Picwave | Cookie Policy | v1.0 | Effective 8 October 2026

1. Introduction & scope

1.1 This Cookie Policy explains how WERVIX LTD, trading as Picwave, uses cookies and similar technologies on pic-wave.com. It covers visitors to the catalogue, shoppers, Account holders and users of our prompt-driven image generator. The Privacy Policy explains related personal-data processing.

1.2 We follow the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and, where cookies process personal data, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. Where a visitor is protected by another country’s mandatory cookie rules, those protections remain applicable.

1.3 The policy distinguishes a cookie genuinely necessary for a service requested by the user from a cookie that merely improves marketing or analytics. Convenience alone does not make an optional technology essential.

2. What cookies & similar technologies are

2.1 A cookie is a small value stored by a browser and sent back or retrieved to recognise a session, preserve a preference or support a website feature. Cookies can be session-based or persistent, and first-party or third-party depending on which domain sets and accesses them.

2.2 Comparable technologies include local storage, pixels, software identifiers and server-managed session keys. Their legal treatment depends on their function and how information is stored or accessed on a device, not on whether the technology is literally named a cookie.

2.3 A cookie can store a random identifier rather than your visible name yet still qualify as personal data if it is linkable to a user or device. The classification and lawful basis therefore depend on realistic identifiability and actual deployment.

3. Why we use cookies

3.1 Essential technologies preserve an authenticated session, maintain basket contents, protect checkout steps and remember whether a cookie preference has been expressed. Without these functions, an account-based purchase or secure site feature may become impracticable.

3.2 Functional technologies can preserve voluntarily selected currency and language settings, so the visitor does not have to repeat a choice. Analytics may help us understand errors and page performance, while advertising tools, if enabled, can assist with campaign measurement and relevant promotions.

3.3 Optional measurement or advertising is not needed to purchase Digital Images or Generation Credits. Refusing optional cookies should leave core browsing, authentication and payment functions reasonably available.

4. Cookie categories

4.1 Strictly necessary cookies are those required to transmit communications or provide a service the visitor specifically requests, including authenticated access, cart integrity, certain anti-fraud functions and recording consent choice. These can be exempt from prior cookie consent, although their personal-data processing still requires a lawful basis.

4.2 Functional and preference cookies remember choices such as currency or language. Where a chosen setting is strictly necessary to fulfil an active request, the exemption is assessed narrowly; optional persistent tracking of preferences requires consent when the legal exemption does not apply.

4.3 Analytics and performance cookies measure use and diagnose trends. Advertising and marketing cookies track advertising interactions or audience segmentation. These optional categories are disabled until the relevant prior consent is obtained.

5. Lawful basis & consent

5.1 For non-exempt technologies we seek prior, freely given, specific and informed consent using a banner offering Accept All, Reject All and a means to customise by category. Non-essential trackers must not be placed, read or activated by default while the user has not made a valid choice.

5.2 Rejecting must be as straightforward as accepting, and declining one category must not be treated as consent for another. The choices should be recorded sufficiently to respect the decision without disproportionate tracking. A user can withdraw consent through the website cookie-preference interface.

5.3 Consent withdrawal applies prospectively and must stop future access by the optional technology where reasonably controlled by us. Users may also clear existing browser cookies. Essential records needed to evidence consent, secure an active order or meet law may remain independently justified.

5.4 UK law also provides narrow non-consent exceptions for qualifying statistical-use measurement and appearance or preference functions. If we rely on either, the sole-purpose and other conditions must be met, including clear information and a simple, free means of objection. The exceptions do not authorise advertising, cross-site profiling or general retention of identifiable analytics records; other non-exempt uses require consent.

6. Cookie inventory & example technology

6.1 The inventory below names technologies observed on the live unauthenticated website and ordinary operational cookies used by the relevant commerce platform when a cart or login is active. A visitor may not receive every listed cookie on every page, device or consent state. The provider for a first-party cookie is the merchant or the identified software layer that sets it.

6.2 Cookie lifetimes may differ between session and persistent implementations. Durations below are functional maxima or typical behaviour rather than a guarantee that all browser configurations preserve them for the full period; cookies can expire or be removed earlier. The inventory is reviewed when software versions or integrations change.

7. Third-party cookies & embedded services

7.1 Third-party payment, analytics, anti-fraud or advertising scripts may use storage on their own domains if and when enabled. The payment provider operating the secure payment flow may set strictly necessary verification or fraud-prevention cookies; the provider’s own notices explain additional processing.

7.2 Where we enable Google Analytics, advertising pixels or comparable tools in the future, their provider, purpose, consent classification and duration must be included in an updated inventory and the tools blocked until the appropriate permission exists.

