Cookie policy
How cookies and similar technologies support essential site functions and measurement.
Last updated · 8 September 2026
Publisher details
Northstar Ridge Ltd
Company number: 17274747
Hillfoot, Formby Lane, Aughton, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 7HG
What this policy covers
This policy explains how MedsCompass uses cookies and comparable storage or access technologies, including local browser storage, tags and pixels. A cookie is a small piece of data stored by a browser. Some technologies read information already on a device or attach an identifier to a request. The rules and choices described here apply to those similar technologies as well as conventional cookies.
Strictly necessary technology
Essential technology is used to deliver pages securely, balance traffic, prevent abuse, maintain an administrative session and remember a setting needed to provide a feature you requested. These functions are not used to build an advertising profile. Because the site cannot provide the requested service reliably without them, they may operate without optional cookie consent where the law permits.
Northstar attribution
If you arrive through an advertisement, our first-party Northstar Attribution system may create a random journey identifier and remember it in an HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax cookie named ns_attribution for up to 90 days. It can associate an advertising click identifier and first landing page with a later visit to a connected Northstar Commerce store. A short-lived signed value is added when you deliberately follow a store link, then removed from the visible destination address after it is received. This supports campaign measurement and fraud prevention; it does not contain payment-card details or a medical diagnosis.
Analytics
Analytics may be used to understand which pages are visited, whether navigation works, approximate device and browser characteristics, and aggregate site performance. When analytics is disabled in MedsCompass settings, the related tag should not be loaded by MedsCompass. Where consent is required, optional analytics should remain inactive until a visitor makes the relevant choice.
Google advertising measurement
When Google advertising measurement is configured, a Google tag may receive campaign and interaction information and Google may set or read its own identifiers. An eligible purchase can later be reported to Google Ads using the stored click identifier, conversion time, value, currency and order reference. The Google tag and advertising conversion upload can be independently enabled or disabled in Northstar settings. Google’s own technology and retention practices are governed by its published policies.
Other browser storage
The site may save a preference such as a selected presentation or consent choice. Administrative preview and theme settings are intended for authorised site management rather than ordinary editorial browsing. Newsletter and contact forms may also use security controls designed to identify automated abuse. The exact storage in use can change as the publication develops, so we periodically review the site and update this policy.
Consent and changing your choice
Where law requires consent for non-essential storage, analytics or advertising technology, MedsCompass should ask before activating it. Accepting and rejecting should be clear choices, and withdrawing consent should be as straightforward as giving it. You can revisit the site’s cookie controls when available. A changed choice applies going forward and does not make earlier lawful processing unlawful.
Browser controls
Most browsers let you view, block and delete cookies for one site or all sites. Private-browsing modes and browser privacy features may also limit storage. Blocking all cookies can prevent essential functions from working, while deleting cookies may remove saved choices and attribution continuity. Browser “do not track” signals are not interpreted consistently across the industry, so use the site controls and browser settings for a dependable choice.
Cookie duration and retention
Session cookies normally end when the browser session finishes. Persistent cookies expire on the date assigned to them or when you delete them. The Northstar first-party attribution cookie lasts no more than 90 days. Other providers set their own durations, which should be checked in their current documentation. Server-side records created from a cookie or tag are governed by the retention section of our privacy policy rather than by the browser-cookie expiry alone.
Third-party sites
Following a retailer, regulator or other external link takes you to a separate service that may use its own cookies. MedsCompass does not control those technologies. Review the external service’s cookie and privacy information before making a choice there. A connected Northstar Commerce store should also publish its own notice covering checkout, payment and fulfilment.
Updates and questions
We will update this policy when the technologies, providers or purposes used by the live site materially change. The date at the top identifies the current version. Send questions about browser storage, attribution or privacy to privacy@medscompass.com.