Cookie Policy

This page explains exactly which cookies Dugsy's Football Challenge sets, what they do, and why no cookie-consent banner is required.

1. What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small piece of data a website asks your browser to store and send back on every subsequent visit. They're used for keeping you signed in, remembering preferences, analytics or advertising. Dugsy's Football Challenge uses cookies only for the first purpose — keeping you signed in.

2. Cookies we use

• dugsy_access_token — a signed JSON Web Token (JWT) that identifies you to our backend on each request. Set when you sign in or register. Cleared when you log out.

That's it. We don't set any other cookies.

3. Cookie attributes

The dugsy_access_token cookie is set with:

• HttpOnly — JavaScript cannot read it, which makes it resistant to cross-site scripting attacks.
• Secure — it's only sent over HTTPS connections.
• SameSite=Lax — it's only sent on requests originating from Dugsy itself, protecting against cross-site request forgery.
• Max-Age = 7 days — the cookie auto-expires after a week of inactivity and you'll need to sign in again.

4. Why no consent banner?

Under UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), cookies that are strictly necessary for a service the user has explicitly requested do not require prior consent. The authentication cookie is essential for signing you in — without it, the service cannot function at all. We don't use any analytics, advertising, marketing or fingerprinting cookies, so a separate consent gate is not needed.

5. Controlling cookies

You can clear the Dugsy authentication cookie at any time by clicking Logout in the menu. You can also block or delete cookies via your browser settings — but doing so will prevent you from signing in to Dugsy's Football Challenge.

6. Third-party cookies

Our hosting platform (Emergent) may set technical cookies for traffic routing and bot protection (for example, __cf_bm from Cloudflare). These are operational cookies set by the platform layer, not by the Dugsy application, and are likewise classed as strictly necessary.

7. Questions

Anything unclear? Email admin@amblemead.co.uk.