Cookie Policy
What is stored on your device, why, and how to change it at any time.
Last updated September 14, 2026. This page sits alongside the privacy policy.
A cookie is a small file a site asks your browser to keep. Some are needed for the site to work at all. The rest measure how the site is read or support the advertising that pays for it, and those only run where you allow them.
Your Choice
Readers in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are asked before anything beyond the strictly necessary category is set. Until a choice is made, advertising and measurement storage stay switched off, using Google Consent Mode. Everyone, everywhere, can open from the footer of any page and change their mind. Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it.
We also honour the Global Privacy Control signal. If your browser or extension sends it, advertising storage is switched off automatically before you do anything.
Strictly Necessary
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
rp_consent | This site | Remembers your privacy choice so you are not asked again. | 180 days |
__cf_bm, cf_clearance | Cloudflare | Distinguishes readers from automated traffic and keeps the site available. Set by our hosting and security provider. | 30 minutes to 1 year |
| Session cookie | This site | Signs in the site's own editors. Never set for readers. | Session |
These cannot be switched off, because the site cannot be served safely without them.
Audience Measurement
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics 4 | Counts readers, which articles they open, and which site or search sent them. Aggregated; we never see a name or an address. | Up to 2 years |
IP addresses are truncated by Google before storage and are not used by us to identify anyone. Google's own description of this data is in Google's business privacy notice.
Advertising
When advertising is running on this site, our advertising partners and their approved vendors may set cookies to select ads, cap how often you see the same one, and measure whether an ad worked. Where you have not consented, or where you have opted out, these are limited to what is needed to serve a non-personalised ad.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
__gads, __gpi | Google AdSense | Ad selection, frequency capping and fraud prevention. | Up to 13 months |
IDE, test_cookie | Google DoubleClick | Ad measurement and, with consent, personalisation. | Up to 13 months |
You can turn off personalised advertising across the whole web at Google My Ad Center, optout.aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.eu.
Things That Are Not Cookies
Your browser's local storage holds your privacy choice and small conveniences such as a remembered section. It stays on your device and is never sent to us. Pinterest, Facebook and X buttons on articles are plain links: they set nothing until you click them, and nothing is loaded from those companies while you read.
Controlling Cookies in Your Browser
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge. Blocking the strictly necessary ones may break parts of the site.
Questions
Write to privacy@renovateandplan.com.