Last updated April 26, 2026. The very short version: this site avoids cookies on principle. The slightly longer version is below.
What is set
For a regular reader (not logged in, not commenting), phpwebthings.org sets no first-party tracking cookies. The page may set a single anonymous cache-control cookie used by LiteSpeed Cache to serve the right cached version. That cookie carries no personal data and is not used to identify you.
If I’m logged in (only I am), WordPress sets session cookies for that login. They expire when I log out.
Analytics
I use Plausible Analytics for traffic measurement. Plausible is cookieless by design. It does not store any data on your device and it does not track you across sites. The metrics I see are aggregated and anonymized.
Third-party embeds
An article occasionally embeds a YouTube video, a tweet, or a CodePen. When I do that the third party can set its own cookies on its own embedded frame. I prefer screenshots over embeds where the article doesn’t lose anything by it.
Affiliate redirects
If you click an affiliate link to a partner (for example, Backblaze or Hetzner), the partner may set cookies on their own domain to track that you arrived through this site. They are governed by that partner’s privacy policy, not mine.
Controlling cookies
Every modern browser lets you clear, block, or selectively allow cookies. Doing so won’t break anything important on this site, since there’s so little to break. If you’d like a complete walk-through, the EFF maintains a clear one at eff.org/issues/online-tracking.
Changes
If I add anything new (a comment system, a newsletter, a different analytics tool), I’ll update this page first and add a note on the homepage for a few weeks.