Cookie Policy

The short version

We use a small number of cookies. The only ones that run before you make a choice are the ones needed to make the website function. Everything else stays switched off until you press Accept on the banner in the corner of your screen.

Rejecting optional cookies costs you nothing. Every page, review and policy document on this website works identically either way. There is no content behind a consent wall.

What a cookie is

A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store. It lets the website remember something between one page and the next — for example, that you have already answered the cookie banner so it does not reappear on every page.

Strictly necessary cookies

These are required for the website to work and cannot be switched off. They store no advertising identifier and are not shared with anyone.

• pp_consent — records whether you accepted or rejected optional cookies, so we do not ask again. Stored for six months.
• Session cookie — keeps a page request associated with your browser for the duration of your visit. Expires when you close the browser.

Optional measurement cookies

If, and only if, you press Accept, we may set aggregate measurement cookies that tell us which reviews are read and where readers arrive from. They are used to improve the editorial line-up. They do not identify you personally, we do not sell the data, and we do not use it to build an advertising profile.

• Aggregate visit counts by page
• Referring source, at domain level only
• Broad device category, such as mobile or desktop

Cookies set by other companies

When you follow an outbound link to a reviewed brand, that operator may set its own cookies once you arrive on its website. Those cookies are outside our control and are governed by that operator's own cookie and privacy policies, which you should read.

Changing your mind

You can withdraw or change consent at any time by clearing cookies for this website in your browser settings, which makes the banner reappear on your next visit so you can answer differently.

Every major browser also lets you block or delete cookies wholesale through its own privacy settings. Doing so will not lock you out of anything here.

Questions

If anything in this policy is unclear, write to us through the Contact page and we will explain it in plain terms.