Cookie Policy
Last updated: September 2026
1. About this policy
This policy explains what Speak English Institute stores on your device when you use speak.ae, why we store it, how long it stays, and how you can change your mind at any time. It covers cookies and the technologies that work like cookies — local storage and session storage — because most of what this website keeps on your device is stored that way rather than in a cookie.
It sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains what we do with the information you send us through forms, the chat assistant and email.
2. What these technologies are
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to keep and send back on your next visit. Local storage holds a small amount of data in your browser until it is cleared, and session storage holds it only until you close the tab. Neither is sent automatically with every request, which is why we prefer them, but both put data on your device, so we treat them the same way as cookies here and ask for your consent on the same basis.
We describe them as first-party when we set them ourselves and third-party when they are set by a service we use, such as Google Analytics.
3. Your choice
When you first visit, a banner asks whether you accept analytics. Nothing analytical is stored until you say yes. If you decline, or simply ignore the banner, the site works exactly the same way — you lose no features by declining.
You can change your answer whenever you like using the link, which also appears at the bottom of every page. Choosing it clears your stored answer and brings the banner back so you can decide again.
Declining does not remove the strictly necessary items in the first table below, since the site cannot work without them — including, unavoidably, the record of the fact that you declined.
4. What we store
Strictly necessary
Needed for the website to work or to keep it secure. These are set whatever you choose, and there is no way to switch them off while continuing to use the site.
| Name | Type | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| sei-cookie-consent | Local storage (first-party) | Remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics, so you are not asked again on every page. | Until you clear it or change your choice |
| Hosting and security | Cookie (Vercel) | Our hosting provider may set short-lived cookies needed to route requests, protect against abuse and serve preview builds. They are not used for advertising or profiling. | Session, or as set by the provider |
| Sanity Studio session | Cookie and local storage (Sanity) | Signs staff in to the content management system at /studio. Never set for ordinary visitors to the website. | Until sign-out or expiry |
Functional
Set only when you use the feature concerned. They remember something you did so the site behaves sensibly, and they are not used to build a profile of you or shared with advertisers.
| Name | Type | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| sei_chat_token, sei_chat_session | Local storage (first-party) | Keeps your conversation with our chat assistant open across pages and on your next visit, so you do not have to repeat yourself. Only created once you open the chat. | Until you end the chat or clear your browser data |
| sei_utm | Session storage (first-party) | Records the campaign parameters in the link you arrived from (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content, gclid) so that if you later submit an enquiry we know which campaign to credit. Only created when you arrive from a tagged link. | Until you close the browser tab |
Analytics — only with your consent
Help us see which pages and courses people actually look at, so we can improve them. Nothing in this group is written to your device unless you accept.
| Name | Type | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Cookie (Google Analytics 4) | Distinguishes one visitor from another so visit counts are not inflated. | Up to 2 years |
| _ga_XRZH8KF4TX | Cookie (Google Analytics 4) | Maintains the state of your visit for our specific Analytics property. | Up to 2 years |
| Vercel Web Analytics | No cookie or storage | Counts page views without cookies, without local storage and without any identifier that follows you between sites. Because it stores nothing on your device and does not identify you, it runs whether or not you accept analytics. | Not applicable |
Advertising
We do not currently place advertising or cross-site tracking cookies on this website, and no advertising pixel is loaded. If you arrive from a Google Ads click, the click identifier in the link (gclid) is held in session storage as described above so we can attribute an enquiry to the right campaign; it is discarded when you close the tab. Should we introduce advertising cookies in future, they will be added to this policy and placed behind the same consent banner.
5. Google Consent Mode
We use Google Consent Mode v2. Before anything else runs on the page, we tell Google that analytics storage, advertising storage, advertising personalisation and advertising user data are all denied. Google Analytics therefore sets no cookies and sends only anonymous, cookieless signals unless and until you accept. If you accept, we upgrade analytics storage to granted — advertising remains denied in all cases.
Because the denial is set before the Analytics script initialises, a visitor who declines is genuinely not tracked, rather than tracked first and un-cookied afterwards.
6. Third-party content on our pages
Some pages include content hosted by other companies. Where that content can set its own cookies, we do not load it until you ask for it:
- Google Maps — campus maps show a placeholder with a “Show on map” button. Google receives no request from your browser until you press it.
- Wistia — videos show a thumbnail and a play button. The player, and any storage it uses, loads only when you press play.
- WhatsApp — the WhatsApp button is an ordinary link. Nothing is set until you follow it, at which point WhatsApp’s own terms apply.
These companies set and control their own cookies, and we cannot read or remove them. Their privacy notices govern that data.
7. Related services we rely on
The following process information on our behalf but do not place cookies on your device through this website. We list them so the picture is complete; how we handle the data itself is covered in the Privacy Policy.
- Vercel — hosting and cookieless page-view analytics.
- Neon — the database holding form submissions, enquiry records and English level test results.
- Mailtrap — sends our confirmation and follow-up emails and records whether they were delivered, opened or unsubscribed.
- Sanity — stores the website’s text, courses and blog posts.
- Anthropic — provides the language model behind our chat assistant; messages you send in the chat are processed there to generate a reply.
- SPAPP — our student portal at app.speak.ae, which has its own sign-in and its own cookies once you go there.
To protect our forms from automated abuse, our servers briefly record the IP address a submission came from so we can limit how often the same source can submit. This is held server-side for a short window and is not stored on your device.
8. Controlling storage in your browser
Independently of our banner, every major browser lets you block or delete cookies and clear site data — usually under Settings, then Privacy. Clearing site data for speak.ae removes everything listed above, including your consent choice, so the banner will appear again on your next visit. Blocking all cookies and storage may stop the chat assistant from remembering your conversation, but the rest of the site will still work.
We do not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, as there is no agreed standard for how websites should interpret them. Our banner is the reliable way to tell us your preference.
9. Changes to this policy
We update this policy whenever we add, remove or change something we store on your device. The date at the top always reflects the current version. If a change would require your consent, we will ask for it again rather than assume your earlier answer still applies.
10. Contact
If you have a question about this policy, or you want to know what we hold about you, email info@speak.ae or contact us.