Cookies and Website Preferences
Cookie Policy
This policy explains how Disc Makers Limited, trading as USB Makers Intl, uses cookies and similar technologies on the USB 4 Photographers website (usb4photographers.com). It explains which technologies are essential, which need your choice and how you can change your preferences.
The website asks for your choice before any optional technology operates, offers Accept All and Reject All with equal prominence, and lets you change or withdraw your choice at any time. The tables below list the technologies actually present on the website, checked against the site itself.
- No Tracking Before You Choose
- Reject All on the First Layer
- Change Your Choices Any Time
At a Glance: The Short Version
A brief summary of how cookies and similar technologies are used on this website.
- Essential technologies keep the website secure, run your basket, checkout and card payment, save your work in the product designer and remember your cookie choice.
- Order source tracking (how you found us) only runs if you say yes.
- No advertising technology is active. Google Analytics and Google Ads are planned and will only operate after your permission.
- You can accept all optional technologies, reject them all or choose individual categories.
- Rejecting optional technologies will not stop you browsing, designing your USB or placing an order.
- You can reopen Cookie Settings and change or withdraw your choices at any time.
- Your choice is stored for 180 days, after which the banner asks again.
This summary is provided for convenience. The complete policy below and Cookie Settings contain the detailed information.
Your current choices. Essential technologies: always on. Your choices show here when JavaScript is available. Change your choice at any time:
1. Who we are
USB 4 Photographers is part of Disc Makers Limited, trading as USB Makers Intl. We decide which technologies are used on this website, except where a third party acts as a separate controller for its own service. Company number: 05350646. VAT number: GB 880 6582 93. Registered office: Market House, 10 Market Walk, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1JZ. Privacy email: [email protected]. Telephone: 0800 130 3366. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information more generally.
2. What cookies and similar technologies are
Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website, and read on later visits. This policy also covers similar technologies that store information on, or read information from, your device: local storage and session storage (data saved by your browser for a website), tracking pixels and tags, device identifiers, identifiers added to links you click, and the technologies inside embedded third-party content. The same rules apply to all of them, so when this policy says “cookies” it usually means all of these technologies.
3. The rules that apply
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) govern storing information on your device or accessing information already stored on it. In most cases we need your consent before doing so, given by a clear positive action, never by simply continuing to browse. Some technologies are exempt: those strictly necessary for a service you request (including security, your basket and payment) and, following changes in force from 5 February 2026, certain limited statistics and appearance-preference uses that meet strict conditions, including a free and simple way to object. Where the stored information is personal data, the UK GDPR also applies to what we do with it afterwards, and our Privacy Policy explains those uses and their lawful bases. Consent under PECR and the lawful basis for later processing are related but separate requirements.
4. Technologies that do not require consent
The following operate without consent because they are strictly necessary for services you request, such as buying from us, or for the security of the website. Rejecting optional cookies does not affect them, and the features they support keep working.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| u4p_consent | USB 4 Photographers | Remembers your cookie choices so we do not ask again on every page | 180 days | First-party cookie |
| woocommerce_cart_hash, woocommerce_items_in_cart | USB 4 Photographers (WooCommerce) | Tell the website your basket has changed, so the basket and its total show correctly | Session (deleted when the browser closes) | First-party cookie |
| wp_woocommerce_session_* | USB 4 Photographers (WooCommerce) | Holds a unique code for your basket and checkout, so your items stay in the basket as you move between pages | 2 days | First-party cookie |
| __stripe_mid, __stripe_sid | Stripe, for WooPayments | Fraud prevention when you pay by card through our card payment service | 1 year; 30 minutes | First-party cookie, third-party recipient |
| __ssid | Sift, for WooPayments | Fraud prevention for card payments | Up to 13 months | First-party cookie, third-party recipient |
| Opayo payment form | Opayo (Elavon) | Secure card payment and fraud checks when you choose to pay with Opayo at checkout | Set and controlled by Opayo | Third-party |
| __cf_bm, cf_clearance | Cloudflare | Protect the website against bots and attacks; cf_clearance is only set if you complete a security check | __cf_bm 30 minutes; cf_clearance as set for the security check | First-party cookie, set by our security provider |
| wordpress_*, wordpress_logged_in_*, wp-settings-* | USB 4 Photographers (WordPress) | Sign-in for customers who log in to their account, and for staff administering the website; not set for visitors who do not sign in | Session to 1 year | First-party cookie |
5. Technologies that require your choice
Optional technologies are grouped into two categories, both switched off until you choose otherwise:
- Analytics: understanding how visitors find and use the website. Today this is WooCommerce order source tracking (section 8). Google Analytics will use this category if we add it.
