The honest summary
Tech Knows You itself sets no tracking cookies. The cookies that matter on this site come from Google's advertising services, which power the four ad slots in the grid — and they only operate in personalised mode if you say yes in the consent banner. That banner is the entire point of this page.
1. What we store ourselves
techknowsyou:consent(localStorage, not a cookie) — remembers whether you accepted or declined the banner, so we don't nag you on every visit. Stays in your browser; never sent to us. Cleared whenever you clear site data.techknowsyou:lastRefresh(sessionStorage) — a timestamp that rate-limits the refresh button. Disappears when you close the tab.
That's the complete first-party list. No analytics cookies, no fingerprinting, no pixels of ours.
2. Cookies set by Google advertising
When the ad grid loads with your consent, Google AdSense and its associated services may set cookies and use similar technologies (such as local storage and device identifiers) for purposes including:
- Ad delivery and measurement — serving ads, capping how often you see the same one, and measuring performance (e.g. cookies such as
_gads,_gpi); - Personalisation — selecting ads based on interest categories associated with your browser across the web (e.g. the
IDEcookie on doubleclick.net), only where you have consented; - Fraud prevention and security — detecting invalid traffic and abuse.
The exact set of cookies varies by region and consent state. Google documents them at policies.google.com/technologies/cookies and explains its use of data on partner sites at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
3. How consent works here
We use Google Consent Mode v2. Before you make a choice, all consent signals (ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization, analytics_storage) default to denied.
- Accept — consent signals update to "granted" and personalised ads can load in the grid.
- Decline — signals stay denied. Ad slots may show non-personalised content or our styled placeholders instead.
In production this banner is operated alongside a Google-certified consent management platform (CMP) for EEA/UK visitors; the behaviour described above is the contract it fulfils.
4. Changing your mind
To withdraw or change your consent: clear this site's data in your browser settings (look for "Site settings" or "Cookies and site data" for techknowsyou.com). On your next visit the banner will ask again. You can separately control ad personalisation across all of Google at adssettings.google.com, and opt out of many third-party ad cookies at youronlinechoices.eu or optout.aboutads.info.
5. Blocking cookies entirely
You can block all cookies in your browser settings. The Site will still work — the counter counts, the editorial reads, the screenshots screenshot — but the grid may sit empty, which is its own kind of statement.
6. Questions
Anything unclear: [email protected]. See also our privacy policy.