Needle Desk

Privacy and analytics

What we measure. We use Google Analytics 4 (provided through Google Firebase) to understand which pages and tools are useful. When analytics is on, it records the pages you view; how you use the lookup tools (for example the model you searched for and whether a match was found); links you follow to manufacturer sites; and, if you choose to send it, your answer to “Did this help?” with any reasons and a comment of up to 100 characters. Email addresses and phone numbers typed into a comment are removed in your browser before anything is sent. Google also receives standard technical information such as browser, device type and approximate location. Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses.

Cookies. Analytics sets two first-party cookies, _ga and _ga_<ID>, which distinguish visits and last up to 2 years. No advertising cookies are used. The site also stores your cookie choice in your browser’s local storage (consent:analytics) and remembers, for the current browser session only, whether the feedback card has already been shown.

Your consent. Analytics only starts if you select “Accept analytics” in the cookie bar. If you reject it, or make no choice, Google Analytics is not loaded and nothing is sent. You can change your choice at any time with the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page. The legal basis is your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and UK GDPR; the ePrivacy/PECR cookie rules; Article 7(I) LGPD in Brazil; the Australian Privacy Principles for Australian visitors).

Google as processor. Google Ireland Limited (for the EEA, UK and Switzerland) or Google LLC processes analytics data on our behalf under Google’s data processing terms. Data may be transferred to the United States; Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions. Analytics data is kept for the retention period configured in our Google Analytics property, and the lookup tools themselves send nothing to our own server.

Your rights. Depending on where you live, you can ask for access to, correction or deletion of personal data about you, object to or restrict its use, and withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing. Because analytics data is pseudonymous, we may need your _ga cookie value to find it. You can complain to your local data-protection authority (for example the ICO in the UK, the CNIL in France, your state authority in Germany, the AEPD in Spain, the Garante in Italy, the UODO in Poland, the ANPD in Brazil or the OAIC in Australia).

Changes. We update this section when our measurement changes, and show the date of the last update. Last updated: 21 October 2026.