Mmm, cookies.

As with 92% of websites Newsnibbles uses cookies.  This does not mean that we pay the interns in chocolate chip biscuits, indeed, we don’t pay them at all, interns are free.  Hurrah for free interns.

Cookies are little bits of tracking technology which most websites use to remember you and your browsing preferences.  For example, you only need to click the

As with 90% of websites Newsnibbles uses tiny data files called cookies to improve performance. If you continue to use the site we will assume that you are happy with this. You can learn more about what cookies we use and how we use them in our cookie policy.

Once, because a clever cookie remembers your preference so you aren’t bothered with the box every time you visit.

So, what cookies do we use?

Well, if you add a comment to our “comments” section then a cookie will remember who you are, so you won’t have to log in again to add another comment. (We do so enjoy your comments, even Chimp’s).  As a side note, adding a comment automatically gives us your IP address.  This function allows us to block the IP address of serial spammers, we don’t want their cheap shoes.

Similarly, if you use our Search Bar to search the site, a cookie will remember your previous searches to save you from typing the same word again.

We have recently changed our stats provider to “SlimStat”. They will tell us what our most popular posts were, what search terms were used to find us and what clicks we receive (to weblinks, like our Facebook page, which if you haven’t liked yet you really should!!!) We have chosen to anonymise IP addresses so that the last eight digits of IPs are obscured, but we have turned on user tracking to see how many unique clicks we get on each post so our stats will be serving cookies to your machine unless you choose to turn off cookies in your browser.  This is so we can identify which of our posts are the most popular and which receive return visitors, that way we know what you like and can aim to produce more of it.  What is both freaky and exciting about SlimStats is that if you have posted a comment here in the past then it identifies you as a visitor by name!!! Eeeek!  Now we will really know who our fans are!  Our Stat records will be automatically deleted from SlimStat after 12o days, as we think this is long enough to give us a good overview of our popular posts.  We are new to using SlimStats, so may update this section if we discover anything else exciting that it does that you should know.

Social Networking Cookies

We have a social network share bar, which allows you to share a post you like on various social networks. This will connect you with that social networks site (or if you choose to perform an action with a Tweet we have embedded).  If you want more information about how these sites use cookies you should review their privacy policies in relation to cookies.

Third Party Cookies

In order to keep the site running Newsnibbles is going to support third party advertisers on our site.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to your website.  The cookie will allow them to track who clicks on the adverts.

“Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet.”  This means that if you visited a website for sparkly pink shoes prior to visiting Newsnibbles and quite frankly why wouldn’t you?  The cookie will remember this and target sparkly pink shoe advertising your way.  Exciting.

For more information about Google’s privacy, how they use cookies and other devices and how it may affect you read Google’s Privacy Policy

As of May 25, we will be serving only non personalised ads to readers in the EU. Here is what Google has to say about these:

Non-personalized ads

Google will show all your users in the EEA only non-personalized ads.

Non-personalized ads are targeted using contextual information rather than the past behavior of a user. Although these ads don’t use cookies for ads personalization, they do use cookies to allow for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, and to combat fraud and abuse. Consent is therefore required to use cookies for those purposes from users in countries to which the EU ePrivacy Directive’s cookie provisions apply.

Youtube also uses cookies  “to help maintain the integrity of video statistics, prevent fraud and to improve the site experience, among other things”.  This means that if you click to watch one of the videos that we have embedded on the site you will be accepting YouTube cookies.

We also use adverts as part of an affiliate program.  These are separate from Google and are not targeted.  We select these depending on the story and what we think might be of interest.  They will use a cookie to track any sales that came about from clicking on the advert on our site in order to pay the correct commission.

In line with new Data Protection laws, Google would also like us to point you towards this, so that you can see how they use your data.  Please click here to find out more.

Links and the like

As part of our satirical news reports we provide links to the original news story upon which we are commentating.  We take no responsibility for any cookies contained in these sites.  If you want to know what cookies are used in external links then please refer to the individual site’s cookie policy.

But I don’t like cookies following me about, can I stop this nonsense?

Why yes, yes you can.  Whilst cookies generally enhance your browsing experience we recognise that you may not want your sparkly shoe infatuation saved on your computer for all your friends to see.  Therefore, there is an option to opt out.  Most browsers have an option to enable/disable cookies.  For helpful information on how to control your browser cookies we found this website.  Ironically it too uses cookies, but you can choose not to accept them before proceeding.

To specifically opt out of the DART cookie then click on the advertising opt-out page.

Updates

Please note that we will update this page if at any time our use of cookies changes in any way.  Therefore, if you are interested in cookies and how we use them check back here whenever you visit.

Do you have a good cookie recipe?

Well, that’s not really what this page is about, but since you asked Bee has submitted one to recipe corner.  Click here to view it, and enjoy your cookies.

 

Your continued use of this site indicates your acceptance of this privacy and cookie policy.  If you are not in agreement with anything stated here then you should stop using the site immediately.

 

How Do I Find Out What Crazy Cookies My Website Uses?

Well, we discovered a website called Attacat Internet Marketing http://www.attacat.co.uk/, a marketing agency based in Edinburgh. If you need similar information for your own website you can use their free cookie audit tool.  There is also an option to generate a report if you don’t want to pen your own.

Do you collect any information about me, specifically for Newsnibbles?

The short answer here is no.  We have disabled stats (they broke the website).  If you leave a comment, WordPress requires that you leave an email address, and it records your IP address.  We don’t store this anywhere other than the post upon which you commented, and will not use it to contact you (unless you entered a competition, in which case we will contact you to send you your prize if you win).  We will not share your details with anyone else, or try to sell you anything.  If you want to stay up to date, just follow us on Facebook or Twitter.  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.