Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, which ones Smartly Calculators uses, and how you can manage them. It supplements our Privacy Policy and forms part of these terms.

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They allow the site to remember your actions and preferences (such as language, dark mode, or recently used inputs) over a period of time, so you don’t have to re-enter them every time.

“Cookies” in this policy also covers similar technologies such as localStorage (browser-side storage that persists across sessions) and sessionStorage (cleared when you close the tab). Both are used by Smartly Calculators in limited ways described below.

2. Types of Cookies We Use

We classify cookies into three categories:

a) Strictly Necessary

These are required for the site to function properly. They cannot be turned off without breaking core features. They do not store personally identifiable information.

smartly-theme

Stores your dark-mode / light-mode preference (in localStorage). Persists until you clear your browser data.

smartly_calc_postid_*

Stores your last-entered values for a specific calculator (in localStorage), so you can return without re-entering them. Persists until you clear browser data or click “Clear all” inside the calculator.

smartly_solved_*

Records that you already answered “Did this calculator solve your problem?” on a given calculator (in localStorage), so you are not asked again on every visit. It stores only the calculator’s post number and your Yes/No answer. Persists until you clear browser data. Your answer is also counted on our server as an anonymous daily total per calculator, alongside the two-letter country code our CDN reports. No identifier, no IP address and no link between one answer and another is stored — which is why this count does not depend on your consent choice.

wordpress_test_cookie

Standard WordPress cookie used to detect cookie support. Session-only.

b) Functional

These improve the experience but are not strictly required. We currently do not use any functional cookies beyond the strictly necessary ones above.

c) Analytics

If you’ve consented to analytics, we use the following to understand how visitors use the site in aggregate:

_ga, _ga_*

Set by Google Analytics 4 to distinguish users and sessions. IP addresses are anonymized; we do not enable advertising features. Persists for up to 24 months.

_gid

Set by Google Analytics to track session activity. Persists for 24 hours.

If you have not consented, no analytics cookies are set and no identifier for you is stored. Google Analytics still loads, but in Google’s Consent Mode “denied” state: it sends anonymous, cookieless pings — a page address, a timestamp and coarse technical details such as country and device type — which Google uses only for aggregate, modelled statistics. Those pings contain nothing that identifies you and cannot be linked to a later visit. Advertising is stricter: no advertising script — ours or Google’s — loads at all until you consent, so no ad request is made and no advertising cookie is set.

d) Advertising

Calculator pages may carry advertising of two kinds.

Directly-sold placements are served from this site as a static image or plain HTML. They load no third-party ad script, set no cookies and read no device identifiers.

Google AdSense is a third-party advertising network. Where it serves an advertisement, Google and its partners set and read their own cookies to deliver and measure ads, including ads based on your prior visits to this site or to other sites. Those cookies are set by Google, not by us, and we never receive them. Their full list is maintained by Google, because it changes independently of this site:

Google advertising cookies

Set by Google when an AdSense advertisement is served — for example to cap how often you see the same ad, to measure clicks, and to personalise ads where you have allowed that. Names, purposes and lifetimes are documented in Google’s advertising policy and in how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

You can opt out of personalised advertising in Google Ads Settings, opt out of many third-party vendors at once at optout.aboutads.info, or, in Europe, at Your Online Choices.

Nothing you type into a calculator is used for advertising — calculator inputs never leave your browser.

We do not run pop-ups, pop-unders or interstitial ads, and we place no advertising on the home page, the About page, the contact page or the legal pages. We do not ourselves sell or share your personal information with advertisers.

3. How to Manage Cookies

You have several options to control cookies:

• Browser settings: all major browsers let you view, block, or delete cookies. Search “[your browser name] manage cookies” for instructions. Note that blocking strictly necessary cookies will break some site features (theme preference will reset every visit; calculator inputs won’t be remembered).
• localStorage clearing: in most browsers, the same dialog that clears cookies will also clear localStorage.
• Do Not Track (DNT) and Global Privacy Control (GPC): if your browser sends either signal we treat it as a refusal — worldwide, and without showing you a banner. Analytics and advertising are both switched off and no ad request is made. GPC is recognised as a legally binding opt-out in California, Colorado and several other US states. If you would rather decide for yourself, use the cookie settings link at the bottom of any page: a choice you make there is more specific than a browser-wide default and will override it.
• Opt-out of Google Analytics: install the official Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

4. Third-Party Cookies

Two third-party services may set cookies on our site, and only if you consent: Google Analytics for statistics and Google AdSense for advertising. We embed no other third-party widgets that drop tracking cookies — no Facebook Pixel, no LinkedIn Insight Tag, no chat-bot trackers.

If we embed third-party content like a YouTube video on a calculator page, that provider may set cookies. We minimize such embeds and use privacy-enhanced versions where available (e.g., youtube-nocookie.com).

5. Cookie Consent

If you are visiting from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Brazil, or another jurisdiction that requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies, you will see a consent banner on your first visit. You can:

• Accept all cookies, including analytics.
• Reject all non-essential cookies (only strictly necessary cookies will be set).
• Customize your choice category by category.

You can change your preference at any time by clicking the “Cookie settings” link in the site footer.

6. Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in our practices or for operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. The “Last updated” date will reflect any revision. Material changes will be announced via the consent banner so you can re-confirm your choices.

7. More Information

For general information about cookies and online privacy, visit:

• All About Cookies
• UK Information Commissioner's Office — Cookies
• European Data Protection Board — Consent Guidelines