Legal
Cookie policy
The short version: this site sets the few cookies it needs to function and asks before setting anything else. It carries no advertising or third-party tracking of any kind.
Last updated 16 October 2026
Who is asking
Stranger Hands is the data controller for this website. We are an independent studio in London SE10 0ES, United Kingdom. Because we are established in the UK and sell to UK customers, our use of cookies is governed by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the UK GDPR, both regulated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
What a cookie is here
“Cookie” on this page is shorthand for anything stored on or read from your device — classic cookies, but also browser storage such as localStorage. PECR treats them the same way, so we do too. Calling browser storage something other than a cookie in order to avoid asking permission is a distinction the regulator does not recognise.
Cookies we set without asking
PECR allows a narrow exception for storage that is strictly necessary to provide a service you have asked for. That exception removes the need for consent — it does not remove the need to tell you, so here they are in full.
| Name | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|
rr_admin_session | Keeps the studio signed in to the admin panel, and a customer signed in to their account. Only ever set after a successful sign-in. | Session |
sh_account | Set only while you are signed in, so the site's header knows to show your account menu. It holds nothing but the number 1; your account details stay on our server. | Until you sign out (a week at most) |
sh_admin | Set only in the studio's own browser, when signed in to the admin panel, so the shop can show the studio a shortcut to its messages. Customers never have it. | 30 days |
rr_cookie_consent | Remembers your answer to this cookie notice, so you are not asked on every page. Storing the refusal is itself necessary — without it we could not honour it. | 12 months |
rr_age_confirmed | Set only when you confirm you are 18 or over to see a photograph marked 18+, so you are not asked again during your visit. Kept for 12 months instead if you allow functional cookies. | Session |
sh_figurine_try | Set only when you press Generate on the figurine generator without an account. A random, signed id that records you have had your one free generation, so the free try stays one per visitor. When you generate, your browser also sends a one-way hash of a few of its settings (screen, time zone, language, graphics) for the same purpose; only a keyed hash of it is kept, for 30 days. | 12 months |
sh-figurine-generator (browser storage) | Keeps the photos, words and choices you put into the figurine generator on this device, so they are still there if you register or reload. Never sent anywhere by itself; the Clean button deletes it. | Until you press Clean |
Stripe checkout | When card payments go live, paying for an order will hand you to Stripe's own hosted checkout, which sets cookies needed to process the payment and prevent fraud. Card details never touch this website. | See Stripe |
Cookies we ask about first
These are switched off until you turn them on. Declining them leaves the site completely usable — nothing here is held back behind a consent wall.
Functional
Remembers small choices you have made, so the site does not ask twice.
- · Remembering that you closed a newsletter popup, so it stays closed for a while
- · Remembering for 12 months, rather than until you close your browser, that you confirmed you are 18 or over
Analytics
Anonymous statistics about which pages are read, to help decide what to write next.
- · Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*), if Analytics is switched on in the admin panel
Advertising
Lets us measure which adverts led to an order, and show our pieces again to people who looked at them.
- · Google Ads conversion measurement and remarketing (_gcl_au), if advertising is switched on in the admin panel
- · Meta Pixel for Facebook and Instagram adverts and shopping (_fbp), if the pixel is switched on in the admin panel
What we deliberately do not do
- No advertising or retargeting pixels — no Meta pixel, no Google Ads tag.
- No selling or sharing of browsing behaviour with anyone.
- No embedded social feeds that track you. The Instagram section on this site is built from images we save ourselves, so Instagram is not told that you visited.
- No cookie wall. Refusing costs you nothing but the conveniences listed above.
Changing your mind
Your choice is stored for twelve months, after which we will ask again. You can change it at any moment — withdrawing consent is meant to be as easy as giving it:
You can also clear or block cookies in your browser settings. Blocking the strictly necessary ones will stop parts of the site working — the admin panel will not be able to keep the studio signed in, and we will have no way to remember that you refused, so you will be asked on every page.
Complaints
If you think we have handled your data badly, please tell us first — we would rather fix it. You also have the right to complain directly to the ICO at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or by calling their helpline on 0303 123 1113.
See also our privacy policy, which covers everything we do with personal data beyond cookies.