Cookie Policy

WHAT’S A COOKIE?

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences, or items in online shopping carts) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering that information whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to page. Not all cookies collect information that identifies you, though. Some just collect general information such as how users arrive at and use a website, which helps website owners evaluate and find ways to improve features and content.

TYPES OF COOKIES

There are four kinds of cookies:

Session cookies. These cookies last only for the session and are erased when the user closes the web browser.
Persistent cookies. These cookies remain even after the internet browser session is closed. These cookies are stored on a user’s computer or mobile device until they expire or until the user deletes the cookie. Persistent cookies are used to collect identifying information about the user, such as web surfing behaviour or user preferences for a specific website. They have expiration dates which may vary from cookie to cookie.
First-party cookies. These cookies are placed by the website a user is visiting. For example, if you visit Amazon.com, then Amazon.com generates cookies for direct interaction with their website.
Third-party cookies. These cookies are placed by a site other than the one a visitor is using. These types of cookies are most often related to online advertising and marketing, social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, and content from embedded media services such as Vimeo, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

The majority of modern web browsers support cookies and most have settings that can be customized to decline some cookies and the abliity for a user to delete the cookies at will.

For more information about cookies, see http://www.allaboutcookies.org

COOKIE CATEGORIES

There are four main categories of cookies:

Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential to a user’s ability to navigate a website and use its features. Example: Without these cookies, a user would not be able to log into their account at the website or complete a purchase at an online store. Another “strictly necessary” example is a cookie that retains a user’s preference on whether or not to accept cookies from a website they visit.

Performance Cookies
These cookies collect information about how a visitor uses a website. These cookies do not collect personally idenitifying information but allow website owners to evaluate the site’s performance in order to improve user experience and content. Example: Cookies related to Google Analytics.

Functionality
These cookies remember user preferences in order to provide a more personalized experience of a website. They may store things such as your user name, language or the region preference, or even text size. These cookies may also be used to provide services a user has asked for, such as watching a video or commenting on a blog, or logging into a website. Example: When you visit a weather reporting website, you might enter your postal code so you see weather specific to your region.

Targeting or Advertising
These cookies are used to deliver advertisements that are more relevant and suited to a user and their interests. They are also used to limit the number of times a user might see an advertisement, as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website owner’s permission. They remember what websites a user has visited and the information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Sometimes these cookies are linked to site functionality.

How this site uses cookies

Cookie Consent
Cookie Name: wpca_consent

This cookie retains your cookie preference – to either accept or decline all cookies except those necessary for the site’s function and basic features. This cookie does not require or store any personal data. This cookie is set to expire after 30 days and can be revoked by clearing your browser cache.

WordPress Cookies
Cookie Name: wordress_test_cookie

This cookie is only placed if you happen upon the login page for the site. It does not retain any personal data but simply checks to see if your browser has cookies enabled. You should never see this cookie, but just in case you do, we wanted you to know what it does.

Blog Comments
Cookie Names: comment_author_{HASH}, comment_author_email_{HASH}, comment_author_url_{HASH}, wc_moderate_comments_7, wpdiscuz_last_visit

These cookies remember the name, email, and website address that a user enters when making a comment on the blog, as well as the last time they visited the site. The {HASH} cookies have “hashed” data, which means that they do not store your data in a way that’s readable. They are for commenting purposes only and expire after one year. They can be revoked by clearing your browser cache. Commenters are strongly encouraged to never include personal or identifying data in comments on this site. Find out more about WordPress commenting cookies and how “hashing” works at WordPress.org (https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Cookies).

Mobile Theme
Cookie Name: leetobinmcclain-alternate-theme

This site uses a special theme for smartphone devices and this cookie is placed if a mobile user specifically chooses to view the desktop site from their mobile device. It is not automatically placed and does not require or store any personal data. This cookie expires when you close your browser and can be revoked by clearing your browser cache.

Other Cookies

This website may cease usage of some cookies and introduce others from time to time to improve user’s experience. Any changes will be reflected on this Cookie Policy page.

Managing Cookies

Most browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, etc.) are configured to accept cookies but allow users to manage those cookie settings and provide ways to delete cookies. These are official instructions for major browsers: