may be prevented from loading until the required cookie choice has been made. Third parties may process information under their own privacy and cookie policies. We encourage you to review the information provided by the relevant provider.

8. Customer-created websites

Websites created using Comet may use:

• cookies selected by the website owner;
• Google Analytics connected by the website owner;
• video or media embeds;
• ecommerce and payment tools;
• contact forms; and
• other optional integrations.

Where a published website has analytics connected, it shows a short banner asking a visitor whether analytics cookies can be used. No cookie is set, and nothing is measured, until the visitor agrees. Accepting sets:

• _ga — distinguishes visitors, typically for around two years; and
• _ga_<container ID> — persists a visit's state, typically for around two years,

both set by Google, not by Comet or the website owner directly, and governed by Google's own privacy policy. Advertising-related cookies and signals are never enabled by this integration. The visitor's choice itself is remembered in their browser's local storage, not a cookie, for up to twelve months, after which the banner asks again; it can be changed at any time using that website's "Cookie settings" control.

Comet provides each website owner with tools to describe these technologies and obtain consent where required — see our Privacy Policy, section 7. The presence of a "Made with Comet" notice does not mean that every cookie on that website was selected or controlled by Comet.

Questions about a customer website's use of cookies should normally be directed to that website's owner using the contact information shown on the website.

9. Browser controls

Most browsers allow you to view, block or delete cookies through their settings. Blocking all cookies may prevent account login, checkout, website editing and other essential Comet functions from working correctly. Browser settings do not replace Comet's responsibility to obtain consent where consent is legally required.

10. International processing

Some service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we use or require appropriate safeguards as described in our Privacy Policy.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Cookie Policy when:

• Comet introduces or removes features;
• our providers change;
• cookie durations or purposes change;
• customer controls are updated; or
• legal requirements change.

We will update the date at the top of this policy when changes are made. Where a change materially affects your choices, we may ask you to review or renew your cookie preferences.

12. Contact us

If you have questions about Comet's use of cookies, contact:

Comet Website Builder Ltd
Email: contact@cometwebsitebuilder.com
Registered office: 39 Countesswells Crescent, Aberdeen, AB15 8LN
Registered in Scotland
Company number: SC903672

You can also raise data-protection concerns with the UK Information Commissioner's Office. Details are available at ico.org.uk.