Cookie Policy

Effective date: July 31, 2026. Last updated: July 31, 2026.

1. What cookies and similar technologies are

Cookies are small text records stored by a browser. A session cookie normally expires when the browsing session ends; a persistent cookie remains until its stated expiry or deletion. First-party cookies are set for homelabaddiction.com, while third-party cookies are controlled by another domain. Local storage is a related browser feature that can retain a preference without using a cookie.

The inventory below reflects the site’s current code and provider documentation. Some security and advertising cookies are conditional, so a particular visitor may see only a subset.

2. Current cookie and storage inventory

Google Analytics — analytics cookies

_ga — first-party, persistent, normally 2 years. Used by Google Analytics to distinguish users for measurement.

_ga_XRPKFNF7K4 — first-party, persistent, normally 2 years. Used by the site’s Google Analytics 4 property to persist session state. Google Analytics is configured site-wide and these cookies may be set when the browser permits them.

Google documents the purpose and default expiry of these cookies in its Analytics cookie reference.

Cloudflare — necessary security cookies

__cf_bm — first-party in the context of this site, conditional, normally expires after 30 minutes of inactivity. Cloudflare may set it when bot-management protection evaluates traffic.

cf_clearance — first-party, conditional, persistent for the period configured in Cloudflare. It records that a browser passed a security challenge so the visitor is not challenged on every request.

_cfuvid — first-party, conditional. Cloudflare may set it when the relevant rate-limiting option is enabled to distinguish users who share an IP address. Its duration is controlled by Cloudflare’s configuration.

These cookies are not guaranteed to appear on every visit. Cloudflare documents its conditional cookies and current durations in its cookie reference.

Authenticated editor sessions — necessary cookie

payload-token — first-party and used only when an authorized editor signs in to the Payload CMS administration area. It authenticates the editor until logout or the configured authentication token expires. Ordinary public readers do not receive this cookie from simply reading the site.

Theme preference — local storage

payload-theme — first-party browser local storage, retained until cleared. It remembers whether the visitor selected the light or dark theme. This is not a cookie and is not used for advertising.

Plausible — cookieless analytics

Plausible is used for aggregate audience measurement and does not set cookies or persistent visitor identifiers. Its data policy explains its cookieless measurement approach.

Google AdSense — conditional advertising cookies

The site supports Google AdSense, but the advertising script loads only when a valid publisher configuration is present. When advertising is enabled and an ad is requested, displayed, or clicked, Google and its partners may set or read advertising cookies. Depending on region, consent, personalization settings, and browser support, examples can include:

_gads — first-party, normally 13 months. Used to measure interactions with ads on a domain and help prevent the same ads being shown too many times.

IDE or id — third-party Google advertising cookies, normally 13 months in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland and 24 months elsewhere, used to show and measure ads.

DSID — third-party, normally 2 weeks. Used by Google to identify a signed-in user on non-Google sites and coordinate advertising preferences.

NID — third-party, normally 6 months. Used by Google for preferences and advertising on Google services and connected contexts.

This list describes common Google advertising cookies, not a promise that every one is set on every visit. Google controls the exact names and behavior and may change them. See Google’s cookie uses and durations and its AdSense cookie guidance.

Consent and privacy choices

When Google Privacy & Messaging is enabled for a visitor’s region, Google may store or transmit a consent or opt-out choice so that the choice can be respected. The exact storage key and duration are controlled by Google and may vary by message type and region.

Affiliate links and embedded destinations

HomelabAddiction does not set an affiliate merchant’s cookie before a click. If you follow an affiliate or third-party link, the destination may set its own cookies under its own policy. The same applies if third-party embedded content is added to an article in the future.

3. Why we use these technologies

Necessary operation and security: deliver the site, remember an explicit display preference, authenticate editors, prevent abuse, and confirm completion of a security challenge.

Analytics: understand which pages are useful, how visitors find the site, and where performance or navigation can improve.

Advertising: fund the publication, deliver and measure ads, prevent fraud, manage frequency, and—where permitted by choices and law—personalize advertising.

4. Managing cookies

You can delete or block cookies using browser settings and clear local storage through the browser’s site-data controls. Blocking necessary security cookies can cause repeated challenges or prevent parts of the service from working. Blocking analytics cookies does not prevent access to articles.

When a Google consent or privacy message is displayed, use its controls to set or change the choices offered. You can also review Google advertising choices in My Ad Center. Browser extensions, private browsing, and device-level settings may provide additional controls.

Some browsers transmit Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signals. We honor legally required opt-out signals where they apply and where the relevant technology supports them. Because Do Not Track is not governed by one universal standard, it may not change all analytics or security processing.

5. Changes and contact

We will update this inventory when we materially change analytics, advertising, security, or storage technologies. Cookie names and durations controlled by providers can also change between our reviews.

For questions or to report an unexpected cookie, use our Contact page. More information about personal-data handling appears in the Privacy Policy.