- Marketing: measuring our advertising. Nothing in this category is active yet; Google Ads is planned (section 9).
You can turn each category on or off in . Rejecting a category never blocks you from browsing, designing your USB, using the basket or placing an order.
6. Cookies currently used
The tables in sections 4, 7, 8 and 9 list the technologies in use, by category, with their providers, purposes and durations. The first-party entries were checked against the website itself; the Google Analytics and Google Ads entries describe services that are planned but not active, and will be completed or removed when they are switched on. These tables are updated whenever the technologies change.
7. Local storage and similar technologies
The website uses your browser’s local storage and session storage for the first-party purposes below, such as keeping your basket up to date and saving your work in the product designer on your own device. These items are covered by the same rules and choices as cookies. None of them is used for analytics or marketing.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| wc_cart_hash_*, wc_fragments_*, wc_cart_created | USB 4 Photographers (WooCommerce) | Keep the basket summary in the header up to date without reloading the page | Session (deleted when the browser closes) | Session storage |
| storeApiCartData, storeApiNonce | USB 4 Photographers (WooCommerce) | Hold your basket details for the basket and checkout pages | Until your basket changes or you clear your browser data | Local storage |
| fpd-storage, fpd_uploaded_images | USB 4 Photographers (Fancy Product Designer) | Save your design in progress and the images you upload into the product designer, so they are still there if you come back | Until you remove them or clear your browser data | Local storage |
| wpEmojiSettingsSupports | USB 4 Photographers (WordPress) | Records whether your browser can display emoji, so the website does not test again on every page | Session | Session storage |
8. Analytics
Order source tracking. If you allow Analytics, WooCommerce records how you arrived on the website, for example from a search engine, a link on another website or an email campaign, and the pages you visited in that session. When you place an order this is saved with the order, so we know which channels bring customers. It is held on our own website and is not shared with advertising services. If you do not allow Analytics, these cookies are not set and any already on your device are deleted.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sbjs_first, sbjs_current, sbjs_first_add, sbjs_current_add, sbjs_udata, sbjs_session, sbjs_migrations | USB 4 Photographers (WooCommerce order attribution) | Record how you arrived and add this to your order (active, only with your consent) | Session; sbjs_session 30 minutes | First-party cookie |
| _ga | Distinguishes visitors for site measurement (planned; not currently active) | Typically 2 years (confirmed at activation) | First-party cookie | |
| _ga_* (ID set at activation) | Maintains session state for measurement (planned; not currently active) | Typically 2 years (confirmed at activation) | First-party cookie |
Google Analytics is planned but not active: no Google Analytics cookie is set and no measurement request is sent. If it is activated, it will operate only with your consent, it will measure page views, visitor journeys and website performance using a random identifier rather than your name, and this policy will be completed before it goes live. Measurement data would be kept by Google for 2 months, the shortest retention setting Google offers.
9. Advertising and marketing
No advertising or marketing technology is currently active on this website, and we do not use the Meta (Facebook) Pixel. Google Ads conversion measurement is planned but not configured: no advertising cookie is set and no advertising request is sent, including when you arrive from an advertising link. If it is activated, it will never operate before you switch on the Marketing category, identifiers arriving in advertising links will not be stored without that permission, and this policy and the table below will be completed before it goes live.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | Google Ads conversion measurement | Typically 90 days (confirmed at activation) | First-party cookie, third-party recipient |
10. Basket, checkout and product designer
When you add products to your basket, WooCommerce uses the essential cookies in section 4 and the storage in section 7 so your items, quantities and options stay in the basket as you move between pages and through checkout. When you pay by card, our payment providers (Stripe and Sift for WooPayments, or Opayo) use their own technologies to process the payment securely and prevent fraud. When you design your USB or box in the product designer, your design in progress and references to the images you upload are saved in your browser’s local storage so your work is not lost. All of this supports services you have asked for, so it is essential and works whatever cookie choices you make. None of it is used for analytics or marketing.
