Cookies Policy

A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. Cookies let a site remember things between pages and between visits, such as that you are logged in or what you chose last time. This policy also covers technologies that work in a similar way, including local storage, pixels, tags and software development kits in our mobile app. We refer to all of them as cookies.

Regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 says that we may only store information on your device, or gain access to information already stored on it, if we have given you clear and comprehensive information about what we are doing and you have consented. There is an exception for cookies that are strictly necessary to provide a service you have asked for, and for those that do no more than carry a communication.

So: the strictly necessary cookies in section 4 are set without asking you, because the site cannot work without them. Everything else is set only if you agree. Where a cookie also involves personal data, the UK GDPR applies as well, and our Website Privacy Notice explains what we do with it.

When you first visit, a banner asks you to choose. You can accept all non-essential cookies, reject them all, or open the preference centre and choose category by category. Rejecting is as easy as accepting: both are a single click on the banner, and neither option is hidden or pre-ticked.

You can change your mind at any time through the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of every page. Your choice is remembered for 6 months, after which we will ask again. We will also ask again if we add a cookie that does something materially different.

You can also control cookies through your browser, which lets you block or delete them. If you block strictly necessary cookies, parts of the site will stop working: you will not be able to log in, hold a session, or complete a purchase.

Some browsers send a “Do Not Track” signal. There is no agreed standard for how sites should respond to it, so we do not rely on it. Please use the banner or the preference centre instead, because those we do act on.

These are set without your consent because the website and the Portal cannot provide the service you have asked for without them. They do not track you across other websites and they are not used for advertising.

These make the site more usable but are not essential. We set them only if you agree.

These tell us how the site is used, which pages people look at and where they run into trouble, so that we can improve it. We set them only if you agree. We use the results in aggregate; we do not use them to make decisions about any individual, and they play no part in which assignments a worker is shown.

We do not currently use analytics cookies. If that changes we will update this policy and ask for your consent before setting them.

We do not currently use advertising or social media tracking cookies. If that changes we will update this policy and ask for your consent before setting them.

The app does not use cookies in the browser sense, but it uses similar technologies: local storage to keep you logged in and to hold your shift and timesheet data between sessions, and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver push notifications. You can control these through the privacy settings on your device and in the app.

Camera access is used only to read QR codes when you scan in and out. The app records the scan event — the time, your account, the device and the site — and nothing else. It does not track your location between scans or when you are not working. The Agency Worker Privacy Notice explains this and how long the record is kept.

Some cookies in the tables above are set by other organisations rather than by us. We do not control what those organisations do with the information they collect, and you should read their own policies. Where we know the link, we have given it in the preference centre. If a third party changes what its cookie does, we will update this policy.

For anything about cookies, or to exercise your data protection rights, contact us at enquiry@vortexorce.com, or write to Data Protection, Vortexorce Limited, 3 Wandon Close, Luton, England, LU2 8DX. Exercising a right is free.

You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF; telephone 0303 123 1113; ico.org.uk.

We review this policy at least annually, and we rescan the site for new cookies when we do. The version and date are below.