What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to keep. On a later visit the browser sends it back, which is how a site recognises a returning session or remembers a setting. This policy also covers similar technologies used on rollbrief.com — local storage, session storage and pixel tags — because they serve the same purposes even though they are not, strictly speaking, cookies.
Cookies set by rollbrief.com are first-party. Cookies set by a service loaded on our pages, such as an advertising network, are third-party and are governed by that provider's own policy as well.
Categories we use
Essential
Needed for the site to load and behave correctly. They cannot be switched off from within the page, because without them nothing works — but they carry no advertising identifier and are not used to profile you.
| Entry | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| rb-cookie-choice | Stores whether you accepted or declined optional cookies, so the notice is not shown again | Browser local storage, until cleared |
| Hosting and security entries | Load balancing, protection against automated abuse, delivery of the correct page version | Session to 12 months |
| OneSignal service entries | Registers the push subscription for this browser once you allow notifications | Until permission is revoked |
Analytics
Set only after you accept optional cookies. They tell us, in aggregate, which entries are read, how visitors arrive and where pages fail to load, so we can decide what to cover next and what to fix.
| Entry | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Audience measurement identifier | Distinguishes one browser from another so visits are not double-counted | Up to 13 months |
| Session identifier | Groups page views made in a single visit | Session, up to 30 minutes of inactivity |
Advertising and marketing
Set only after you accept optional cookies, and only when advertising is displayed. Advertising networks use them to limit how often a promotion is shown to the same browser and to measure whether a placement was seen or opened.
| Entry | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Network advertising identifier | Frequency capping and measurement of promotional placements for free games | Up to 13 months |
| Click measurement entry | Records that an outbound promotional link was opened from this site | Up to 90 days |
Your choice and how to change it
The notice at the bottom of the page lets you accept or decline the optional categories. Your choice is written to your browser's local storage under rb-cookie-choice and read on the next visit, so you are not asked again on every page.
To change your decision, clear site data for rollbrief.com in your browser and reload the page — the notice will appear again. You can also block or delete cookies at any time in your browser settings:
- Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies
- Safari: Settings → Privacy → Manage website data
- Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
- Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions
Blocking essential entries may stop parts of the site from working; blocking analytics or advertising entries does not affect access to any article on this site.
What is not kept in a cookie
A Plus membership is not tracked through cookies. Whether you are on the Plus list, and whether a membership is running, is held by our mailing provider against your e-mail address — not in a file on your browser. Clearing cookies for rollbrief.com therefore does nothing to a membership, and declining optional cookies does not stop the digest arriving.
Payment details are not stored on this site in any form, cookie or otherwise. When memberships go live, payments are handled by an external provider on its own pages and under its own cookie policy.
Cookies and push notifications
Browser push notifications are a separate permission granted in the browser itself, not through a cookie. If you allow them, our push provider stores a subscription identifier for that browser so a message can be delivered. Declining optional cookies does not switch off notifications you have already allowed, and revoking notification permission does not delete cookies.
To stop notifications, open your browser's site settings for rollbrief.com and set notifications to “Block”. To have the stored subscription and any submitted address deleted, write to editor@rollbrief.com.
More information
How we handle the personal information behind these entries — what we collect, why, how long we keep it, and your rights under the Privacy Act 1988 — is set out in our privacy policy. The commercial arrangements behind the advertising category are described in our terms of use.