Cookie Policy

Empire Events is an event design and planning studio based in Vesu, Surat. This Cookie Policy explains what cookies and similar browser storage technologies are, which of them are involved when you browse empireevent.org, who sets them, and how you can control or remove them.

We have written this document to be honest rather than impressive. Our website is a small, statically generated brochure site. It does not run an advertising network, it does not build behavioural profiles, and it does not share your browsing activity with data brokers. Most of what follows is therefore about what we do not do — and about the handful of third-party services, such as the embedded Google Map on our contact page, that may set cookies when their content loads in your browser.

This policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which describes how we handle the enquiry details you choose to send us. Both documents are written with reference to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 together with the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011.

What are cookies

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store on your device. When you return to that website, the browser sends the file back, which allows the site to recognise the same browser across pages or visits. Cookies typically hold a short identifier or a setting — a language preference, a session reference, a record that you closed a banner — rather than your name or address.

Cookies are usually described along two lines:

• By who sets them. A first-party cookie is set by the website you are visiting. A third-party cookie is set by a different domain whose content is embedded in the page — a map, a video player, an advertising script.
• By how long they last. A session cookie is erased when you close the browser. A persistent cookie stays until its expiry date or until you delete it.

Related technologies do a similar job without being cookies: local storage and session storage keep data inside the browser itself, and pixels or web beacons are tiny images used to record that a page or email was opened. Where this policy says “cookies”, it means all of these technologies together.

Under the DPDP Act, information stored on your device becomes personal data whenever it can be linked back to an identifiable individual. Our approach is simple: anything that is not genuinely required for the website to function is not used at all unless you have first been asked and have agreed.

Cookies we use

The table below lists every category of browser storage that can arise on this website, including one category we have deliberately left switched off so you can see the full picture.

If we ever introduce analytics or any other non-essential technology, we will update this policy first, name the tool and its purpose in the table above, and ask for your consent before it is loaded — as required for non-essential processing under the DPDP Act. Consent obtained in that way will always be as easy to withdraw as it was to give.

Because our pages are statically generated and served without a personalisation layer, no cookie on this website is used to decide what content you see. Two visitors opening the same page receive the same page.

Third-party services

A few services appear on or alongside our pages. We include them because they are useful to you, not because they help us measure you. Each is operated by an independent company under its own privacy policy and cookie practices, over which we have no control.

Google Maps

The contact page embeds a Google Map showing our studio at Someshwar Square, Opp. Someshwar Enclave, Near Aagam Bungalow, Vesu, Surat – 395007. When that map loads, your browser contacts Google directly and Google may set cookies and receive your IP address and device information.

Google Fonts

Our typefaces may be delivered through Google’s font service. Font files are static assets and Google states that it does not set cookies for font delivery, though the request itself does reach Google’s servers.

YouTube

Where a wedding or event film is embedded, YouTube’s player is used. Cookies are set by YouTube when the video is loaded or played, and the platform may associate playback with your Google account if you are signed in.

Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp

Our Instagram profile at instagram.com/empireevent.in and our WhatsApp line at wa.me/919265008264 are reached through ordinary outbound links. Cookies are set by Meta on its own platforms once you arrive there — not by us, and not before you click.

We do not run the Meta Pixel, Google Ads conversion tags, or any similar measurement code on this website. If you would rather these services never load at all, your browser or an extension can block third-party content, and the rest of the site will continue to work normally.

Managing cookies

You are always in charge of what your browser stores. Every modern browser lets you view existing cookies, delete them individually or in bulk, block third-party cookies, and clear everything automatically when you close a window. Private or incognito windows discard cookies as soon as the window is closed.

Google Chrome

Open Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies to choose how third-party content is treated, or use Delete browsing data to clear cookies and site data already stored.

Safari

On macOS, open Safari → Settings → Privacy, where you can prevent cross-site tracking and use Manage Website Data to remove stored data. On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data.

Microsoft Edge

Open Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies and site data to review or remove what is stored and to block third-party cookies.

On Firefox the equivalent controls sit under Settings → Privacy & Security, and most other browsers follow a similar pattern.

One practical caution: blocking all cookies and third-party content will stop the embedded Google Map on our contact page from loading, and embedded videos may not play. Our address, phone number and email are always written out in plain text on the contact page and in the footer, so you can still reach us without allowing any third-party content. Blocking cookies never prevents you from reading our pages, sending an enquiry or calling us.

Do Not Track

Some browsers can send a Do Not Track (DNT) signal, and newer browsers may send a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. There is still no common industry standard for how websites must respond to either, and Indian law does not currently prescribe one.

Our position is straightforward. Because this website does not track you across sites in the first place, a DNT or GPC signal makes no practical difference to how we behave — there is no tracking to disable. Should we ever add analytics or any non-essential technology, we will honour a DNT or GPC signal as a refusal of consent and will not load that technology for browsers sending it.

Consent and withdrawal

Under the DPDP Act, 2023, consent must be free, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous, given through a clear affirmative action, and it must be as easy to withdraw as it was to give. We apply that standard to browser storage as follows.

• Strictly necessary storage is used without a consent prompt, because the website cannot deliver the service you asked for without it. This is the equivalent of the legitimate-use footing recognised under the Act.
• Non-essential technologies — analytics, advertising, profiling — are not deployed at all today. None will be added without a prior consent request that explains what it does and who receives the data, with an equally prominent option to decline.
• Third-party embeds such as the Google Map load as part of the page you requested. If you prefer them not to load, the browser controls described above give you a reliable, permanent way to block them.

You may withdraw any consent, ask what personal data we hold, request correction or erasure, or nominate another person to exercise your rights on your behalf by writing to hello@empireevent.org or calling +91 92650 08264. Withdrawal applies going forward and does not affect processing already carried out lawfully. If you are not satisfied with our response, the DPDP Act allows you to approach the Data Protection Board of India.

For completeness, the registered particulars of the entity operating this website are [Registered entity name — to be inserted] with GST registration [GSTIN — to be inserted].

Updates to this policy

We will revise this Cookie Policy whenever the technologies used on the website change, whenever a new third-party service is embedded, or whenever the law or the guidance issued under it moves. The “last updated” date shown alongside this document always reflects the current version.

If a future change involves any non-essential processing — analytics, measurement, advertising or personalisation — we will not rely on this page alone. You will be asked for consent within the website itself before that technology loads, and material changes will be highlighted so they are not easy to miss. Please revisit this page from time to time; continuing to use the site after an update means you accept the version then in force, to the extent the law permits acceptance by continued use.

This policy is published for transparency rather than as a formality. If anything here is unclear, or if you would like to know exactly what loads on a particular page before you open it, please contact our Grievance Officer, Komal Patel, and we will explain it in plain terms.