A cookie is a tiny text file a website saves on your device. It can’t run programs or do anything on its own. Here’s exactly what we use—and what we don’t.
How our consent system works
All non-essential cookies are blocked by default. We don’t assume consent because you scrolled past something or clicked the X. Analytics, embeds, and comment cookies only load if you actively click Accept—or accept individual categories via Manage Preferences.
You can change or withdraw your choices at any time using the “Cookie Preferences” link at the bottom of every page.
Essential cookies
These keep the site working. They store your cookie banner choice and dark mode preference in your browser’s local storage. You can’t opt out of these—without them the site breaks.
Analytics cookies
If you accept analytics, we load Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity via Google Tag Manager.
Google Analytics tells us which articles people read, how long they stay, approximate location (which can include city), and browser, operating-system, and device details. Microsoft Clarity captures interaction data such as clicks, scrolling, navigation paths, browser and device details, and turns it into heatmaps and session replays. We use both services to understand what content is useful and where the site is frustrating to use.
Neither service loads until you accept Analytics. Clarity honors the same Google Consent Mode signal as Google Analytics. Microsoft masks sensitive text and input content by default, but Clarity remains behavioral analytics and may use pseudonymous identifiers plus first- and third-party cookies after consent. Microsoft’s Privacy Statement explains how Microsoft processes data.
Marketing and advertising cookies
We load Google’s AdSense script so Google can verify the site and assess its readiness for advertising. No display-ad placements are currently configured. Google’s advertising storage, user-data, and personalization consent signals remain denied regardless of your analytics choice.
Third-party embeds
When an article includes an embedded video or social post, that content is blocked by a placeholder until you consent to the Embeds category. This is because platforms like YouTube and Twitter set their own cookies the moment their content loads. One click on the placeholder loads the content and records your consent for that session.
Comments
Accepting this category loads the discussion form on articles. Comments are stored on a first-party Cloudflare Worker we operate (comments.techunbloated.com). We keep your name and comment text, hash the submitting IP for rate-limiting, and hold new comments for moderation before they appear. No advertising cookies. No third-party comment network.
What we don’t use
No screen-hijacking pop-ups, sticky ad banners, browser notification prompts, or auto-playing video ads.
Controlling cookies yourself
Beyond our banner, you can delete or block cookies directly in your browser settings at any time. If you use Brave, Firefox, or DuckDuckGo—or have an extension like uBlock Origin—your privacy preferences are already being enforced at the browser level, and our system respects them automatically.