What Are Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit websites. They're not programs and can't carry viruses. Think of them as digital sticky notes that help websites remember things about your visit.

Beyond traditional cookies, we also use similar technologies like web beacons (tiny invisible images) and local storage (a more sophisticated version of cookies). All of these serve the same basic purpose—they help the website function and let us know what's working.

Some tracking elements come from us directly. Others come from third-party services we use for analytics or content delivery. We've tried to keep third-party involvement minimal because, frankly, less tracking generally means better performance and fewer privacy concerns.

Types of Tracking We Use

How Tracking Enhances Your Experience

Here's what tracking actually does for you on our site:

• Keeps you logged in as you navigate between research reports and market analyses
• Remembers which articles you've already read so we can highlight new content
• Saves your dashboard configuration and notification preferences
• Helps us identify which investment topics deserve more in-depth coverage
• Lets us know when pages load too slowly so we can optimize performance
• Shows us which data visualizations people find most useful versus which ones nobody uses

Without any tracking, the site would still function, but it would be considerably less convenient. You'd lose all personalization and we'd lose the ability to improve based on actual usage patterns.

Data Retention Practices

We review what we're tracking every six months and delete anything that's no longer useful. There's no point hoarding data we're not actively using. If you delete your account, we remove all associated tracking data within thirty days.

Managing Your Tracking Preferences

You have several options for controlling how you're tracked. Your browser gives you the most comprehensive controls.

Be aware that blocking all cookies will break some functionality on most websites, including ours. You'll likely need to log in repeatedly and reset your preferences each visit. A middle ground is blocking third-party cookies while allowing first-party ones—this prevents most tracking while maintaining basic functionality.

Account-Level Controls

If you have an account with us, you can adjust analytics preferences from your dashboard. You can disable usage tracking while keeping essential functionality intact. Your account will still work—we just won't collect data about which content you view.

Third-Party Services

We use a minimal number of third-party services, each with their own tracking. Currently that includes:

These services have their own privacy policies. We've chosen providers that align with our approach to data handling, but you should review their policies if you want complete information about how they process data.

Changes to This Policy

If we add new tracking technologies or change how we use existing ones, we'll update this page and note the date at the top. Major changes will be announced through our usual communication channels—we won't slip significant modifications past you in the fine print.

We don't change this policy often. When we do, it's usually because we've added a new feature that requires tracking, removed a third-party service, or adjusted retention periods based on actual needs.