Cookie Policy

This website (AlterKate.com) may use some cookies essential to the efficient and consistent operation of the site and to offer a personalized experience for users.

What’s a cookie?

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to the internet browser on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies do lots of different things on the internet, such as facilitating efficient navigation of a website, remembering user preferences, and generally improving the experience of a website. They also play a role in online shopping carts and stores and in internet advertising and marketing.

Some cookies contain personal information – for example, if you click to “remember me” when logging into a website, a cookie will store your username – but not all collect information that identifies you. Some collect general information such as how users arrive at and use a website, which a website owner can evaluate and find ways to improve site features and content.

How This Site Uses Cookies

This website strives to limit the use of cookies to those essential for optimal operation of the site and to offer a personalized experience for users, as well as to:

  • enable user interactions with blog comments
  • improve speed and security
  • analyze site traffic with the goal of improving site content

We also use some third-party services to provide content and some common website features which may place cookies on your computer including:

  • A way for users to share pages and posts to social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter
  • Video and other media content from services such as YouTube videos and SoundCloud
Types of Cookies

There are mainly 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 behavior 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. For example, these are most often related to online advertising and marketing, social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, and some 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 ability 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 identifying 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 organizations such as advertisers. Sometimes these cookies are linked to site functionality.

First-Party Cookies (cookies on this website)

First-party cookies are cookies that relate to the functions and features of this website specifically, and are set by this website, not a third party.

  • WordPress Cookies
    Cookie Name: wordress_test_cookie
    Cookie Type: Session Cookie

    About the 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 (WP Discuz)
    Cookie Name: comment_author_{HASH}, comment_author_email_{HASH}, comment_author_url_{HASH}, wc_moderate_comments_7, wpdiscuz_last_visit
    Cookie Type: Functionality / Feature / Persistent

    About the Cookie: These cookies are for the convenience of site visitors only and retain a commenter’s information (name, email, and website link entered when making a comment) so they will be recognized as a commenter and won’t have to re-type their information each time they want to comment.

  • Cookie Consent Notice
    Cookie Name: wpca_consent
    Cookie Type: Strictly Necessary / User Preference

    About the Cookie: 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.

  • Newsletter Optin
    Cookie Name(s): pps_show_102, pps_times_showed_102
    Cookie Type: Session / Preference

    About the Cookie: These cookies retain your preference for a period of time with respect to dismissing pop-up windows containing the newsletter signup form, to prevent the pop-up window from opening every time a you visit the site. This cookie expires after 30 days, or you can clear your browser cache to remove it sooner.

Third-Party Cookies

These 3rd-party cookies are not placed by this website, therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites and services. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

  • Google Analytics (anonymous)
    This website uses Google Analytics (Google, Inc.) to count website visitors and analyze usage of the site to help determine the value of site content to users. The expiration date of these cookies vary; some expire after a session ends or a browser window is closed, and some end after 2 years. The statistical data is stored at Google, but IP address are anonymized (made anonymous) so that no personal data is gathered by this website or transmitted to Google’s database.

    1st-Party Cookies: _ga, _gid, _gat
    3rd-Party Cookies: __utma, __utmt, __utmb, __utmc, __utmz, _dc_gtm_*, AMP_TOKEN, _gac_*

    Google Analytics Cookie Usage
    Google Privacy Policy
    Google Cookie Types
    Google Analytics provides an Opt-Out Browser Add-on

  • Affiliate Cookies
    This site may include affiliate links in posts and pages to products at online retailers such as Amazon.com. These online retailers may pay out a small commission if you purchase something through that retailer. Clicking on one of these product links will place a temporary cookie in your browser that tells the online retailer that you found the product on this site. These cookies typically expire within 24 hours of placement.
  • Advertising & Marketing Cookies
    This site uses Facebook Pixels, which customize content and advertising, to provide social media features and to analyze traffic to the site. This site also shares information about your use of our site with our trusted social media, advertising and analytics partners. If you decline cookies these cookies will not be placed on your site. (Find out more about Facebook-related cookies here.)
  • SoundCloud
    This website may feature audio content from SoundCloud, a service that delivers audio content managed by SoundCloud Limited. If you visit a page on this website with embedded SoundCloud audio content, SoundCloud.com will place a cookie (sc_anonymous_id) to enable the SoundCloud player. It may also place others (ScorecardRearches: , UID, UIDR), so please review SoundCloud’s privacy and cookie policies for more information. The sc_anonymous_id cookie expires 10 years or until the browser cache is emptied (HTTP cookie).

    SoundCloud Cookie Policy
    SoundCloud Privacy Policy

  • YouTube
    This website may sometimes use YouTube to deliver video content. YouTube cookies enable you to view any YouTube-embedded videos included on this site’s pages or blog posts. The expiration date of these cookies vary; some expire after a session ends or a browser window is closed, and some end after 20 years.

    When possible, this website uses YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode for embedding videos. YouTube cookies may be set on your computer after you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store any personally identifying information for playbacks of videos embedded with privacy-enhanced mode. To find out more, please visit YouTube’s embedding videos information page.

    Common YouTube cookies: APISID, CONSENT, HSID, LOGIN_INFO, PREF, SAPISID, SID, SSID, VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, YSC, 1P_JAR, DV, NID

    YouTube Privacy Policy

  • Social Media
    This website also provides ways to share our pages and blog posts to social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. If you choose to share content from this site through any of the social media buttons on this site, be aware that these sites are likely to collect information about your online activities. This site has no control over placement of those cookies and how they function, therefore it is recommended that you review the official privacy policy of the respective social network to find out more about their use of your information and/or how to opt out or delete such information.

    Privacy Policies
    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn
    Pinterest
    Instagram
    Tumblr

Future 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:

Safari
Google Chrome
Firefox (Mozilla)
Opera
Internet Explorer

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