COOKIES

1. What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, to remember your preferences, and to provide information to website operators about how their site is being used.

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies we use on www.pls-solicitors.co.uk (our “Site”), why we use them, and how you can control them.

2. Who we are

The Site is operated by Property Legal (Manchester) Limited trading as PLS Solicitors, registered in England and Wales. We are the data controller in respect of personal data processed through cookies on this Site.

If you have questions about this policy, please contact us at privacy@pls-solicitors.co.uk.

3. Types of cookies we use

We use the following categories of cookies on our Site:

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential for the Site to work correctly. They enable core functionality such as page navigation and access to secure areas. The Site cannot function properly without these cookies. Because they are essential, they do not require your consent.

Performance and analytics cookies

These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our Site by collecting and reporting information anonymously. We use Google Analytics 4 to collect this data. The information gathered helps us improve the performance and usability of the Site.

Marketing and targeting cookies

These cookies are used to deliver adverts that are relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. They are usually placed by advertising networks with our permission. These cookies require your explicit consent before being set.

4. Marketing and retargeting

We use two distinct methods to show relevant advertising to people who have previously interacted with PLS Solicitors: cookie-based retargeting and custom audience matching, both described below.

4.1 Cookie-based retargeting

We work with third-party advertising platforms to show relevant ads to people who have previously visited our Site. These platforms set cookies on your device to identify your browser across websites and serve targeted advertising. The platforms we currently use are:

Google Ads

We use Google remarketing to display our ads to previous visitors on the Google Display Network and YouTube. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on your past visits to our Site. You can opt out via Google’s Ad Settings at https://adssettings.google.com.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

We use the Meta Pixel to measure conversions from our Facebook and Instagram advertising, to build audiences for future campaigns, and to retarget visitors who have previously engaged with our Site. You can manage your ad preferences at https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads.

LinkedIn

We use the LinkedIn Insight Tag to enable campaign reporting, to retarget visitors on LinkedIn, and to understand how LinkedIn members interact with our advertising. You can opt out at https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out.

YouTube

We embed YouTube videos on our website. YouTube (operated by Google) may set cookies on your device to track video interactions and serve relevant advertising. You can manage your preferences via Google’s Ad Settings at https://adssettings.google.com.

Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads)

We use the Microsoft Advertising Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag to measure conversions from our Bing Ads campaigns and to retarget visitors via the Microsoft Audience Network. You can manage your ad preferences at https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en-gb/resources/policies/opt-out-of-the-microsoft-advertising-remarketing-list.
Each of these platforms has its own privacy policy governing how they use data collected via these cookies. We encourage you to review their policies directly.

4.2 Custom audience matching

In addition to cookie-based retargeting, we may use custom audience matching (also known as customer match) on Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and Microsoft Advertising. This involves uploading a hashed list of contact details — specifically email addresses and telephone numbers — that we have collected with your consent or on the basis of legitimate interests, to these platforms. They then match your details against their own user databases to identify your account and serve our advertising to you directly.

This type of advertising is separate from cookies. It operates based on personal data you have provided to us, rather than tracking your browsing behaviour. We only use custom audience matching where you have explicitly consented to marketing communications from PLS Solicitors, or where we have carried out a formal Legitimate Interests Assessment (LIA).

All data uploaded for custom audience matching is hashed before transmission. Custom audience lists are managed by our digital marketing agency, Embryo Digital, and are reviewed and either refreshed or deleted every 90 days across all platforms. For information on how long each platform retains matched data on their own systems, please refer to their respective privacy policies.

4.3 Consent vs legitimate interests — how you can tell which applies to you

Where we rely on consent for custom audience matching, this will have been recorded when you submitted your details to us and opted in to marketing.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object to this processing at any time. To find out which basis applies to your data, or to exercise your right to object, please contact us at privacy@pls-solicitors.co.uk. We will stop using your data for custom audience matching unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests.

You can also manage your ad preferences directly with each platform using the opt-out links in section 4.1 above.

5. Third-party cookies

Some cookies on our Site are set by third-party services we use, such as analytics and advertising providers. We do not control these cookies and they are governed by the respective third party’s privacy policy. Key third parties include:

6. Your choices and how to opt out

6.1 Cookie consent banner

When you first visit our Site, you can choose to accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or customise your preferences by category. You can update your choices at any time using the Cookie Settings link in the footer of our website.

6.2 Browser settings

Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through their settings. However, disabling cookies may affect your experience on our Site and others. For more information, visit www.aboutcookies.org.

6.3 Opting out of marketing and retargeting

You can opt out of interest-based advertising from our partners using the links in section 4, or through the following industry opt-out tools:

Opting out means advertising you see will be less tailored to you — you will still see ads, just not targeted ones.

7. Legal basis for cookie processing

We process personal data collected through cookies on the following legal bases:

  • Strictly necessary cookies: legitimate interests (to ensure the Site functions correctly)
  • Analytics cookies: legitimate interests (to understand how our Site is used and improve it), or consent where required
  • Marketing cookies (cookie-based retargeting): consent (we will only set these where you have accepted via our cookie banner)
  • Custom audience matching: consent (where you have opted in to marketing) or legitimate interests (where a formal Legitimate Interests Assessment has been completed and is held on file by PLS Solicitors)

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by updating the date at the top of this page. We encourage you to check back periodically.

9. Contact us

If you have questions about our use of cookies or wish to exercise any of your rights under this policy, please contact us:

If you are unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk.