Cookie Policy
Last updated: 5 October 2026
ALMA uses very little. A few things are strictly necessary, and Google Ads cookies are used only if you say yes. This page lists every one of them.
1. What cookies and browser storage are
Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. First-party cookies are set by the site you are visiting; third-party cookies are set by another company's service used on that site. Session cookies disappear when you close the browser; persistent cookies stay until they expire or you delete them.
Websites can also use your browser's local storage, which works in a similar way but isn't sent to the website automatically. The same rules apply to both, so this page covers both.
2. How ALMA uses them
- Strictly necessary. Remembering your cookie choice, keeping you signed in if you have an account, and keeping things you asked the site to remember (saved articles, reading settings, game progress) in your browser. These don't need your consent because the site, or the feature you're using, can't work without them. You can't switch them off in Cookie settings, but you can delete them in your browser (see below).
- Marketing (only with your consent). The Google Ads tag, which measures whether visits lead to someone clicking through to the author's books on Amazon. It is not used to personalise ads. Nothing from Google loads until you accept Marketing cookies.
ALMA doesn't use analytics cookies. The page view counts described in the Privacy Policy are made on our server without any cookie or browser storage.
3. Everything ALMA stores, by name
| Name | Type and provider | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cookie_consent | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary | Remembers your cookie choice, when you made it and which version of this policy it applied to. | Until you change your choice or clear your browser storage |
refresh_token | Cookie (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Lax) ALMA (set by ALMA's server, shadow-choice-backend-production.up.railway.app) | Strictly necessary | Keeps you signed in. Only set if you create an account and sign in. | 7 days, or 30 days if you choose “remember me”; removed when you sign out |
reader_access_token | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary | Short-lived sign-in token for your account. Only if you sign in. | The token expires after 15 minutes; it is removed when you sign out |
reader_user | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary | Your display name, username and avatar, so the site can show that you're signed in. Only if you sign in. | Until you sign out |
admin_access_token | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary | Sign-in for ALMA's own editors in the admin area. Never set for readers. | Until the editor signs out |
alma_analytics | Cookie (first-party, SameSite=Lax) ALMA | Strictly necessary (feature you use) | Only set if ALMA's editor chooses “Exclude this browser from audience analytics”, so her own visits aren't counted. Holds the value “off” and no identifier. Never set for readers. | 400 days, or until removed in the admin or by clearing cookies |
blog_bookmarks | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary (feature you use) | Articles you save with “Save”. Stays in your browser; not sent to ALMA. | Until you remove them or clear your browser storage |
blog_reading_prefs | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary (feature you use) | Reading settings you choose on an article (theme, text size, width). Stays in your browser. | Until you clear your browser storage |
shadow_choice_games_profile_v1 | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary (feature you use) | Your progress in the Keeper games (levels, points, achievements). Stays in your browser. | Until you clear your browser storage |
shadow_choice_keeper_archive_v1 | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary (feature you use) | Which Keeper characters you've unlocked. Stays in your browser. | Until you clear your browser storage |
shadow_choice_assessment_done_v1 | Local storage ALMA | Strictly necessary (feature you use) | Whether you've finished Which Keeper Are You?, for the games vault. Stays in your browser. | Until you clear your browser storage |
_gcl_au | Cookie Google (set on books.synaptiq.academy by the Google Ads tag) | Marketing (only with your consent) | Google Ads conversion measurement: links a visit to a later click through to the author's books on Amazon. | 90 days |
_gcl_aw, _gcl_gs, _gcl_dc | Cookies Google (set on books.synaptiq.academy by the Google Ads tag) | Marketing (only with your consent) | Set only when you arrive by clicking a Google ad; records that ad click for conversion measurement. | 90 days |
When Marketing cookies are on, Google may also use cookies on its own domains (such as googleadservices.com and doubleclick.net). Google describes these in its list of advertising cookies.
4. Your choice and how to change it
When you first visit, a banner lets you Accept all, Reject non-essential, or Manage preferences. Until you choose, nothing optional runs. Closing the page or carrying on browsing is not treated as consent.
You can change your mind at any time: (the same link is in the footer of every page). If you switch Marketing off, the Google Ads tag stops and the Google Ads cookies set on this site are deleted.
We store your choice, the date you made it and the version of this policy it applies to. If we start using a new kind of optional cookie, we'll ask you again.
5. Browser controls
You can also delete or block cookies and site data in your browser settings. If you block strictly necessary storage, you won't be able to stay signed in, and saved articles, reading settings and game progress won't be remembered. Your browser's help pages explain how.
6. Third-party sites
When you follow a link to a bookshop such as Amazon, or use a share button for a social network, you leave ALMA. Those sites set their own cookies under their own policies.
7. Questions
Write to admin@synaptiq.academy. More about personal data is in the Privacy Policy.