Cookies and local storage
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Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. “Local storage” and “session storage” do a similar job. This page lists what we and our partners store, and how you control it. It sits alongside our Privacy policy.
Your choices
When you first visit, we show a privacy choices banner:
- UK, EU/EEA, India and most other countries: nothing except strictly necessary storage is used until you choose. You can accept all, reject everything non-essential, or choose categories.
- United States: we use analytics by default, and show only non-personalised ads unless you allow personalisation. You can opt out at any time.
To change your mind later, use the Privacy choices link in the footer of every page. It reopens the banner with your current settings. Clearing your browser’s site data also resets your choice.
Some UK/EU visitors may see Google’s own consent message instead of ours, if we have switched Google’s certified consent tool on for advertising. It works the same way and can be reopened from the same footer link.
Categories
- Strictly necessary: needed for the site to work, such as keeping you signed in, remembering your basket and remembering your privacy choice. These don’t need consent.
- Functional: remember things you started, such as a half-finished form.
- Analytics: count visits and tool use so we know what readers find useful. This includes Google Analytics and our own first-party events log.
- Advertising: Google AdSense ads, with personalisation only if you allow it.
- Marketing: emails other than the ones you asked for. Asked separately, and never pre-ticked.
What we store
| Name | Type | Category | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
dp_consent | localStorage | Strictly necessary | Remembers your privacy choices so we do not ask on every page. | Until you clear it or our policy version changes |
dp_anon | localStorage | Strictly necessary | Random id that ties your consent record to this browser (evidence of consent). | Until you clear it |
dp_cart | Cookie (httpOnly) | Strictly necessary | Keeps your basket between pages and visits. | 90 days |
sb-*-auth-token | Cookie | Strictly necessary | Keeps you signed in (Supabase Auth). | Session, refreshed while signed in |
dp_sid | sessionStorage | Analytics (first-party) | Random id for one visit, used to count page and tool views in our own events log. | Until the tab closes |
dp_list_yourself | localStorage | Functional | Saves a half-finished pandit listing form so you do not lose it. | Until you finish or clear it |
_ga, _ga_* | Cookie (Google Analytics) | Analytics | Google Analytics 4 visit statistics. Only with your consent (UK/EU/India); on by default in the US. | Up to 2 years |
__gads, __gpi, IDE, NID … | Cookies (Google AdSense / DoubleClick) | Advertising | Ad delivery, frequency capping and, if you allow personalisation, interest-based ads. | Up to 13 months |
YouTube (VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, YSC …) | Cookies (YouTube) | Functional / third-party | Set only after you press play on a video; videos use youtube-nocookie.com. | Up to 6 months |
Stripe / Dodo checkout cookies | Cookies (payment page) | Strictly necessary | Fraud prevention on the provider’s own checkout page. | Set by the provider |
Third-party cookie names change from time to time; the providers’ own lists are authoritative:
Things we don’t do
- No ad or analytics cookies before consent in opt-in regions.
- No YouTube cookies until you press play: videos are click-to-load, from youtube-nocookie.com.
- No social-media tracking pixels.
- No fingerprinting.
Google Consent Mode
We use Google Consent Mode v2. Until you consent, Google tags receive a “denied” signal for analytics and advertising storage, and store nothing for those purposes. If you allow analytics or ads, the signal changes to “granted” for the categories you chose.