Last updated: 18 August 2026
Read this next to the Privacy Policy; together they cover everything the site records.
1. What a cookie actually does
It is a short text file your browser stores on request and returns with later requests to the same site. That is how a page knows you already closed a notice, or that your visit began at a particular referral link. Local storage is similar but stays in the browser rather than travelling with every request.
2. The categories in use
| Category | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Delivering pages, basic security, load balancing, remembering your cookie decision. | Session – 12 months |
| Preferences | Interface memory such as a dismissed bar or an open FAQ entry. | Up to 12 months |
| Analytics | Aggregate readership figures — which chapters hold attention and where readers leave. | Up to 26 months |
| Affiliate attribution | Marking that an outbound click originated on this site so the referral is credited correctly. | 30 – 90 days |
There is no advertising profile here and no onward sale of cookie data.
3. Cookies set by others
Analytics and affiliate scripts set cookies of their own, and any operator you visit sets its own under its own policy once you are on its domain.
4. Switching them off
Blocking analytics or attribution costs you no content whatsoever. Blocking the strictly necessary category will break parts of the site.
- Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies.
- Safari: Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data.
- Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data.
- Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions.
- Phones: browser settings → privacy → clear browsing data.
Private browsing discards the lot when the window closes.
5. Do Not Track
No agreed standard exists for honouring that header, so we act on cookie choices and browser settings instead.
6. Amendments
Change a tool, change this table. Questions: [email protected].