Cookie notice

1. What a cookie is

A cookie is a small text file that a site asks your browser to keep. Similar techniques — local storage keys, session storage and pixels — do much the same job. They let a site remember a choice you made, count readers, or measure whether an advertisement was shown. This notice covers all of them and should be read together with our privacy notice.

2. Categories we use

Necessary

Needed for the site to work. They cannot be switched off from the banner because without them the site cannot remember basic choices or protect itself.

• rc-cookie-choice — a local storage key holding the choice you made in the cookie banner, so the banner is not shown again. Kept until you clear your browser storage.
• Security and load-balancing identifiers — set by the hosting layer to route requests and to block abusive traffic. Session length up to 12 months.
• OneSignal push identifiers — created only after you allow browser notifications; they identify your browser to the push service so a notification can reach it. Kept until you turn notifications off or clear site data.

Analytics

Loaded only after you accept. They tell us which files are read, roughly where readers are and which device class they use. Data is aggregated; we do not try to identify individual readers from it.

• Readership measurement identifiers — distinguish one session from another and count returning readers. Lifetime up to 24 months.

Advertising and marketing

Loaded only after you accept. They let advertising partners cap how often the same advertisement appears, measure whether it was seen, and report in aggregate. Push notification tags used to send the dispatch also sit in this category when they are used for marketing rather than for delivery.

• Frequency and measurement identifiers — set by advertising partners. Lifetime up to 13 months.

3. Your choice

When you first open the site a banner asks you to accept or decline the optional categories. Declining leaves only the necessary items in place. Your answer is stored in your browser, not on our servers, and the banner reappears if you clear that storage.

To change your mind, clear the site data for racecritic.com in your browser and reload the page — the banner will appear again.

4. Turning cookies off in your browser

• Chrome — Settings, then Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies and Site data.
• Safari — Settings, then Privacy, then Manage website data.
• Firefox — Settings, then Privacy and security, then Cookies and site data.
• Edge — Settings, then Cookies and site permissions.

Browser notifications are controlled separately, in the site permissions panel of the same menus. Blocking everything may stop parts of this site from behaving as intended.

5. Third parties

Optional cookies are set by the providers named in section 6 of the privacy notice — the analytics provider, the advertising partners and OneSignal. Each of them publishes its own notice describing how it handles the data it receives.

6. Changes

If we add or remove a category, this page is updated and the date at the top moves. Where a change requires fresh consent, the banner will appear again.

7. Contact

Questions about cookies on this site go to editor@racecritic.com.