How we use cookies.

Quick summary

In short. We use a small number of essential cookies to keep the site working — sign-in sessions, security tokens, and your theme preference. We don't currently run analytics or marketing cookies. If we ever add analytics, we'll ask first and you can decline.

What are cookies?

Cookies are tiny text files that websites place on your device when you visit them. They let a site remember things between page loads — whether you're signed in, what theme you've chosen, what's in your basket — without asking you again every click.

Some cookies are set by the site you're visiting (us). Others are set by third-party services that the site relies on, such as payment processors. This page covers both.

Cookies we use

Essential cookies — always on

These cookies are required for the site to function. You can't opt out of them without breaking core features (sign-in, form submissions, theme memory). They don't track you across other sites and they don't carry marketing identifiers.

• Session cookie — keeps you signed in between pages while you're using the site. Cleared when you sign out or close your browser.

• CSRF token — a short-lived security token that protects forms from cross-site request forgery. Without it, form submissions would fail.

• Theme preference — remembers whether you've chosen light or dark mode so you don't have to set it on every visit. Stored locally on your device.

• Cookie-consent state — records the choices you've made about non-essential cookies so we don't ask you again on every page.

Analytics cookies — opt-in

Analytics cookies would help us understand which pages people read, which events draw the most interest, and where the site is hard to use. We don't currently use any analytics service. If we add one, it will be opt-in: you'll see a clear consent prompt and the cookie won't be set unless you accept.

Marketing cookies — we don't use any

We do not run advertising, retargeting, or social-media tracking pixels on this site. There are no marketing cookies set by us.

Third-party services we rely on

A few essential workflows are handled by external providers. When you interact with those workflows, the providers may set their own cookies under their own privacy policies. We do not control those cookies and we receive no advertising data from them.

• Stripe — processes donations. Stripe sets cookies on the donate page to detect fraud and complete the payment securely. See the Stripe privacy policy.

• Resend — sends transactional email (account verification, password reset, contact replies). Resend does not set cookies on this site, but processes email delivery on our behalf. See the Resend privacy policy.

Your rights

Under Gambian data-protection law and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the following rights in respect of personal data we hold about you:

• Right of access. Ask us for a copy of the data we hold about you.

• Right to rectification. Ask us to correct data that's wrong or out of date.

• Right to erasure. Ask us to delete your data, subject to lawful retention.

• Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent (e.g. analytics if added), you can withdraw it at any time.

• Right to object. Object to processing for direct marketing or where we rely on legitimate interests.

• Right to portability. Receive your data in a machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, write to the address below. We'll respond within thirty days.

Managing cookies

You can change your consent at any time by reopening the cookie settings panel:

Reopen cookie settings

You can also block or delete cookies directly in your browser settings. Most browsers let you refuse all cookies, accept only first-party cookies, or be prompted before accepting any. Note that blocking essential cookies will prevent parts of this site from working — sign-in and form submissions in particular.

Contact

Questions about this policy or about how we handle your personal data? Write to our privacy inbox:

privacy@umc.gm

For general enquiries, use the contact page.