Cookies Policy


    Our Privacy Policy explains our principles when it comes to the collection, processing, and storage of your information. This policy specifically explains how we, our partners, and users of our services deploy cookies, as well as the options you have to control them.

    What are cookies?


    When websites are loaded in a browser, cookies—which are little data files—are saved on your computer or other device. Whether for a single visit (using a “session cookie”) or for several follow-up visits (using a “persistent cookie”), they are frequently used to “remember” you and your preferences. They carry out necessary tasks including enabling users to register and stay signed in, and they provide a reliable and effective experience for visitors. The website you are currently on may set cookies (referred to as “first party cookies”) or third parties, including those who deliver content or offer advertising or analytics services on the website (referred to as “third party cookies”).
    HTML emails and websites may also include additional monitoring information.

     

    How do we use cookies?


    Cookies serve a variety of functions for us.. Certain cookies are required for technical purposes, while others allow for the display of advertisements from specific third-party networks and provide a personalized experience for both visitors and registered users. When a website loads or a visitor performs a specific action (such as clicking the “like” or “follow” buttons on a post), some of these cookies might be set.
    While some of the cookies we employ are set everytime you visit one of our websites, regardless of whether you have an account, many of them are only set if you are a registered WordPress.com user (for example, so you don’t have to log in every time).
     

    Where we place cookies?

     
    Throughout all of our services, we place cookies in various places.
    • On our websites.
    • Both the wp-admin and calypso administration dashboards of our websites.
    • On websites that we provide to our users.
    • Using websites that make use of our plugins (like Jetpack).
    • In the emails we send.

    User sites

     

    In addition to the cookies set on our own sites, we utilize cookies for our Site Stats feature. This tallies the unique numbers of visitors to a site, as well as the number from specific geographic locations. A visitor is counted when we see a user or browser for the first time in a given period.

     

    Controlling Cookies

    Visitors may wish to restrict the use of cookies or completely prevent them from being set. Most browsers provide for ways to control cookie behavior such as the length of time they are stored – either through built-in functionality or by utilizing third party plugins. If you disable cookies, please be aware that some of the features of our service may not function correctly.

    Our Internal Analytics Tool

     

    In order to better understand how our services are used, we monitor certain user activities that take place within our products, including page views and clicks on any links used when managing a site via our dashboards.

    We call each one of these actions an “event.” Analytics events are attached to your WordPress.com account and are handled via a first party system that Automattic owns and maintains. In general, we record the following data for each event: IP address, WordPress.com user ID and username, WordPress.com-connected site ID (for sites not hosted on WordPress.com), user agent, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, and country code.

    We use this information to improve our products, make our marketing to you more relevant, personalize your experience, and for the other purposes described in our Privacy Policy.

    You may opt out of our analytics program through your user settings. By doing so, you won’t share information with our analytics tool about events or actions that happen after the opt-out, while logged in to your WordPress.com account. Note that opting out does not disable the functionality of the actions we track – for example, if you publish a post, we will still have record of that (don’t worry!), but for an event or action after you opt out, we will not have other data associated with that action or event in the analytics tool.

    Consent for Advertising Cookies on our sites

    You may see a “cookie banner” on our websites and dashboards. If you are visiting one of our sites from the EU, then we do not set, or allow our ad partners to set, cookies that are used to show you targeted ads before you click to accept. When you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may set advertising cookies on the site you are visiting and on our other websites, dashboards, and services, which we use to show you advertisements about our various Automattic products. We’ll display the banner to you periodically, just in case you change your mind.

    Consent and Choices for Advertisements on our Users’ Sites through our Ads Program

    You may see a “cookie banner” on our users’ websites, particularly if you are in the European Union. If so, then our ad program does not set, or allow our ad partners to set, cookies that are used to show you targeted ads before you accept.

    When you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may set third party advertising cookies in order to show you personalized ads on the website you are visiting and, if you are visiting a site in the WordPress.com network, on all websites within that network of sites. You’ll know that a site is in the WordPress.com network because it will have a WordPress.com subdomain (e.g., example.wordpress.com). For other sites that participate in our ads program, your consent is only for personalized ads on the specific site you are visiting.

    Contact Us

    If you have any questions about our use of cookies, you can find the most relevant contact details in our Privacy Policy.