11. Forms and spam prevention
Our contact and newsletter forms use spam-prevention measures to keep automated abuse out, and our security provider Cloudflare protects the website as described in section 4. No third-party verification service such as reCAPTCHA currently operates on the website. If one is introduced, it will operate only when you use a form, not across the whole website, and its technologies will be listed in this policy. Form submissions themselves are covered by the Privacy Policy.
12. Embedded content
The website does not currently include third-party embedded content that stores or reads information on your device. Nothing is loaded from Trustpilot unless you click a link to read our reviews. There are currently no video or map embeds. Links to our social media pages (such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest) are ordinary links: nothing is loaded from those services unless you click them. If embedded content from a third party is added in future, it will not load until you allow it, and this policy will be updated first.
All the fonts on the website are hosted on our own server, so no font requests are sent to Google or any other outside service.
13. Consent records
When you make a cookie choice, the website stores it in the u4p_consent cookie on your own device: the categories you chose, the date and time, and the version of the choice system you used. No copy is kept on our servers and the record is not linked to an identified person. The stored choice lasts 180 days; if this policy or the technologies change materially, or your choice expires, the banner will ask you to choose again.
14. How to manage your choices
Open , also available from the Cookie Settings link in the footer of every page, to accept all optional technologies, reject them all, switch individual categories on or off, or withdraw a choice you made earlier. Changing or withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it. When you withdraw a category, its technologies stop operating; order source cookies are deleted straight away. Some third-party items already on your device may remain until they expire or you delete them in your browser, but they are no longer used by this website.
15. Browser controls
Your browser also lets you view, block and delete cookies and site data through its settings, and most browsers offer a private browsing mode. Browser controls work alongside, not instead of, the Cookie Settings on this website. Deleting your cookies will also delete your saved choice here, so the banner will ask again. Blocking all cookies will stop the basket and checkout from working.
16. International data transfers
The first-party technologies in sections 4 and 7 keep information on your own device or on this website’s server. Some of our providers, for example Cloudflare, Stripe and Google, may process data outside the UK, including in the United States. Where they do, a lawful transfer route applies, such as the UK adequacy regulations, the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for participating providers, or the International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum. Google LLC is certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The Privacy Policy explains transfers in more detail.
17. Data retention
Each technology’s storage period is shown in the tables above; the consent record on your device lasts 180 days. Order source details saved with an order are kept with that order record, as the Privacy Policy explains. Provider-side retention, for example how long an analytics provider would keep measurement data, will be set in our provider settings and stated here before any such provider is activated. Google Analytics data retention will be set to 2 months.
18. Your data-protection rights
Where technologies involve personal data, you have the rights described in our Privacy Policy, including the rights to access, correct and delete personal data and to object to certain processing. You can withdraw cookie consent at any time through Cookie Settings. Some identifiers used by these technologies cannot always be linked back to a named individual by us; where that is the case we will tell you if it affects a rights request.
19. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when the technologies on the website or the legal requirements change, and we update the last-reviewed date each time. A material change, such as a new category of technology, will cause the banner to ask for a fresh choice rather than assuming your earlier one still applies.
20. Complaints
If you have a concern about how this website uses cookies or similar technologies, contact us at [email protected] and we will look into it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. You do not need to contact us first.
21. Contact information
USB 4 Photographers, part of Disc Makers Limited trading as USB Makers Intl
Privacy email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0800 130 3366
Registered office: Market House, 10 Market Walk, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1JZ
Trading address: Unit G6, Allen House, The Maltings, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, CM21 9JX
Related pages: Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Contact Us
Help and Support
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you set cookies without my consent?
Only strictly necessary technologies operate without consent, because they keep the website secure and provide things you ask for, such as your basket, checkout, card payment and the product designer, and remembering your cookie choice. Optional categories stay switched off until you choose otherwise.
Is Google Analytics running on this website?
No. Google Analytics is planned, but it is not set up, so no Google Analytics cookie is set and no measurement request is sent. If we add it, it will only run after you allow Analytics.
Do you use the Facebook or Meta Pixel?
No. No advertising technology is active on this website. Google Ads measurement is planned and will only run after you allow Marketing.
Will rejecting cookies stop me ordering?
No. The basket, checkout, card payment and product designer use essential technologies that work whatever you choose. Rejecting only switches off order source tracking.
How do I change my cookie choices?
Click Cookie Settings in the footer of any page. You can accept all optional technologies, reject them all, switch individual categories on or off, or withdraw a choice you made earlier.
