COOKIE POLICY

Last Updated: October 11, 2025

1. Introduction

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, how and for what purposes we use them on the Sharp Island Lodge website, and outlines your rights regarding the management of cookies.

This policy is an integral part of our website's general Privacy Policy.

2. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored by a website on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) via your web browser when you visit the site. These files allow the website to "remember" you and your preferences (such as language settings) or help track your behavior for analytical purposes.

3. Categories of Cookies We Use

Since the Sharp Island Lodge website does not run an e-commerce store or complex user account systems, we primarily use cookies that fall into the following two categories:

A. Strictly Necessary Cookies (Essential Cookies)

These cookies are essential for the basic operation of the website. Without them, the site would not function correctly (e.g., system security and session cookies provided by the Webnode platform).

• Legal Basis: Our legitimate interest in ensuring the safe and stable operation of the website.

• Consent: These cookies are deleted upon closing the browser and do not require your prior consent.

B. Analytics and Marketing Cookies

These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with the website, providing crucial information about site performance, popular pages, and user journeys.

• Purpose: The data we collect is used exclusively to improve our marketing strategy, measure the effectiveness of our campaigns, and optimize the user experience to be more targeted and relevant.

• Legal Basis: Your explicit consent provided via the cookie consent mechanism.

4. Third-Party Analytics Tools

We use two third-party services that analyze user activity using cookies and technical data:

4.1 Google Analytics (GA)

• Cookie Types: Performance, Statistical, and Marketing cookies.

• Purpose: Tracking visitor habits (e.g., time on site, pages visited) to optimize our marketing performance and strategy.

• Data Processing and Transfer: Data collected by GA is stored and processed on Google's servers, which are located outside of Uganda. This constitutes a cross-border data transfer. We process IP addresses in an anonymized form where possible.

4.2 Google Search Console (GSC)

5. Your Consent and Cookie Management

A. Providing Consent

Under the DPPA (Ugandan Law), Analytics and Marketing Cookies may only be placed with your prior, explicit consent. Through the cookie banner (cookie consent mechanism) displayed upon your first visit, you have the option to:

• Accept All
• Accept Only Essentials (in which case only Strictly Necessary Cookies will be used).

B. Withdrawing Consent (Opt-Out)

You have the right to withdraw your consent to the use of cookies at any time. You can do this through the cookie settings menu on our website, or manually using the following methods:

• Browser Settings: All modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) allow you to configure which cookies you permit or to delete all cookies entirely. However, completely disabling cookies in your browser may affect the functionality of our website and others.

• Google Tools: You can stop Google Analytics from collecting your data by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

6. Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding our use of cookies or our data protection practices, please contact us using the details below: