Cookie Policy
SMS Democrat uses one first-party cookie to remember your consent choice, and — only if you accept the banner — analytics and advertising cookies from Google and Microsoft. Nothing else. Declining the banner leaves you with just the consent cookie.
Last updated: August 8, 2026
How consent works here
On your first visit a banner offers Accept or Decline. The site uses Google Consent Mode v2 with everything set to denied by default, so analytics and advertising storage only activate after you click Accept. Your choice is stored in a first-party consent cookie so the banner doesn't reappear on every page.
The cookies
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| consent | SMS Democrat (first-party) | Remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics and advertising cookies. | 180 days |
| _ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics | Distinguishes visitors to produce aggregated usage statistics (pages visited, device type). Set only after you accept. | Up to 2 years |
| _clck, _clsk | Microsoft Clarity | Anonymous usage analytics: which parts of a page people interact with. Set only after you accept. | Up to 1 year |
| MUID | Microsoft | Identifier used by Microsoft services, set alongside Clarity after you accept. | Up to 13 months |
| __gads, __gpi, IDE and similar | Google AdSense / doubleclick.net | Serving and measuring ads. Personalized-advertising cookies are used only after you accept; without consent, ad storage stays disabled. | Up to 13 months |
Exact cookie names and lifetimes are set by Google and Microsoft and can change; see Google's cookie documentation and Microsoft Clarity's cookie list for the authoritative lists.
Changing your mind
- To withdraw or change consent: delete this site's cookies in your browser (usually under Settings → Privacy → Site data). On your next visit the banner will ask again.
- To manage Google ad personalization across all sites: adssettings.google.com.
- To block cookies generally: every modern browser can block third-party cookies or all cookies for specific sites. The tools on this site work fine with all cookies blocked.
Questions
This policy is part of our privacy policy. If anything is unclear, write to us at [email protected].