Cookie policy

What these technologies are

Cookies are small text files a site stores on your device. localStorage is a similar browser store that persists until it is cleared. Pixels and tags are small scripts that report activity back to a provider. We use all three, and this page names each one rather than grouping them into vague categories.

Strictly necessary

Vercel hosts this site and serves every page. It may set cookies required for load balancing, routing and security. The site cannot function without its hosting, and these are not used to profile you.

Our own first-party storage

• Session identifier (localStorage) — our own analytics script generates a random identifier and stores it in your browser. It groups the activity in one visit so we can see page views, scroll depth, how long you spend on each section of an article, and clicks on links and buttons. The data goes to our own database, not to a third party. The identifier is random and is not derived from your name, email or IP address.
• __pub_attr (cookie, 90 days) — stores the campaign parameters present in the URL when you first arrived, so we can tell which campaign brought you.
• __pub_session (cookie, session) — the same information for your current visit. Expires when you close your browser.

Session recording — read this one

Microsoft Clarity records sessions on this site. This is the most invasive thing we do, and it deserves its own heading rather than a line about “analytical cookies.”

Clarity sets cookies (including _clck and _clsk) and captures a replayable reconstruction of your visit: mouse movement, scrolling, clicks and taps, and the order and timing of what you did on the page. It also builds heatmaps aggregated across many visitors. Clarity masks text input fields by default, so what you type into a form is not intended to be captured.

We use it to find pages that confuse people or lay out badly — not to identify individual readers. But it is a recording of your behaviour, it is processed by Microsoft under their own terms, and you should be able to decide about it knowingly. To opt out, block third-party cookies or the clarity.ms domain in your browser or an extension, or use Microsoft’s own opt-out at Microsoft’s privacy statement.

Advertising measurement

Meta Pixel (pixel ID 1593453865285986) tells Meta that a page on this site was viewed, so we can measure whether the advertising that brings readers here is working. It sets cookies including _fbp, and Meta may match the visit to a Facebook or Instagram account if you have one.

To opt out, use your Meta ad preferences, or block third-party cookies and the facebook.net and facebook.com domains.

Product analytics

PostHog records how the site is used in aggregate: which pages are visited, in what order, and which interface elements are used. It sets a first-party cookie to distinguish one visitor from another across pages. We have configured it so that a person profile is only created once a visitor is identified, rather than for every anonymous reader.

What we do not use

We do not run Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or any third-party display-advertising network on this site. There are no ad-serving cookies from outside companies, because we sell no advertising space. See our advertising disclosure.

How to turn these off

This site does not currently show a cookie consent banner. Control is at the browser level, and every major browser supports it:

• Block or delete cookies in your browser’s privacy settings. Blocking third-party cookies stops Meta and Clarity while leaving the site working.
• Clear site data to remove our first-party cookies and the localStorage session identifier. It will be regenerated on your next visit unless you block storage for this site.
• Use a tracker-blocking extension or a browser with tracking protection built in. These block Clarity, Meta and PostHog by default.
• Turn on Global Privacy Control if your browser supports it. We honour recognized opt-out preference signals where feasible.
• Use private or incognito browsing, which discards cookies and storage when you close the window.

Blocking these will not stop you reading anything here. Nothing on this site is gated behind tracking.

Questions

This page sits alongside our privacy policy, which covers everything else we collect. For any question about either: