Cookie Policy

Discover Unique ("we", "us", "our") is a UK-based platform that helps people discover SEND, neurodivergent and additional needs support, services, opportunities and community connections.

Like most websites, we use cookies and similar technologies to help the platform work properly and to understand how it is used. This policy sets out what cookies are, why we use them, the types we use, and how you can manage them.

We are committed to being transparent and to keeping Discover Unique a trusted, safe space for the whole community. We do not use cookies to sell your personal information.

Cookies are small text files that a website places on your device when you visit it. They help the website remember things like your login session, your preferences, or how you have used the site before.

Cookies are widely used across the internet and are a standard part of how modern websites work. They do not contain viruses and cannot access other information on your device. Each cookie only stores the information that the website that created it has placed in it.

Discover Unique may also use similar technologies, such as local storage, which work in a comparable way. For simplicity, we refer to all of these as "cookies" in this policy.

We use cookies to:

• Keep you signed in and remember your session securely.
• Protect the platform and keep it safe, including by preventing misuse.
• Remember your preferences, such as how you have set up a search or filter.
• Understand how the platform is used so that we can improve it.
• Help the website load and function correctly.

We do not use cookies to sell personal information, and we do not use them to build profiles of our community members for advertising networks. Cookies exist to help Discover Unique work properly and to improve the experience for everyone.

At present, Discover Unique uses very limited browser local storage and does not set cookies during a normal visit to the website. We do not currently use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or any third-party tracking cookies.

Essential cookies

These are necessary for the platform to function. They let you sign in, keep your session secure, and allow core features to work. Where we need this kind of essential functionality, Discover Unique may use browser local storage rather than traditional cookies. You cannot use Discover Unique properly without these essential technologies.

Analytics cookies

Discover Unique does not currently use analytics cookies. We describe how we understand the platform's usage in Section 6 below.

We do not use advertising cookies and we do not use cookies to sell personal information to third parties.

Essential technologies are required for Discover Unique to work. They support security, login and core platform functionality.

Authentication and platform preferences may be stored using browser local storage rather than traditional cookies. For example, your signed-in session and your dashboard preferences are held in local storage so that the platform can recognise you and remember how you have set things up.

Examples of what these essential technologies do include:

• Keeping you signed in during a session.
• Remembering preferences or settings needed for the platform to work, such as dashboard layout.
• Helping protect the platform against misuse and keeping it secure.

Because these essential technologies are needed for the platform to function, they cannot be switched off in our settings. You can still clear local storage in your browser, but doing so may affect how parts of the website work — for example, you may not be able to stay signed in.

Discover Unique currently does not use analytics cookies. We do not place any analytics cookies on your device, and no third-party analytics cookies are set when you visit the platform.

Instead, visitor statistics are generated from server-side hosting logs. This means information about how the platform is used — such as which pages are visited and how the site performs overall — is drawn from records held on our servers rather than from cookies on your device. This information is aggregated and is not used to identify you personally.

This approach helps us understand how Discover Unique is used and make improvements for the families, carers, adults, young people, professionals and providers who rely on it, without placing analytics cookies on your device. It is not used to sell personal information.

The following table sets out the browser local storage entries Discover Unique currently uses. These are stored in your browser rather than as traditional cookies.

Payment pages. When a provider chooses to pay for Discover Unique Verified™ membership, the payment form is provided by Stripe, our payment provider. Stripe sets its own strictly necessary cookies on that form to process the payment securely and to prevent fraud. These are essential to completing a payment, so they do not require consent, and they are only set when someone chooses to make a payment. Nobody browsing or searching Discover Unique is given a payment cookie.

Discover Unique may introduce additional cookies or analytics tools in the future to help improve the platform. If we do, we will update this Cookie Policy before making those changes so that you always know what is happening and the choices available to you.

You are in control of cookies. You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings at any time.

Most browsers allow you to:

• View the cookies that have been placed on your device.
• Delete some or all cookies.
• Block cookies from being set in the first place.
• Set preferences so that cookies are blocked except for specific sites.

The way you manage cookies depends on your browser. You can usually find these settings under "Preferences", "Settings", "Privacy" or "Security" in your browser menu. Help pages for the most common browsers explain how to do this.

Please be aware that disabling some cookies may affect how parts of Discover Unique work. For example, if you block essential cookies, you may not be able to sign in or stay signed in. Blocking analytics cookies will not stop the platform from working, but it will limit our ability to understand and improve how it is used.

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in how we work, changes in technology, or to meet legal requirements. When we make meaningful changes, we will make the updated policy available on this page.

We encourage you to review this policy from time to time so that you stay informed about how Discover Unique uses cookies.

This policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes relating to this policy will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or how Discover Unique uses cookies, we would like to hear from you.

Email: privacy@discoverunique.co.uk

We are committed to being transparent and to keeping Discover Unique a trusted, safe space for the whole SEND, neurodivergent and additional needs community.

Connecting People. Supporting Futures.