Cookie policy
Nothing but strictly necessary storage is set before you choose. Here is the full list of what can be set afterwards.
What a cookie is
A cookie is a small file a site asks your browser to store. Similar technologies — local storage, pixels, software development kits — do comparable jobs, and everything here applies to them too. Some are needed for a site to function; most are not.
The approach here
Nothing beyond strictly necessary storage is set until you make a choice. Advertising and analytics tags run under Google Consent Mode v2 with every signal defaulting to denied and advertising data redaction switched on. Refusing costs you nothing: the site behaves identically.
Your choice is recorded in your own browser's local storage, not on any server, and is remembered for twelve months or until you clear it.
Strictly necessary — always active
| Name | Purpose · duration |
|---|---|
| hcj_consent_v1 | Records your cookie choice so it can be honoured · 12 months |
| Hosting / security tokens | Load balancing, abuse prevention · session |
These cannot be switched off, because without them there is no way to remember that you said no.
Functional — with consent
| Name | Purpose · duration |
|---|---|
| Preference storage | Remembers display preferences such as reading position · 6 months |
Analytics — with consent
| Name | Purpose · duration |
|---|---|
| _ga | Distinguishes browsers for aggregated statistics · up to 2 years |
| _ga_<id> | Maintains session state for Google Analytics · up to 2 years |
Used to see which pages get read and where readers stop. IP addresses are truncated and the data is not used to identify individuals.
Advertising — with consent
| Name | Purpose · duration |
|---|---|
| _gcl_au | Google Ads conversion measurement · 90 days |
| IDE / test_cookie | Ad delivery and frequency capping, set on doubleclick.net · up to 13 months |
| NID | Google preferences and ad delivery · up to 6 months |
Advertising is split into two separate consents here: advertising (measurement — did an ad lead to a visit) and ad personalisation (tailoring what you are shown). You can accept the first and refuse the second.
Managing your choice
Open — here, or from the footer of every page — to change categories or withdraw consent entirely. The change applies immediately. Withdrawing does not undo processing that already happened and does not delete cookies already stored by third parties; use your browser controls for that.
Browser controls
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies and offers a private mode that discards them at the end of a session. Blocking all cookies will break many sites, though not this one. Global Privacy Control signals are honoured where your browser sends them. Google account holders can additionally control ad personalisation across all sites in their Google account settings.
For what happens to data once collected, see the privacy policy.