Cookie Policy

What cookies are

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device when you visit. They let a site remember information about your visit, such as your preferences or whether you have seen a particular notice, and they can be used to measure how a site is used. Similar technologies include local storage and pixel tags, and this policy covers those too. Under the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and UK GDPR, we need your consent before setting any cookie that is not strictly necessary for the site to work, and we need to tell you what each cookie does.

How this site uses cookies

Octopus50 is an independent, editorial guide to the Octopus Energy referral scheme. We do not run an advertising network, retargeting pixels, or third-party social trackers. Cookies set on this domain are limited to keeping the site working, remembering your cookie choice, and — only with your consent — understanding in aggregate which guides are useful. We do not use cookies to build an advertising profile of you, and we do not sell any data collected via cookies.

Separately, if you click through our referral link to Octopus Energy's own site (share.octopus.energy), Octopus Energy may set its own cookies once you land on their domain. Those cookies are outside our control and are governed by Octopus Energy's own cookie and privacy policies, which you can review on their website before you accept anything there. We do not set a tracking cookie on your device as part of the referral link itself; the referral code is simply carried in the link's web address.

Categories of cookie we use

Strictly necessary: Needed for core site functionality, such as basic security, load balancing, and remembering the cookie choice you have made. These do not require consent and cannot be switched off by us, though you can block them in your browser.
Analytics / performance: Help us understand, in aggregate, which pages and guides are viewed and how the site performs. Set only with your consent, and used for measurement, not advertising.
Functional: Remember choices you make on the site, such as a dismissed banner or a display preference, so you are not asked again on every page.
Marketing / referral attribution: We do not run marketing or advertising cookies on this domain. If you follow our referral link to Octopus Energy, their own site may use cookies to attribute the referral and manage your sign-up; see their cookie information.

Octopus Energy's own cookies

Once you leave our site via the referral link, you are on Octopus Energy's website and their cookie and privacy policies apply. We recommend reading their cookie information, which is usually linked from the footer of their site or from their main policies page, before accepting any cookies there.

Cookie table

The table below sets out the types of cookie that may be used on this site, by category. We keep the list deliberately general because exact cookie names can change as our tooling is updated; where we give an example it is illustrative, not a guarantee that a cookie of that exact name is currently set.

Cookie types, purpose and duration

Consent record (strictly necessary): Example: a cookie such as "cookie_consent" that stores your accept/reject choice so you are not asked again. Typically lasts around 6–12 months.
Session / security (strictly necessary): Short-lived cookies used to keep pages working correctly and to protect against abuse. Usually expire when you close your browser, or within a few hours.
Analytics identifier (analytics): Example: a privacy-respecting analytics cookie or local-storage value used to group page views without identifying you personally. Typically lasts from a few hours up to around 24 months, depending on the provider's default settings.
Display / preference (functional): Example: a cookie remembering that you dismissed a notice or chose a display option. Typically lasts a few weeks to a year.
Referral attribution (set by Octopus Energy, not us): Cookies Octopus Energy may set on their own domain once you follow our referral link, used to attribute the sign-up. Duration and purpose are set by Octopus Energy — see their cookie information.

How to control and delete cookies

You can accept, reject or withdraw consent to non-essential cookies using the cookie controls on this site at any time. You can also control cookies directly through your browser settings, including blocking all cookies, blocking third-party cookies only, or deleting cookies already stored on your device. Blocking or deleting cookies will not stop you from reading our guides or using the referral link, though it may mean some preferences are not remembered.

Instructions for the major browsers are published by the browser makers themselves:

If you use a different browser or a mobile device, check that browser's help pages for "manage cookies" or "site data" settings. Deleting cookies will remove your saved cookie consent choice, so you may be asked to make that choice again on your next visit.

Do Not Track

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. There is currently no agreed industry standard for how sites should respond to DNT signals, so this site does not currently respond to them automatically. Instead, we rely on the explicit cookie consent choice you make when you first visit, which you can change at any time.

Changes to this policy

We may update this cookie policy from time to time, for example if we change the tools we use or if the law changes. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent review. We encourage you to check back periodically, particularly before relying on this policy.

Questions

If you have any question about how this site uses cookies, or you want to raise a concern about an entry in the table above, please get in touch via our contact page, or email hello@octopus50.co.uk. For how we handle personal data more broadly, see our privacy policy.