Last updated: 19 August 2026.
Hob Nob Anyone? (“we”, “us”, the “site”) is an independent Reading FC fan website, running since 1994 at www.royals.org, including our discussion forum. We are not affiliated with Reading Football Club. This policy explains what cookies we use, why, and how we handle any personal information. It covers both the main website and the forum.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. Some are essential for the site to work (for example, keeping you logged in), while others help us understand how the site is used or support advertising. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time — though disabling essential cookies may stop parts of the site (such as the forum login) from working.
The cookies we use
1. Essential & functional cookies
These are needed for the site and forum to function. They do not track you across other websites.
| Cookie | Purpose | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| phpbb3_…_sid, _u, _k | Forum session and login (“remember me”) — keeps you signed in to the forum and remembers your preferences. | Our forum (phpBB) |
| hna_cookie_ok | Remembers that you have dismissed this cookie notice, so it isn’t shown again (up to 400 days). | Us |
| hna_anon | An anonymous identifier so features like the Daily Quiz and player ratings work before you sign in, and can be linked to your profile if you later log in. | Us |
| __stripe_mid, __stripe_sid | Set only during ad-free subscription checkout, to process the payment securely and prevent fraud. | Stripe |
2. Analytics cookies — Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use the site (which pages
are popular, how people arrive, roughly where in the world they are) so we can improve it. This
sets cookies such as _ga and _ga_<id>. The information is
aggregated and we do not use it to identify individuals. Analytics is provided by Google; see
Google’s privacy
policy and
Google Analytics
opt-out.
3. Advertising cookies — Google
The site is funded in part by advertising served through Google’s advertising services (Google AdSense / Google Ads). Google and its partners may use cookies to serve ads, limit how often you see the same ad, and — where permitted — personalise ads based on your visits to this and other sites. You can review and control ad personalisation at Google My Ad Center and read how Google uses cookies in advertising. Subscribers to our ad-free option do not see these ads while signed in.
Personal data we hold
- Forum accounts: if you register on the forum, phpBB stores your username, email address, posts, and technical data such as your IP address and last-visit time. This is used to run the forum, and is visible to forum moderators.
- Ad-free subscriptions: payments are handled by Stripe — we never see or store your card details. We keep a record linking your forum account to your Stripe customer and subscription so we can grant and manage the ad-free benefit. See Stripe’s privacy policy.
- On-site activity: prediction league entries, quiz results and player ratings you submit are stored so the features work and leaderboards can be shown.
Third parties
We share the minimum necessary with the services that make the site work: Google (analytics and advertising) and Stripe (subscription payments). We do not sell your personal data.
Managing cookies & your choices
- Adjust or clear cookies in your browser settings at any time.
- Opt out of Google Analytics with the browser add-on.
- Control ad personalisation at Google My Ad Center.
- Remove ads entirely by taking out an ad-free subscription and staying signed in to your forum account.
Your rights
If you are in the UK or EU, you have rights over your personal data, including the right to access a copy, to have it corrected or deleted, and to object to certain processing. Forum account data can largely be managed from your forum User Control Panel, or you can contact us. To close your forum account or request deletion of your data, get in touch using the details below.
Data retention
Forum account data is kept for as long as your account is active. Subscription records are kept as long as needed to provide the service and meet legal or accounting requirements. Analytics data is retained according to Google’s settings.
Contact
Questions about this policy, your data, or cookies? Email comments@royals.org.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will appear on this page with a revised “last updated” date.