Cookies and tracking

What this site stores on your device

Until you agree to analytics, this site stores one thing on your device: your answer to the analytics question. It is kept in your browser’s local storage, not in a cookie, it is never sent to us or to anyone else, and it exists so that we do not ask you the same question on every page.

If you agree to analytics, Google Analytics sets two cookies in your browser. One is named _ga and identifies your browser to Google so that repeat visits are counted as the same person rather than as new people. The other is named _ga_ followed by the identifier of our analytics property, and it holds the state of your current visit. Both last 400 days unless you delete them, and both are set by this website rather than by a third party.

Those two names, and that lifetime, were read from a real browser session rather than copied from documentation. If Google changes what its tag sets, this page is wrong until someone checks again.

Nothing else is stored. The site loads its fonts from our own server, and any map on the site only contacts Google if you click to load it.

Analytics, and why we ask first

We would like to know how many people visit and which pages they read, so that the clinic can see what is useful and improve it. We use Google Analytics for that. It is the only thing on this site that we ask your permission for; everything else here is necessary to show you the page.

We ask before loading it rather than after. The pages you read here say something about your body: someone reading about post-surgical rehabilitation is telling us something they have not chosen to tell us. Canada’s privacy regulator allows an opt-out approach to tracking only where what is collected avoids health information, and we cannot honestly claim that here, so we ask you first instead.

If you say no, nothing from Google is loaded at all. The site behaves identically either way, and nothing you type into a form is ever sent to Google.

If your browser sends an opt-out preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control, we treat that as a no and do not ask. You can still turn analytics on yourself using the Cookie settings link if you want to.

Where analytics data goes

If you agree, Google Analytics sends information about your visit to Google, which processes and stores it outside Canada, including in the United States. While it is held there it is subject to the laws of that country, including lawful access by its authorities.

What is sent is the page address, rough location derived from your network address, and technical details such as your device and browser. We do not send Google your name, your email address, your phone number or your message, and we do not use analytics data to try to identify you.

We keep advertising features turned off, so this data is not used to build an advertising profile of you.

Changing your mind

You can change your answer at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page. Saying no stops any further analytics collection on this site immediately.

It cannot recall what was already sent. If you want data that has already reached Google removed, contact us and we will make that request to Google on your behalf.

We do not expire your answer on a timer or re-ask you every few months. We ask again only if we change what we would collect or who receives it, because that is a different question from the one you already answered. Clearing your browser storage also clears your answer, and we will ask again on your next visit.

Who is responsible, and how to reach us

This website is operated by Pulse Physio, which is the organisation responsible for the information described on this page. A website service provider builds and maintains the site on that business’s behalf and does not use anything collected here for its own purposes.

Questions about this page, or a request to see, correct or delete information we hold about you, go to the contact address in our Privacy Policy. We answer these ourselves rather than routing them through a form.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can raise it with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, which oversees private-sector privacy in this province.