Cookie Policy

Last updated: June 2024

This Cookie Policy explains how SteepWhistle ("we", "us", or "our"), the coffee and tea gear review site at steepwhistle.com, uses cookies, localStorage, and similar technologies when you visit our website. We keep things simple: we only use what's necessary to run the site and, if you agree, a small amount of analytics to help us understand how our reviews and guides are used.

What Are Cookies and Local Storage?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. Local storage (specifically, browser localStorage) is a similar technology that allows a website to store small pieces of data directly in your browser, without an expiration date, until it is cleared. Both are commonly used to remember settings, preferences, and choices you make while browsing.

How SteepWhistle Uses These Technologies

1. Consent Banner Preference (localStorage)

When you first visit steepwhistle.com, you'll see a cookie consent banner asking whether you accept or decline non-essential cookies. Once you make a choice, we store that decision in your browser's localStorage. This allows us to remember your preference so the banner doesn't reappear on every page load.

• What it stores: A simple value indicating whether you accepted or declined optional cookies.
• Purpose: To respect and remember your consent choice.
• Duration: Persists until you clear your browser's site data or manually reset it.
• Essential: Yes — this storage is necessary for the consent mechanism itself to function and is not conditional on your acceptance of other cookies.

2. Analytics Cookies (Only If Accepted)

If you click "Accept" on our consent banner, we enable analytics cookies to help us understand aggregate visitor behavior, such as which coffee grinder reviews or tea kettle comparisons are most popular, how long readers spend on pages, and which pages might need improvement.

• What it stores: Anonymized or pseudonymized identifiers, session information, page view data, and referral sources.
• Purpose: To measure site traffic, improve content quality, and understand which gear reviews are most useful to readers.
• Duration: Varies by provider, typically between 24 hours and 2 years.
• Essential: No — these cookies are only set if you actively accept them via the consent banner. If you decline, no analytics cookies are loaded on your device.

Third-Party Cookies

If you accept optional cookies, our analytics provider (a standard web analytics service) may place its own cookies on your device to collect usage statistics on our behalf. These third-party cookies are governed by the respective provider's own privacy and cookie policies, in addition to this one. We do not sell or share this data for advertising purposes, and we do not use cookies for third-party ad targeting or cross-site tracking.

What We Don't Use

• We do not use advertising or retargeting cookies.
• We do not use social media tracking pixels.
• We do not sell visitor data to third parties.
• We do not track you across other websites.

How to Withdraw or Change Your Consent

Because your consent choice is stored locally in your browser rather than tied to an account, the simplest way to withdraw or change your consent is to clear your browser's stored data for steepwhistle.com. This will remove both the consent preference and any analytics cookies that were set, and the consent banner will appear again on your next visit so you can make a new choice.

General steps to clear cookies and site data (exact wording varies by browser):

• Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data > select "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached images and files."
• Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data.
• Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data > search for steepwhistle.com and remove it.
• Edge: Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data > choose "Cookies and saved website data."

You can also use your browser's developer tools to manually clear localStorage entries for steepwhistle.com if you prefer a more targeted approach. Most browsers also allow you to block cookies and localStorage entirely for specific sites through their site settings, though doing so may prevent the consent banner and preference storage from functioning as intended.

Browser-Level Controls

Most browsers allow you to see what cookies and site data are stored and to delete some or all of them. You can also set your browser to block cookies by default and allow them only on trusted sites, or to notify you whenever a cookie is set. Please note that blocking all cookies and storage may affect how our site functions, including the ability to remember your consent preference.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the technologies we use or for legal and regulatory reasons. Any updates will be posted on this page with a revised "last updated" date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or how SteepWhistle handles cookies and local storage, please reach out to us through the contact information provided on our website. We're happy to clarify anything related to your privacy and browsing experience.