Cookie Policy
At The Owl Barn, we believe in being clear and open about how we collect and use data related to you. This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, how we use them on The Owl Barn website, and your choices regarding their use.
1. Key Terms
In this Cookie Policy
"we", "us", "our" “owner” or "The Owl Barn" means The Owl Barn Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company no 03048995);
"you", "your", “user”, “visitors”, or "customers" means any individual who visits our website;
"Personal information" means information that is about you and other individuals you may tell us about and which identifies you or those individuals; and references to our "Website" means the website at https://www.owlbarn.co.uk.
2. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small data files which are placed onto the computer or mobile device that you use to browse the internet. Cookies collect and store information about the way a website or app is used and can help integrate with other third-party websites or apps.
3. Who Sets the Cookies?
3.1 We use a mixture of 'first-party' and 'third-party' Cookies:
a. First-party Cookies: These Cookies are set by the owner of the website or app.
b. Third-party Cookies: These Cookies are set by third parties who the owner of the website or app allows to present information. We have Cookies on our Website that are set by third parties. We use these third-party Cookies for our advertising and marketing efforts. If you have consented to the use of third-party (non-essential) Cookies, you can reject these at any time by managing your Cookie preferences.
4. How Long Will Cookies Remain on Your Device?
4.1 We use a mixture of 'session' and 'persistent' Cookies:
a. Session Cookies: These Cookies only run during your browsing session and expire when your session ends (usually when you exit the browser).
b. Persistent Cookies: These Cookies are stored on your device for a longer period and in between browsing sessions. These Cookies last until they expire or are deleted by you. Most of the Cookies we use are persistent and will expire between 30 minutes and two years from the date they are downloaded to your device.
5. How Do We Use Cookies
We use a mixture of 'necessary' or 'essential' Cookies and 'non-essential' Cookies.
Strictly necessary or essential Cookies: We use strictly necessary (or essential) Cookies to make our website work. These Cookies are set automatically when you visit our website and are always enabled because our website won't work properly without them. For example, when you wish to make a purchase, an essential Cookie is used to ensure that the items you wish to purchase stay in the basket when you move onto another webpage.
They are also used to process payments and ensure security. They cannot be switched off.
Non-essential Cookies: When you consent to it, we also use other non-essential Cookies, such as:
Personalisation: Functional & Preference Cookies: Allow the website to remember choices you make (such as currency or language) to provide an enhanced experience.
Analytics & Performance Cookies: These cookies track how visitors & our customers use a site to measure and improve performance, tracking metrics such as page view counts, bounce rates, and errors.
Marketing Cookies: Build user profiles to show relevant ads across the web, to help us show you ads that are relevant to you, and measure how well our marketing works.
You can choose to reject all, or some, of these Non-essential Cookies
6. Types of cookies as used on our website:
Category 1: Required: Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential for the website to function safely and correctly. They enable core features such as the shopping basket, secure checkout processing, user login sessions, and your privacy preference choices. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data. Under PECR, these cookies do not require your prior consent and cannot be turned off in our systems.
|
Cookie Name |
Provider / Domain |
Party Type |
Purpose |
Expiry |
|
AEC |
.google.com |
Third-Party |
A Google security cookie designed to detect fraud and prevent session abuse. |
6 months |
|
__cf_bm |
.hcaptcha.com |
Third-Party |
Placed by Cloudflare/hCaptcha to identify and block malicious automated bot traffic. |
30 minutes |
|
cart |
www.owlbarn.co.uk / shop.app |
First-Party / Third-Party |
Tracks and retains the contents of your shopping basket as you browse different pages. |
3 months |
|
cart_currency |
shop.app / www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party / Third-Party |
Remembers your active transaction currency or billing country to prevent checkout errors. |
Up to 3 months |
|
_merchant_essential |
.shopify.com |
Third-Party |
Stores secure authentication data needed to manage the backend e-commerce environment. |
1 year |
|
_shop_app_essential |
.shop.app |
Third-Party |
Manages security and essential navigation pathways for mobile application interactions. |
1 year |
|
_shopify_essential |
shop.app / www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Contains fundamental functional data required for the storefront to load correctly. |
1 year |
|
_shopify_essential_ |
.shopify.com |
Third-Party |
Uses an opaque cryptographic token to identify unique user devices for platform security. |
1 year |
|
_shopify_s |
.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Tracks immediate platform performance metrics and server communication stability. |
30 minutes |
|
shopify_pay |
www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Routes users securely back and forth during the checkout transaction process. |
1 year |
Category 2: Personalisation: Functional & Preference Cookies
These cookies enable enhanced features by remembering choices you make, such as your preferred display language or automatic checkout login recognition.
|
Cookie Name |
Provider / Domain |
Party Type |
Purpose |
Expiry |
|
identified_shop_pay_user |
www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Detects if your browser is signed into Shop Pay to enable rapid, automated express checkouts. |
1 year |
|
localization |
www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Saves your manually chosen storefront region, geographical location, and language preference. |
1 year |
|
SEARCH_SAMESITE |
.google.com |
Third-Party |
Enforces browser-level controls to prevent malicious external sites from misusing your data. |
6 months |
|
SOCS |
.google.com |
Third-Party |
Used by Google to record state permissions regarding integrated maps, search, or fonts. |
13 months |
Category 3: Analytics & Performance Cookies
These cookies gather anonymous data to help us track site traffic, monitor popular layout zones, and optimize overall shop functionality. They remain blocked until opt-in.
|
Cookie Name |
Provider / Domain |
Party Type |
Purpose |
Expiry |
|
_shopify_analytics |
www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Collects anonymous usage trends to give us a high-level view of how visitors use the storefront. |
1 year |
|
shop_analytics |
www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Captures specific buyer information needed for tracking and reporting within Shop app features. |
1 year |
|
_shopify_y |
.shopify.com / .shop.app / .owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party / Third-Party |
Part of Shopify's analytics suite used to optimize design flows and reduce page drop-off. |
1 year |
Category 4: Marketing Cookies
These cookies record your preferences regarding promotional tracking and external platform elements to ensure marketing material remains relevant. They remain blocked until opt-in.
|
Cookie Name |
Provider / Domain |
Party Type |
Purpose |
Expiry |
|
_shopify_marketing |
www.owlbarn.co.uk |
First-Party |
Records and honours your user-selected consent preferences regarding marketing outreach tools. |
1 year |
|
NID |
.google.com |
Third-Party |
Placed by Google to remember search preferences and profile configurations across integrated tools. |
6 months |
7. Controlling Your Cookie Choices
7.1 You can refuse or accept Cookies from our Website and set your cookie preferences when you first arrive at our website or change them at any time by clicking the " cookie preferences" link:
7.2 Alternatively, you can use the Cookies settings on your browser. Relevant information on browser settings can also be found on your browser provider's website via your help screen, or you may wish to refer to external independent guides for information on how to enable or disable Cookies in commonly used browsers.
7.3 Unless the Cookie is a strictly necessary Cookie, you can withdraw your consent to our Cookies at any time even if you have previously consented. Please be aware that when you withhold your consent, this does not automatically delete any Cookies that are already on your device pursuant to your previous consent. You will need to delete these Cookies manually by following the instructions on your web browser and/or device.
8. Queries:
If you have any questions regarding this Cookie Policy or the way we use cookies, please contact the DPO team by email at privacy@owlbarn.co.uk
9. Updates to This Policy
We may periodically update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes to the cookies we utilise due to functional upgrades or legal revisions. Please revisit this page regularly to stay informed. This Policy was last updated on 20th August 2026
