Cookies Policy

Our Privacy Policy explains our principles when it comes to the collection, processing, and storage of your information. This policy specifically explains how we, our partners, and users of our services deploy cookies, as well as the options you have to control them.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data, stored in text files, that are stored on your computer or other device when websites are loaded in a browser. They are widely used to “remember” you and your preferences, either for a single visit (through a “session cookie”) or for multiple repeat visits (using a “persistent cookie”). They ensure a consistent and efficient experience for visitors, and perform essential functions such as allowing users to register and remain logged in. Cookies may be set by the site that you are visiting (known as “first party cookies”), or by third parties, such as those who serve content or provide advertising or analytics services on the website (“third party cookies”).

Both websites and HTML emails may also contain other tracking technologies such as “web beacons” or “pixels.” These are typically small transparent images that provide us with statistics, for similar purposes as cookies. They are often used in conjunction with cookies, though they are not stored on your computer in the same way. As a result, if you disable cookies, web beacons may still load, but their functionality will be restricted.

How we use cookies

We use cookies for a number of different purposes. Some cookies are necessary for technical reasons; some enable a personalized experience for both visitors and registered users; and some allow the display of advertising from selected third party networks. Some of these cookies may be set when a page is loaded, or when a visitor takes a particular action (clicking the “like” or “follow” button on a post, for example).

Many of the cookies we use are only set if you are a registered WordPress.com user (so you don’t have to log in every time, for example), while others are set whenever you visit one of our websites, irrespective of whether you have an account.

For more information on the choices you have about the cookies we use, please see the Controlling Cookies section below.

Where we place cookies

We set cookies in a number of different locations across our services. These include:

  • On our website.
  • On sites we host for our users.

Examples

Below are examples of the cookies set by gordon-ramsay-recipes.com, with explanations of their purpose. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but rather aims to be representative. Information about cookies that may be set by third parties, such as our ads partners, is below. Additionally, we occasionally set referrer cookies on Jetpack connected sites, using WooCommerce.

In addition, people and companies that use our services to publish or host their own sites may place additional cookies. We provide more information on these cookies below.

Required

Cookie Purpose
__ssid For processing payment and to aid in fraud detection.
__stripe_sid / __stripe_mid For processing payment and to aid in fraud detection.
akm_mobile Stores whether a user has chosen to view the mobile version of a website.
botdlang Used to track the language a user has selected to view popular blogs in.
country_code Used in order to determine whether or not the cookie banner should be shown. Set immediately on page load and retained for 6 hours to remember the visitor’s country.
PD_USER_AUTH Login cookie used to identify user.
sensitive_pixel_option Remembers the state of visitor acceptance to the cookie banner. Only set when the visitor clicks Accept.
twostep_auth Set when the user is logged in using two factor authentication.
wordpress_logged_in* Checks whether or not the current visitor is a logged in WordPress.com user.
wordpress_test_cookie Checks if cookies are enabled to provide appropriate user experience.
wp-settings-{user_id} Persists a user’s wp-admin configuration.
wp_sharing_{id} Tracks whether or not a user has already performed an action.

Analytics and Performance

Cookie Purpose
__pdvt Used in log of Crowdsignal survey data to aid in debugging customer problems.
_hjIncludedInSample
mp_6d7c50ad560e01715a871a117a2fbd90_mixpanel
optimizelyBuckets
optimizelyEndUserId
__hstc
hubspotutk
optimizelySegments
Gathers information that helps us understand how visitors interact with our websites, which allows us to create a better visitor experience.
ab Used for “AB testing” of new features.
nux_flow_name Identifies which user signup flow was shown to the user.
tk_ni / tk_ai / tk_qs Gathers information for our own, first party analytics tool about how our services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity, used to improve user experience.
tk_*r Referral cookies used to analyse referrer behavior for Jetpack connected sites using WooCommerce.
wp-affiliate-tracker Remembers the ID of the affiliate that referred the current user to WordPress.com
utma / utmb / utmc / utmt / utmz / ga / gat / gid Google Analytics. Gathers information that helps us understand how visitors interact with our websites, which allow us to create a better experience for our visitors. Our users may also implement Google Analytics on their own websites.

