How We UseCookies

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, tablet or phone) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work, to make them work more efficiently, and to provide information to the site's owners. Cookies may be "first-party" (set by the site you are visiting) or "third-party" (set by another service, such as an advertising or analytics provider). They may be "session" cookies (deleted when you close your browser) or "persistent" cookies (which remain until they expire or you delete them). We also use similar technologies such as web beacons, pixels and local storage, which we refer to collectively as "cookies" in this policy.

2. How We Use Cookies

We use cookies to keep the Site working properly and secure, to remember your preferences, to understand how visitors find and use the Site so we can improve it, and to display advertising that keeps our guides free to read. We group the cookies we use into three categories:

a. Essential cookies. These are necessary for the Site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually set in response to actions you take, such as setting your privacy or cookie preferences, or basic security. The Site cannot function properly without these cookies.

b. Analytics cookies. These help us understand how visitors interact with the Site — for example, which guides are most read and how people move through the Site — so we can improve content and performance. We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity for this purpose (see Sections 3 and 4).

c. Advertising cookies. These are set through our Site by our advertising partner, Google AdSense, and by other advertising vendors. They are used to make advertising more relevant to you, to limit the number of times you see an ad, and to measure the effectiveness of advertising (see Sections 3 and 4).

3. When These Cookies Are Set

No advertising or analytics cookie is set before you consent. The mechanism differs slightly between providers, and it is worth being precise about it.

Google AdSense and Google Analytics load on every page, but they start in a restricted state using Google Consent Mode. Until you allow the matching category they set no cookies, send no advertising identifiers, and serve only non-personalised, contextual ads based on the page content. When you consent, they switch to their full behaviour and the cookies listed below are set.

Microsoft Clarity is treated more strictly. Session replay records how you move through a page, so it is not loaded at all — no script, no request — until you allow analytics.

Essential cookies are set regardless, because the Site cannot function without them. The only value we store ourselves is your cookie choice.

If you decline, or if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, advertising and analytics cookies are never set.

4. Third-Party Cookies We Use

Because the Site uses Google AdSense, Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity, some cookies are set by these third parties once you have consented. Each is governed by that provider's own privacy policy.

Google AdSense (advertising). Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this Site or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this Site and/or other sites on the Internet. These cookies may be set from domains such as doubleclick.net, googlesyndication.com and googleadservices.com. You can learn more at Google's "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services" page.

Google Analytics (analytics). We use Google Analytics 4 to collect aggregated, mostly anonymous statistics about how the Site is used, such as pages viewed, session length and general traffic sources. In GA4, IP addresses are not logged or stored by default.

Microsoft Clarity (analytics / session replay). We use Microsoft Clarity to understand how users interact with the Site through behavioural metrics, heatmaps and session replay. Clarity captures data such as mouse movements, clicks, scrolls and pages visited, and automatically masks sensitive input fields. For more information, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Cookies at a glance

Cookie names and durations are set by these third parties and may change over time. This table is provided as a good-faith guide.

5. Your Cookie Choices

You have several ways to control cookies.

Browser settings. Most browsers let you view, delete and block cookies. To manage cookies, see your browser's help pages:

• Google Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647
• Mozilla Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop
• Apple Safari: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/manage-cookies-sfri11471/
• Microsoft Edge: https://support.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge

Please note that blocking or deleting cookies may affect how the Site functions.

Opt out of personalised advertising.

• Google: visit Google Ads Settings / My Ad Center at https://myadcenter.google.com (also https://adssettings.google.com).
• Many other vendors: use the Digital Advertising Alliance tool at https://optout.aboutads.info and https://youradchoices.com, or, for mobile apps, https://youradchoices.com/appchoices.

Opt out of Google Analytics. You can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout to prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics across all websites.

Global Privacy Control (GPC). Where applicable, we honour GPC browser signals as a request to opt out of "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.

Consent message. Where required by law, a consent message is shown before non-essential cookies are set. It is provided by Google's certified Consent Management Platform, which implements the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF v2.2). Visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland see the GDPR message; visitors in applicable US states see the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" choice.

Changing your mind. Use the Privacy & cookie settings link at the foot of any page. This reopens Google's consent message and clears your previous choice so you can make a new one.

Since we write about Android privacy, it is worth saying plainly: the controls above are the same kind of controls we recommend elsewhere on this site. If you want to reduce tracking across every site and app on your phone rather than just this one, see our Android privacy checklist.

6. Do Not Track

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) setting. Because there is no common industry standard for how to respond to DNT signals, the Site does not currently respond to them. We do, however, honour Global Privacy Control signals as described above.

7. Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. When we make material changes, we will post the updated policy on this page and revise the "Last updated" date above.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us:

UpFour Email: hello@upfour.online Website: https://upfour.online