Cookies and browser storage

Page-view analytics and Google advertising remain off until you choose Accept all Cookies. We do not record sessions. Calculators and the property inventory can send only the same consented, coarse analytics events as other approved public pages; they do not load advertising. After acceptance, eligible educational guides may show Google ads to visitors our host identifies as being in the United States.

Display preference

The theme control stores one value, gc-theme, in local browser storage when you choose Light or Dark. It is a display preference, not a cookie and not an identifier, and it is never sent anywhere. On System nothing is stored.

Non-personalized does not mean cookie-free

Google AdSense loads after a valid, explicit Accept all Cookies choice on eligible US educational guides. Google may use cookies or similar storage for ad delivery, frequency capping, measurement, personalization and fraud prevention. Acceptance also enables basic page-view analytics on listed public pages. Reject optional, withdrawal, expiry, invalid or missing consent, and Global Privacy Control prevent both Google ad requests and analytics. No choice enables session recording.

We do not request Google ads for other or unknown regions. Our own settings dialog is not a Google-certified consent management platform. We will need an appropriate consent setup before enabling additional regional advertising.

Change your preference

Use Cookie settings in the footer to reopen the dialog, reject analytics and advertising or withdraw a previous acceptance. Withdrawal reloads the page when needed so subsequent requests use the new choice. Browser controls can remove Google cookies that this site cannot access.

What stays in your browser

Your choice is stored in a first-party cookie and local storage named guidelinecalculator_privacy_v4 for 180 days. Both copies must be valid and agree before analytics or personalization can be enabled. If storage is blocked, analytics and personalization remain off and the notice may appear again.

Optional worksheet drafts

Saving support-calculator or property-inventory work is a separate choice: select Remember my worksheet on this device on the worksheet. It is off by default. Accept all in the cookie banner does not turn worksheet saving on, and you can save a worksheet without accepting optional tracking. A returning visitor chooses whether to resume or delete a saved worksheet; its figures are not filled in automatically.

Drafts use this site’s local browser storage, not a cookie or a server session. They can include your financial figures, names, notes, case details, property and debt entries, and progress. Each draft expires 30 days after your last edit. Expiration is checked when you return and while a worksheet page is open; a closed or suspended browser cannot run cleanup at an exact deadline. Expired drafts are not offered for resumption.

Use Delete saved worksheet or turn off Remember my worksheet on this device to delete the saved copy and stop saving. Current entries can remain on the open page until you clear them or leave it. Rejecting optional cookies or withdrawing tracking consent does not erase a draft. The 180-day privacy preference above stores consent choices and their metadata, not your worksheet entries.

Only the same browser profile on the same device and site can access a draft. Anyone using that profile can resume it. Clearing site data, private browsing, blocked storage, or browser cleanup can remove or prevent saved work. There is no account, cross-device synchronization, or server backup, and we cannot recover a deleted or unavailable draft. Exported files are separate and are not deleted with the browser draft.

Optional page-view analytics

After consent, we send the site name, hostname, a listed public page path and approved coarse events to our self-hosted Rybbit analytics collector. These events may include a two-letter state code and a fixed worksheet type, format, source or step number. We may also send the public hostname of an external HTTPS referring website to understand how people find the site. Referring URL paths, queries, fragments and credentials are removed; local, private and same-site referrers are excluded. Beyond those coarse labels, we do not send query strings, entered text, names, notes or financial inputs. Calculator and property pages may send approved page views and coarse events; error pages remain excluded. The collector processes connection IP and browser information to group visits with a daily rotating identifier; the IP address is not stored in the analytics event. No analytics identifier is saved in your browser. The October 20 analytics disclosure requires a new choice; earlier consent versions do not enable tracking. Privacy-choice pages, legal notices, private routes and error pages remain excluded.

Google and hosting

Google receives connection and device information when its ad script loads on eligible guides. See how Google uses information from partner sites. Our host processes connection information for page delivery and security. Current ordinary access logs keep coarse route groups, status, bytes and timing without visitor identifiers. Separate security, historical and ads.txt diagnostic logs have their own fields and retention. These logs are separate from optional browser analytics. Read our privacy notice for contact and data-rights information.

The optional worksheet experience survey sends feedback only when you choose to submit it. It uses no cookies or persistent browser identifier, works after rejecting optional tracking, and is separate from analytics consent. Global Privacy Control keeps optional analytics and ads off; the older Do Not Track signal does not independently alter these settings.

Updated October 20, 2026.