Remember when cookies were delicious food items we made from butter, brown sugar, vanilla and all that goodness? Well, it’s a lot more complicated now, and affects consent and privacy and your ability to use certain aspects of this website.
What Kinds of Cookies do I have? Chocolate Chip? Sugar? Peanut Butter?
The most common classification system for cookies, was proposed and developed by The UK International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC proposes these four classes of cookies:
- Strictly Necessary Cookies
- Performance Cookies
- Functionality Cookies
- Targeting/Advertising Cookies
Having such a classification makes it easier for us, as bloggers, as well as visitors to our sites. We can now explain how we handle cookies in groupings, instead of each individual cookie – which gets technical and long-winded.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
“These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies services you have asked for, like shopping baskets or e-billing, cannot be provided.
Performance Cookies
“These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works. [emphasis mine]
Functionality Cookies
“These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance… these cookies can be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
Targeting/Advertising Cookies
“These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator’s permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organisation.
AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER
Some of the sections of this site will allow you to purchase different products and services online provided by other merchants, and not us. Some of the links that we post on our site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission.*
We are not responsible for the quality, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or any other aspect of these products and services. In addition, a merchant will likely have privacy and data collection practices that are different from ours. If you make a purchase from a merchant on their site or on a site that we have posted a link to, the information obtained during your visit to that merchant’s online store or site, and the information that you give as part of the transaction, such as your name, e-mail address, street address, telephone number, and credit card number, may be collected the merchant and us. For more information regarding a merchant, its online store, its privacy policies, and/or any additional terms and conditions that may apply, visit that merchant’s website and click on its information links or contact the merchant directly.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
*Disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.