Cookie policy

What cookies are

Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. Websites can also keep information in the browser's own storage. We use both only to make the shop work and to understand how it is used.

The cookies we use

Cookie	What it does	How long it lasts
_medusa_cart_id	Remembers what is in your cart	7 days
_medusa_jwt	Keeps you signed in to your account	7 days, or until you sign out
_medusa_pending_customer	Holds your details while you confirm a new account by email	24 hours
_medusa_cache_id	A random number that lets the shop keep its settings ready for your visit	24 hours
sd_view_parent, sd_view_leaf	Remember the view you chose on category pages (table, list or tiles)	Until you close your browser
sd_lk	Keeps a product list steady while it updates after you add something to your cart	2 minutes
__stripe_mid, __stripe_sid	Set by Stripe on the payment step to help prevent card fraud	1 year, and 30 minutes
_ga, _ga_WV67NGQKYR	Google Analytics: a random number that tells one visit from another, so we can count visitors and the pages they use. See Analytics below	13 months

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to see how the website is used: how many people visit, which pages and products they look at, how they arrive (a search engine, a link, or typing the address), what they search for and which filters they use, and the type of device and browser. We use this only to improve the shop.

Google Analytics tells one visit from another with a random number in the _ga cookie. It does not know who you are, and we do not connect it to your account, your orders or anything you type into a form. The IP address is used only to work out the country or region of the visit and is not stored. We have turned off Google's advertising features and its data sharing, so the information is processed for us alone and is not used for advertising or for Google's other products. Google keeps the detailed records for us for up to 14 months.

You can turn analytics off for this browser here:

If you turn it off, we remember your choice in your browser's storage (sd_analytics), delete the analytics cookies and stop sending anything to Google Analytics from this browser. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, analytics is already off unless you turn it on.

Browser storage

While you browse, the shop keeps a few things in your browser's session storage: the products you picked to compare, and your place in a product list so the Back button returns you to it. Session storage is cleared when you close the tab. Your analytics choice above is kept in local storage so it lasts between visits.

Why there is no cookie banner

The law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) lets a website use cookies without asking when they are strictly necessary for something you have asked for, such as keeping items in your cart, signing in or paying. Since February 2026 it also allows cookies whose only purpose is to collect statistics about how a website is used in order to improve it, as long as the website explains them and gives you a simple way to say no. Our analytics cookies are of that kind, and this page is where you say no. If we ever add cookies for advertising or for tracking you across other websites, we will ask you first.

Stripe

On the payment step, Stripe's payment form sets its own cookies to protect against fraud. Stripe explains them in its cookie policy.

Turning cookies off

You can block or delete cookies in your browser's settings. If you block the cookies the shop needs, your cart, sign-in and checkout will not work. Blocking the analytics cookies, or turning analytics off above, changes nothing about how the shop works for you.

Questions

Email sales@switchgeardirect.co.uk. Our privacy policy explains how we look after personal information.