Cookie Policy

1. Controller contact details

The controller's complete identification and contact details are available in the Privacy Notice and the Terms and Conditions.

2. Storage categories

• Strictly necessary storage supports authentication, secure sessions, fraud prevention, language routing and the storage of the user's privacy decision. It cannot be disabled through the preference panel.
• Preference storage remembers optional interface choices, such as collapsed navigation or similar convenience settings. It is disabled by default.
• Analytics storage may measure aggregated page views, navigation and technical usage. It is disabled by default and analytics scripts are loaded only after explicit consent.

3. Default behaviour

All optional categories are disabled until the user makes an affirmative choice. Closing or ignoring the banner does not enable preference or analytics processing.

RealText does not treat continued browsing, silence or preselected controls as consent.

4. Technologies currently used

• realtext-cookie-consent: strictly necessary localStorage entry containing the current consent version and category choices.
• realtext-consent-id: strictly necessary pseudonymous browser identifier used to connect successive consent changes without identifying an anonymous visitor by name.
• Authentication and session cookies issued by the authentication system: strictly necessary and limited to secure sign-in and session management.
• Interface-preference localStorage entries: optional and used only when preference storage is allowed.
• Google Analytics cookies and scripts: optional, used only if a measurement ID is configured and analytics consent has been granted.

5. Consent audit trail

Every saved choice creates an immutable PostgreSQL audit event containing a pseudonymous consent identifier, the consent-policy version, the enabled categories, the action, the interface language and the event time.

If the visitor is signed in, the event may also be linked to the authenticated RealText user identifier. The audit record is used to demonstrate and administer consent, not for behavioural profiling.

6. Changing or withdrawing consent

The Cookie settings link in the footer reopens the category controls at any time. Optional categories can be disabled independently.

When analytics consent is withdrawn, RealText prevents further analytics loading and attempts to remove accessible analytics cookies. Previously collected information remains subject to the applicable retention and deletion rules.

7. Retention

• The current browser choice remains until it is changed, the consent version changes or the user clears browser storage.
• Consent audit events are intended to be retained for up to five years after the last recorded choice where this is necessary to demonstrate compliance or defend legal claims.
• Analytics-cookie duration is determined by the configured analytics provider, but analytics remains unavailable without valid consent.

8. External information