Legal
Cookie Policy
A plain list of the cookies and browser-storage items this site can use, what each one does, how long it lasts, and how to control them.
What this page covers
A cookie is a small piece of text that a website, or a company whose code the website loads, asks your browser to keep. Browsers also offer other storage, such as localStorage, which works in a similar way and which we treat under the same rules. This page lists every item of either kind that this site uses or can cause to be stored, and it groups them into two categories:
- Essential items are needed to remember your cookie choice and to keep the site secure. They are in use without asking you.
- Advertising measurement items come from Microsoft Advertising's tag. They hold visitor identifiers only after you click Accept (see "What you may see while you have not accepted" below).
This site does not set any cookies of its own. Its only storage of its own is one localStorage entry. We do not use social-media pixels or third-party font services, and, apart from the Microsoft tag, we load no other advertising or analytics code.
Every item, in one table
The Microsoft details below come from Microsoft's own UET documentation and from the lifetimes written into its tag script, which we checked on September 25, 2026. Microsoft can change them, so its documentation is the final word.
| Name | What it is and what it does | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| tbc_consent | A localStorage entry set by this site. It records whether you clicked Accept ("granted") or Decline ("denied") so the banner does not reappear on every page. It stays in your browser and is not sent to our server. | No expiry date. It stays until you clear your site data or use "Update cookie choice". | Essential |
| __cf_bm, cf_clearance and similar | Technical cookies that Cloudflare, which proxies this site, may set when its security and bot-detection features check a request. We do not control whether one is set for you. Cloudflare classes these as strictly necessary. | Set by Cloudflare. Cloudflare documents __cf_bm as expiring after 30 minutes of inactivity. | Essential |
| _uetsid | Microsoft Advertising UET. A first-party cookie on this site's domain that holds a session ID for one visit. | 1 day | Advertising measurement |
| _uetvid | Microsoft Advertising UET. A first-party cookie holding a unique, pseudonymised visitor ID, so that repeat visits can be recognized. | 390 days | Advertising measurement |
| _uetmsclkid | Microsoft Advertising UET. A first-party cookie that stores the Microsoft Click ID from a Microsoft ad click, used to improve the accuracy of conversion measurement. It is set only if you arrive from an ad click that carries the ID. | 90 days | Advertising measurement |
| _uetsid, _uetvid, _uetmsclkid (localStorage copies) and their _exp entries | Microsoft's tag also keeps a copy of the three items above in your browser's localStorage under the same names, with a companion entry ending in _exp that holds the expiry time. Microsoft's consent documentation names _uetsid_exp and _uetvid_exp among the UET items but does not describe them further. | The same as the item copied | Advertising measurement |
| MUID | A Microsoft cookie containing an ID assigned to your browser. It is set on Microsoft's own domain when your browser interacts with a Microsoft property, including the UET tag. | 13 months, according to Microsoft | Advertising measurement |
| MR | A Microsoft cookie containing a flag that resets or refreshes MUID. It is set when you interact with a Microsoft property, including a UET call. | Not stated in the Microsoft documentation we reviewed. In a test on September 25, 2026 it was set for 7 days. | Advertising measurement |
| MSPTC | A Microsoft partition cookie holding a pseudonymised visitor ID, used in browsers' privacy features. | Not stated in the Microsoft documentation we reviewed | Advertising measurement |
Microsoft's own cookies (MUID, MR and MSPTC) are third-party cookies, which many browsers block by default, in which case they will not appear. Microsoft states that it does not resell UET data or share it with other advertisers, and describes its data practices in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
What you may see while you have not accepted
Microsoft's tag loads on each page in a "denied" state. Microsoft's documentation says that in this state UET does not read or write first-party cookies, does not write third-party cookies, and reads third-party cookies only for fraud and spam purposes. A Microsoft support answer adds that _uetsid and _uetvid may sometimes appear holding placeholder values that contain no identifier (Microsoft Q&A). A placeholder is not a visitor ID. Your consent choice is passed to the tag as an ad_storage setting of "granted" or "denied".
Accept and Decline
The first time you visit, a banner asks you to Accept or Decline. Until you choose, the advertising tag stays in its denied state.
- Accept tells the tag that consent is granted. It may then read and write the advertising items in the table and report the measurements described in our Privacy Policy to Microsoft.
- Decline keeps the tag in its denied state. The site works the same either way, and nothing is locked behind the choice.
Declining, or withdrawing consent later, stops the tag from reading and writing from then on. It does not delete anything your browser has already stored, and to remove those items you need to clear cookies and site data for this site in your browser's settings.
Global Privacy Control
If your browser or an extension sends a Global Privacy Control signal and you have not already made a choice, we record it as Decline and do not show the banner. If you want to accept while the signal is on, turn it off in your browser first, then use the button below. We do not respond to the older "Do Not Track" header.
Change your choice
Use the button to clear your stored choice. The page will reload and, unless your browser is sending a Global Privacy Control signal, the banner will appear again so that you can choose again.
Other ways to control cookies
- Your browser lets you view, block and delete cookies and site data, for all sites or for this one. Blocking all cookies or all storage may stop the banner remembering your choice.
- Microsoft explains its own personalised-advertising controls in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
- Cloudflare lists the technical cookies it may use, and their purpose and duration, in its cookie documentation.
Links to other sites
If you follow a link to Amazon or to a seller's own store, that site can set its own cookies under its own policy. This page does not cover them.
Changes and questions
If we add or change a cookie or storage item, we will update this page and its date. Questions can go to [email protected]. More about how we handle personal information is in our Privacy Policy.