Legal
Cookies
Last updated: 19 October 2026
Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser so it can remember you between pages. Every one we set is set by us, and every one is there to make the site work for you: signing in and staying signed in, your basket, your child’s pass while they sit a paper, and a friend’s code if you followed one. This page is the complete list, and it is checked against the code rather than remembered.
The cookies we set
| Cookie | What it does | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in cookies | Keep you signed in to your account and dashboard. Set when you sign in (their names start with sb- or sm_). | About 30 days |
sm_child | Remembers which child’s results you were viewing, so the dashboard opens where you left off. | 30 days |
sm_basket | Remembers what’s in your basket while you browse, so it’s still there at checkout. | 30 days |
sm_demo, sm_demo_sitting | Set only if you try the sample questions, so the page knows where you got to and can show you what your answers meant. | 30 days, and until you close the tab |
sm_sit | Your child’s pass for the paper they are sitting. It is what lets them answer questions without having your account, and it locks your own pages on that device until they finish. | 26 hours |
sm_prac | The same thing for a practice sheet, set when you hand the device over. | 3 hours |
sm_welcomed | Remembers that you have already seen the welcome page, so you are not shown it again every time you sign in. It holds the digit 1 and nothing else. | A year |
sm_from | Set if you arrive by a link a friend gave you, so the code in that link is still with you at checkout and you both get the free paper the scheme promises. | 30 days |
All of them are first-party (set by sillymaths.com, readable by no one else) and inaccessible to scripts running in the page. None contains personal information beyond an account reference and a list of pack names — no names, no results, nothing about your child.
What we do not set
- No advertising or tracking cookies, ours or anyone else’s.
- No social-media pixels or cross-site identifiers.
- No analytics cookies. For visitor numbers we use Vercel Web Analytics — a privacy-friendly tool that counts visits and page views without cookies, and without collecting anything that identifies you. Because it sets no cookies and holds no personal data, there is still nothing here that needs your consent.
If we ever start advertising and need one of these, we will update this page first, and nothing will be stored on your device until you have agreed to it.
Why there is no cookie banner
UK law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) requires your consent for anything stored on your device that is not strictly necessary — advertising, tracking, counting visitors. We set none of those. Every cookie in the table above does a job you asked for: staying signed in, holding your basket, letting your child sit the paper you set up, carrying the code from a friend’s link you chose to follow. So there is nothing to ask consent for, and no banner to dismiss.
Managing cookies
You can view and delete cookies in your browser settings at any time. Deleting ours simply signs you out, empties your basket, and makes the free paper ask for your email again; nothing else is lost, and signing back in sets them afresh. Read the site without signing in, adding to your basket, starting your free paper or following a friend’s link, and nothing is stored on your device at all.
We review this page at least once every 12 months, and whenever we change how the site works, so the list above is never out of date.
Questions
How we handle the data behind your account is in the privacy policy. Anything else: hello@sillymaths.com.