Advertising

Cookie Purpose
ads Tracks if a visitor has clicked an ad before.
lr_nw Counts and tracks pageviews on our website.
wordpress_eli Reduces the display of ads for repeat visitors.

Please also see the section below on third party advertisements that you may see on our sites or sites that use our services.

Advertisements from Third Parties Through Ads Program

We operate our ads program in partnership with third party vendors. As part of the operation of our ads program, we use cookies to collect certain information. Advertising cookies enable us and our partners to serve ads and to personalize those ads based on information like visits to our sites and other sites on the Internet.

Below is a representative list of our advertising program partners, along with information on the cookies that that each partner sets. The partners we work with change from time to time, and this is not an exhaustive list. Your choices to control cookies related to our ads program are described below.

Partner Cookie Info
Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=footer_iba?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201909150
Google (AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange “AdX”) https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads
OpenX https://www.openx.com/legal/privacy-policy/

Below is a representative list of the cookies that may be set by our ads partners in connection with ads that appear in emails.

Cookie Purpose
pi-userid Used to personalize email-based ads.
eid_ Used in email-based ads to track if a visitor has clicked an ad and report to advertisers how their ads performed.

Controlling Cookies

Visitors may wish to restrict the use of cookies or completely prevent them from being set. Most browsers provide for ways to control cookie behavior such as the length of time they are stored – either through built-in functionality or by utilizing third party plugins. If you disable cookies, please be aware that some of the features of our service may not function correctly.

To find out more on how to manage and delete cookies, visit aboutcookies.org. For more details on your choices regarding use of your web browsing activity for interest-based advertising you may visit the following sites:

On a mobile device, you may also be to adjust your settings to limit tracking.  

Some analytics services we use, which place their own cookies or web tags on your browser, offer their own opt out choices. For example, you can opt out of Google Analytics by installing Google’s opt-out browser add-on, from Hotjar by using the Do Not Track header, and from Nielsen by clicking the opt out link found within Nielsen’s Privacy Statement.

Our Internal Analytics Tool

In order to better understand how our services are used, we monitor certain user activities that take place within our products, including page views and clicks on any links used when managing a site via our dashboards.

We call each one of these actions an “event.” Analytics events are attached to your WordPress.com account and are handled via a first party system. In general, we record the following data for each event: IP address, user agent, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, and country code.

We use this information to improve our products, make our marketing to you more relevant, personalize your experience, and for the other purposes described in our Privacy Policy.

You may opt out of our analytics program through your user settings. By doing so, you won’t share information with our analytics tool about events or actions that happen after the opt-out, while logged in to your WordPress.com account. Note that opting out does not disable the functionality of the actions we track – for example, if you publish a post, we will still have record of that (don’t worry!), but for an event or action after you opt out, we will not have other data associated with that action or event in the analytics tool.

You may see a “cookie banner” on our website, particularly if you are in the European Union. If so, then our ad program does not set, or allow our ad partners to set, cookies that are used to show you targeted ads before you accept.

When you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may set third party advertising cookies in order to show you personalized ads on the website you are visiting. For other sites that participate in our ads program, your consent is only for personalized ads on the specific site you are visiting.

How Google Collects Data to Personalize Ads

Ad Personalization Profile

Google does most of its tracking through a user’s account. If you’re logged in on your phone or browser, Google is accumulating a lot of data.

To see what Google believes you’re interested in, navigate to Ad Settings.

Note the toggle to turn ad personalization on or off. It is checked on by default. Note, also, that the interests at the bottom are based on usage of Google properties such as Google.com or YouTube, as well as “websites & apps that partner with Google to show ads.”

Managing Your Data

While it collects a lot of data about you, Google is entirely transparent about it. You can view that data at “My Google Activity” The page provides detail about what Google has recorded.

Google will still track information about you even if you are not logged in. Cookies from sites you have visited are stored in your browser. Unless cleared regularly, they provide data to Google and other remarketing platforms.

You can delete the data that Google saves about you. The “My Google Activity” page has an option to remove all this information manually. Google gives users control over data collection, storage, and personalization. You can view data and delete it.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, you can find the most relevant contact details in our Privacy Policy.

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