8. Managing preferences

8.1 You can select Reject All, Accept All or customise the categories when the cookie panel appears. The website’s cookie-settings control should remain accessible after initial selection so you can change your mind without contacting support.

8.2 Browser controls can delete individual cookies, block third-party storage or erase all website data. Blocking essential cookies may prevent your basket, account login or checkout from working; blocking optional cookies does not remove your legal right to buy products.

8.3 If optional cookies appear after rejection, report the browser and consent choices to info@pic-wave.com.

9. Retention & review

9.1 Session cookies commonly end with a browser session, while persistent values end at their configured expiration, deletion or withdrawal. Not all browser cookies are automatically deleted when an Account is closed; you can clear browser storage separately.

9.2 Consent preferences are retained for a proportionate period needed to respect prior choices and demonstrate compliance. Analytics retention, where applicable, must be set independently in the relevant third-party product and documented in the privacy inventory.

9.3 We review names, expiry settings, third-party hosts and consent behaviour at least every six months and after a material plugin or marketing change. Tests should cover new visits, rejection, acceptance, withdrawal and authenticated checkout across representative regions and browsers.

10. Do-not-track & browser signals

10.1 Some browsers offer a Do Not Track setting and privacy controls that limit cross-site tracking. The effect of those controls varies by browser and service; our legally required consent and objection processes do not depend solely on a particular DNT implementation.

10.2 Where a recognised browser preference has legal effect under the rules applying to an individual, we assess and honour that signal as required. Such preference signals are separate from the contractual need to use security or checkout cookies to fulfil a requested transaction.

10.3 A broader profiling objection may be sent through the Privacy Policy contact route.

11. Children & age

11.1 Picwave paid digital products and AI generation are intended for users aged 18 or over. We do not deliberately use advertising cookies to build profiles of minors or solicit data for paid purchases from children.

11.2 If a parent or guardian identifies a minor’s Account or a concern about cookies associated with a child’s device, they may contact info@pic-wave.com. We assess requests in accordance with applicable privacy and safeguarding law.

11.3 A minor may encounter public website content through a shared device. The legal treatment of a cookie is based on its actual purpose and the user’s valid consent, not an assumption that every device belongs to an adult.

12. International data flows

12.1 A cookie set by a technology provider may enable processing outside the United Kingdom, for example when a cloud provider has global infrastructure. Where this constitutes a restricted transfer of personal data, lawful UK transfer mechanisms and an appropriate assessment are required.

12.2 We use the UK adequacy framework, an appropriate UK International Data Transfer Agreement or a UK Addendum to relevant standard clauses, with additional protections where required. The appropriate route depends on the actual recipient, countries and processing purpose.

12.3 Consent to cookies is not automatically a complete legal basis for a restricted international transfer. For further information about third-party recipients and transfers, refer to our Privacy Policy or contact the privacy team.

13. Changes

13.1 The Cookie Policy is reviewed when the site introduces a new analytics platform, tracking pixel, checkout provider, consent interface or persistent identifier. Material changes in optional technologies require the consent interface and disclosures to be updated before activation.

13.2 We publish the latest version and effective date on pic-wave.com. Previously expressed consent will not be treated as permission for a materially different tracking purpose that requires a new decision.

13.3 We test actual cookie deployments rather than reproducing unused vendor examples.

14. Contact

14.1 For cookie inquiries or to report unexpected tracking, contact WERVIX LTD, company number 17499009, at info@pic-wave.com. Registered office: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ.

14.2 Include the page visited, browser, approximate date and consent choice. Please do not send login credentials or payment card details. Questions about personal-data rights and complaints may also be addressed using the Privacy Policy.

14.3 Cookie processing is subject to UK PECR, UK GDPR and other applicable mandatory requirements. You may make a complaint to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk where appropriate.

Operational Maintenance Checklist

Before publishing a change to checkout, token balances or the AI generation page, inspect browser cookies and network storage with optional categories rejected, then repeat after affirmative acceptance. A technical inventory should include each key, provider, host, function and configured lifetime.

Confirm that the banner allows acceptance, rejection and granular preferences; that prior rejection is respected after reload and login; and that withdrawal stops future non-essential reads or writes. Consent must not be inferred from closing the banner or continuing to scroll.

Review third-party scripts and marketing integrations at least every six months or on deployment. Add newly observed cookies to this list only after identifying their function and category; retire obsolete names rather than presenting fictional or unused technologies as deployed.

Maintain sufficient logs of the consent mechanism’s configured version and meaningful user choices without storing more personal data than necessary. A cookie complaint should trigger a browser-specific reproduction and documented remedial action, not merely a policy-text change.

Picwave | Cookie Policy | v1.0 | Effective 8 October 2026. Published on the website and subject to update; the current published version governs transactions made after it takes effect, subject always to mandatory rights.