01
What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store and send back on later visits. Cookies are what let a site recognise you between page loads — without one, you would be signed out every time you clicked a link.
Some cookies are essential: the service cannot work without them. Others are non-essential and are used for analytics or advertising. We use only the first kind.
02
The short version
We do not track you
Mindcarter sets no advertising cookies, no analytics cookies and no social media pixels. Every cookie below exists to sign you in, keep you signed in, or protect a sign-in against attack. Nothing on this site profiles you or follows you to other websites.
We still show a consent banner on your first visit, so that your choice is recorded and you are told what is happening — and so that if we ever do add anything non-essential, it stays switched off unless you have accepted it.
03
Essential cookies
These are strictly necessary to provide the service you have asked for. They are set only when they are needed — a visitor who never signs in receives no cookies at all from us.
| Cookie | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
__mc_session | Keeps you signed in to the client portal. Signed and verified on the server so it cannot be tampered with. | Until the session expires or you sign out |
__mc_psych_session | The same, for psychologists signed in to the clinician portal. | Until the session expires or you sign out |
__mc_company_session | The same, for employers signed in to their Corporate Counselling dashboard. | Until the session expires or you sign out |
g_oauth_state, g_oauth_verifier | Security cookies used only during Google sign-in, to prove the request coming back from Google is the one you started. Deleted as soon as sign-in finishes. | A few minutes |
gcal_oauth_state, gcal_oauth_verifier | The same protection for a clinician connecting their Google Calendar. | A few minutes |
The session cookies are marked HttpOnly, so JavaScript on the page cannot read them, and Secure in production, so they are only ever sent over HTTPS. They contain a signed reference to your session — never your password, and never any clinical information.
04
Other browser storage
Two small values are kept in your browser's own storage rather than in cookies. They never leave your device and are never sent to our servers:
| Key | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
mc-cookie-consent | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected non-essential cookies, so the banner is not shown again. | Until you clear your browser data or reset your choice |
mc-preload-reload | A technical flag that lets an open tab refresh itself once after we deploy a new version of the site, instead of breaking. | Until you close the tab |
05
What we do not use
- No Google Analytics, or any other analytics product.
- No advertising or retargeting cookies, and no Meta, LinkedIn or Google advertising pixels.
- No cross-site tracking, fingerprinting or session-recording tools.
- No cookies that profile your health interests. Given what this practice does, that would be indefensible.
06
Third-party cookies
When you sign in with Google, or join a session on Google Meet, those services set their own cookies on their own domains under their own policies. We do not control them and cannot read them. If you never use Google sign-in and never join a Meet call, they are never involved.
Our public pages embed no third-party widgets, fonts or scripts that would set cookies on your browser.
07
Your choice
On your first visit we show a banner asking whether you accept non-essential cookies, and we remember your answer. Because we currently use none, rejecting changes nothing about how the site behaves — but your rejection is recorded and would be honoured if that ever changed.
Essential cookies cannot be switched off. Without them you cannot sign in, which means no portal, no bookings and no journal.
You can change your mind at any time:
08
Managing cookies in your browser
Every major browser lets you view, block and delete cookies from its settings — usually under "Privacy and security". Blocking all cookies will prevent you from signing in to the Mindcarter portal. Clearing your cookies will sign you out and will also clear your consent choice, so the banner will appear again on your next visit.
09
Changes to this policy
If we add any cookie to this website, we will update this page before doing so and, where the cookie is non-essential, ask for your consent first. For everything else about how we handle your data, see our Privacy Policy and Consumer Health Data Notice.
Related policies