UniqueVisitor uses technical cookies to operate its services and Google Analytics 4 to produce aggregate statistics about website usage. These statistics help us understand which content people visit and improve the website, without advertising or commercial profiling purposes.

Cookies are small text files stored by your browser on your device. They can maintain a session, remember a preference or help measure visits. Browser local storage, called localStorage, is a separate technology that this website uses to remember when you close the information notice.

Technical cookies and notice storage

  • UVCONTACTSESSID: a technical session cookie used by the contact form to manage submissions and protect against unauthorised requests.
  • UVSTAYSESSID: a technical session cookie used by the accommodation enquiry form to maintain the enquiry state and protect its submission.
  • uv-cookie-notice-v1: a local storage entry recording when the notice was closed. The website sets no expiry: dismissal remains stored until the local data is cleared by you or your browser. It contains no advertising identifier and is not sent to Google.

The form cookies are used when you access the respective services and last for the browser session. You can remove the notice record by clearing website data in your browser settings.

Google Analytics and aggregate statistics

UniqueVisitor uses Google Analytics 4 to view aggregate reports about visits and content usage. Its purpose is exclusively statistical and to improve the website. Google Signals and advertising personalisation features are disabled; the tag also keeps advertising storage and advertising data-use purposes disabled.

The service receives browsing events and technical information, such as the page visited and browser type, and uses cookie identifiers to distinguish visits and sessions. Aggregate reports do not mean that the browser sends only pre-aggregated counts. According to Google’s documentation for European users, IP addresses are used to derive approximate location and then discarded before being logged.

Analytics cookies are set on this website’s domain:

  • _ga: distinguishes browsers for statistical measurement.
  • _ga_1YN2QJPLC2: maintains the Analytics session state.

The website’s tag sets a lifetime of 25 months for these cookies, the maximum selectable in GA4 settings, with expiry renewed on each visit. Your browser may impose shorter limits. Cookie lifetime on your device is separate from data retention in the provider’s systems.

The service is provided by Google. For details, read Google’s privacy policy, its explanation of Analytics cookies and its information about Analytics data retention.

Why does the notice only have a “Close” button?

The notice explains our use of cookies; it does not ask for acceptance. Under the statistical configuration in use, Analytics loads during your visit without waiting for you to close the message. “Close” only dismisses the notice and remembers its dismissal; it does not express consent or change visit measurement.

Technical cookies do not require consent. The Italian Data Protection Authority explains that statistical cookies can be treated like technical cookies when used for aggregate statistics, with data minimisation and without combining data with other processing or passing it to further third parties. UniqueVisitor’s use of statistics is limited to this purpose and scope.

Embedded videos and maps

Some pages contain YouTube videos and OpenStreetMap maps. These are separate from Analytics statistics: when embedded content loads, your browser connects to the provider, which receives technical information such as the IP address needed for the connection.

Videos use the youtube-nocookie.com domain. This mode does not mean that YouTube processes no data, particularly when you start playback. See Google’s privacy policy and, for maps, the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy.

How to manage cookies and statistics

You can view, block or delete cookies and local data in your browser settings. Blocking technical cookies may prevent forms from working correctly; clearing local storage makes the notice appear again.

To disable Google Analytics, you can use Google’s official opt-out browser add-on in supported browsers. Stopping future measurements does not erase data already sent.

For help managing website data, see the instructions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari. For questions about cookies on UniqueVisitor, please contact us.