What are cookies
Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device, such as a computer, phone, or tablet, when you visit. They serve a range of purposes, from keeping you signed in to remembering your choices and, in some cases, supporting services provided by other organisations.
Not all cookies are the same. Essential cookies are necessary for a website to function. Non-essential cookies are used for purposes such as advertising, social media integration, and third-party analytics. Under the data protection rules that apply across the jurisdictions in which we operate, non-essential cookies require your consent before they can be set.
Our approach to cookies
NEDness takes a privacy-first approach. The website itself uses only strictly necessary cookies. We do not use advertising networks, social media tracking, or third-party analytics cookies across the site.
There is one exception, and it applies only if you choose to use it. In the book club, a link to buy a book may take you to Amazon, and Amazon sets non-essential cookies in the process. Because those cookies are not essential, we ask for your consent before any are set. The section on book links and Amazon below explains how this works.
Apart from that opt-in exception, we do not set non-essential cookies, so no consent is required for the strictly necessary cookies that allow the site to function.
Cookies used on our website
Our website is built on Ghost Pro, which sets strictly necessary cookies for authentication and session management when someone signs in to reach registered content.
|
Cookie |
Purpose |
Type |
Duration |
|
ghost-members-ssr |
Identifies you as a signed-in registered person so you can reach registered content |
Essential (authentication) |
Session |
|
ghost-members-ssr.sig |
Validates the authentication cookie above to prevent tampering |
Essential (security) |
Session |
These cookies are classified as strictly necessary. They allow a person who has registered to stay signed in while browsing the site and to reach content available to the registered community. Without them, the registration and sign-in features would not work correctly.
Because they are essential to providing a service you have asked for, namely signing in, these cookies are treated as exempt from the consent requirement under the data protection rules that apply across the jurisdictions in which we operate.
Book links and Amazon
In the book club, some links take you to Amazon so that you can buy a book. NEDness takes part in the Amazon Associates programme, which means we may earn a small commission from a qualifying purchase. This comes at no additional cost to you.
Book choices are made on editorial merit. The commission plays no part in what we recommend or discuss.
When you use one of these links, Amazon uses cookies for purposes that include sending you to your local Amazon store and recording that the visit came from NEDness. These are non-essential cookies set by Amazon, not by NEDness.
Because they are non-essential, we ask for your consent before they are set. The first time you select a book link, a short message explains this and asks you to accept before you continue to Amazon. If you accept, we remember your choice so that you are not asked again on your device. If you would rather not, you can close the message without continuing, and no Amazon cookies will be set. You remain free to find the book another way.
You can change your mind at any time by clearing cookies for our site through your browser settings, after which the message will appear again the next time you select a book link.
Website analytics
Ghost Pro provides built-in, privacy-focused website analytics that are designed to operate without analytics cookies. We do not use this analytics data to build browsing profiles, and we do not use Google Analytics or any other third-party analytics cookies. Analytics data is stored in EU regions.
Third-party cookies
Apart from the Amazon book links described above, we do not embed third-party content on our website that sets cookies. We do not use social media widgets, advertising pixels, or third-party tracking scripts elsewhere on the site.
Where we link to external services, such as our LinkedIn page, YouTube channel, or podcast on Buzzsprout, these are standard links that take you to those services. Each has its own cookie and privacy policies, which apply once you arrive there.
Embedded content
If in future we embed content from other services, such as YouTube videos, those services may set their own cookies on your device. Where that happens, we will update this policy and, where required, ask for your consent before any non-essential cookies are set.
How to manage cookies
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. However, if you block the strictly necessary cookies for our site, the sign-in and registration features will not work correctly.
You can also decline or withdraw consent for the Amazon book-link cookies at any time, as described in the section on book links and Amazon above.
Information on managing cookies in common browsers:
- Chrome: support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647
- Firefox: support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/cookies-information-websites-store-on-your-computer
- Safari: support.apple.com/guide/safari/manage-cookies-sfri11471
- Edge: support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/manage-cookies-in-microsoft-edge
Changes to this policy
If we introduce any new cookies or third-party services that affect your privacy, we will update this policy and, where necessary, ask for your consent before those changes take effect.
Contact
If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us at privacy@nedness.com.
For full details on how we handle your personal information, please see our Privacy Policy.