Cookie Policy
This policy describes the cookies and similar storage technologies used on AIDiveForge — the ones we control directly and the ones set by service providers like Google Analytics. It accompanies our Privacy Policy.
- Essential cookies keep the site running. Analytics and advertising cookies are optional.
- In the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, analytics and advertising default to off until you opt in. Elsewhere, analytics uses notice-and-opt-out. Advertising cookies load only when marketing storage is granted.
- You can change your choice any time via "Cookie settings" in the footer.
- A Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal opts you out of analytics and marketing.
1. What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores in your browser to remember information about your visit. We use cookies and similar technologies — local storage and small first-party identifiers used for analytics — collectively referred to here as "cookies."
Cookies set by us (from aidiveforge.com) are first-party. Cookies set by a service provider like Google are third-party.
2. Categories of cookies we use
2.1 Strictly necessary
These cookies are required for the Service to work. They don't track you, don't need consent, and you can't disable them through the consent banner — only by blocking cookies in your browser, which will break login and other signed-in features.
2.2 Functional / preferences
Remember choices like your accepted-consent state, your theme preference, and other UI settings. Set by us; not used for advertising.
2.3 Analytics — self-hosted
Power our internal page-view counters and click metrics. The data is stored in our own database and never shared with third parties. These cookies don't fire if you have not granted analytics consent and don't fire for logged-in administrators.
2.4 Analytics — Google Analytics 4 (third-party)
Provided by Google LLC through Google Site Kit. Only loaded after you grant analytics consent through the banner, and never for logged-in administrators. Google operates as an independent controller for the data captured by these cookies; their use is governed by Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out across all sites with Google's Opt-out Browser Add-on.
2.5 Marketing / advertising
When marketing storage is granted through the cookie notice, Google AdSense may set advertising cookies to serve labeled display ads. You can deny marketing in Cookie settings. First-party Sponsored units we sell directly do not require these cookies.
3. Inventory of cookies
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
_adf_consent_v2 | First-party | Stores your granular consent choices (analytics / marketing). | 12 months | Strictly necessary |
_adf_consent | First-party | Legacy binary consent flag for back-compatibility. | 12 months | Strictly necessary |
_adf_vid | First-party | Visitor ID used by self-hosted analytics. Pseudonymous. | 12 months | Analytics (self-hosted) |
_adf_sid | First-party | Session ID for self-hosted analytics. | 30 minutes | Analytics (self-hosted) |
_adf_owner | First-party | Flags an authenticated administrator's traffic so it's excluded from visitor stats. | 2 years | Functional |
_adf_utm_* | First-party | Persists UTM campaign attribution across a session. | 30 days | Analytics (self-hosted) |
_adf_land | First-party | Landing page of current session. | 30 minutes | Analytics (self-hosted) |
wordpress_logged_in_* | First-party | WordPress session cookie for logged-in users. | Session / 14 days | Strictly necessary |
wp-settings-* | First-party | WordPress admin UI preferences. | 12 months | Functional |
_ga | Third-party (Google) | Google Analytics 4 client identifier. | 13 months | Analytics (third-party) |
_ga_FH7LTG7DE7 | Third-party (Google) | Google Analytics 4 property session state. | 13 months | Analytics (third-party) |
_gid | Third-party (Google) | Legacy Google Analytics daily identifier. May or may not be set. | 24 hours | Analytics (third-party) |
_gcl_au / IDE / related | Third-party (Google) | AdSense / ads conversion cookies. Set only when marketing storage is granted. | Up to 13 months | Marketing |
This inventory is updated when we add or remove cookies. If you find a cookie set on aidiveforge.com that isn't on this list, please email [email protected].
4. How we ask for and store consent
When you first visit, we show a cookie notice. Your choice is stored in the first-party _adf_consent_v2 cookie, and we apply Google Consent Mode v2 with region-aware defaults:
- European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland: analytics and marketing storage default to denied until you affirmatively opt in through the consent prompt. Until you opt in, no Google Analytics or other third-party-analytics cookie is set; only the self-hosted essentials are.
- Everywhere else (including the United States): analytics and marketing/advertising storage (Google AdSense) are enabled by default under a notice-and-opt-out model. You can opt out any time via Cookie settings or “Reject non-essential”.
If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as an opt-out of analytics and marketing regardless of region (see Section 5). You can also change your choice any time by clicking "Reject non-essential" or "Manage" in the notice, or the "Cookie settings" link in the site footer, which reopens it.
5. Global Privacy Control (GPC)
We honor the Global Privacy Control signal. If your browser sends GPC, we treat it as an opt-out of analytics and marketing storage even if you've previously granted consent.
6. Do Not Track
Browser "Do Not Track" headers don't have a universally agreed meaning, so we do not treat DNT as a separate signal. We honor Global Privacy Control as the opt-out of analytics and marketing.
7. How to block or delete cookies
Most browsers let you view, manage, and delete cookies in their settings. Blocking strictly-necessary cookies will break parts of the Service (logging in, keeping your session). Specific instructions are available for:
8. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when our cookie set changes or applicable law changes. Material changes are reflected in the Effective date above. For substantial changes that affect what data we collect, we'll re-prompt the consent banner.
9. Contact
For questions, email [email protected].