Cookie policy

Coordinately uses a small number of cookies — specifically the two set by Google Analytics 4 for traffic measurement. No advertising cookies, no third-party trackers beyond GA4, and no other analytics products. This page documents every cookie currently set with name, purpose, and lifetime, plus what will change if and when display advertising is added in the future.

First-party cookies

Two cookies, both set by Google Analytics 4 on coordinately.org:

• _ga — distinguishes unique visitors. Stores a randomly-generated client ID. Lifetime: 2 years from last visit.
• _ga_<container-id> — used by GA4 to persist session state (where a session is a window of activity, typically 30 minutes). Lifetime: 2 years from last visit.

Beyond GA4, Coordinately does not set first-party cookies. The site does not authenticate users, does not store sessions, and does not use cookies to remember preferences. Routing, navigation, and tool interactions all work without additional first-party cookies.

Third-party cookies

None on this domain. Google Analytics' cookies are first-party (set on coordinately.org itself, not on a Google subdomain). The GA4 script is loaded from googletagmanager.com and event data is sent to www.google-analytics.com, but those endpoints do not set their own cookies on this domain. Mapbox geocoding runs server-side (your browser never contacts Mapbox), USGS 3DEP and OpenTopoData elevation lookups run server-side as well, and MapTiler map tiles are served without setting cookies.

Browser storage (not cookies)

Some tools use browser localStorage or sessionStorage to remember your most recent inputs across visits — for example, the last-used coordinate format on a converter, or the most recently viewed pin on the homepage map. This data is scoped to your browser, never leaves your device, and is not transmitted to any server. You can clear it through your browser's site-data controls. Per the EU ePrivacy directive, this storage does not require consent for the purposes Coordinately uses it (remembering user-entered tool inputs, not tracking).

Future advertising plans

The intent is to fund continued editorial work through display advertising. The likely path is approval for Google AdSense once the site qualifies for that network, followed by a transition to a higher-CPM network like Raptive once monthly sessions cross that threshold. None of this is in place today.

When advertising does go live, the cookies typically set by Google AdSense and its partners — __gads, __gpi, IDE, DSID, NID and similar — will be documented here with their purposes and lifetimes, and visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland will be presented with a Google-hosted consent flow before any personalised-advertising cookies load. The authoritative list of cookies Google uses for advertising is published at policies.google.com/technologies/cookies and updates faster than this page can.

How to opt out, today and in future

Because the site currently runs no advertising or analytics, there is no opt-out to manage at the moment. If you want to set an opt-out preference in advance for when advertising goes live — across all sites, not just this one — the following links cover the major networks:

• Google Ads Settings — adssettings.google.com. Manage personalisation across all Google products.
• Digital Advertising Alliance — aboutads.info/choices. Centralised opt-out covering many networks (primarily US and Canada).
• European EDAA — youronlinechoices.eu. European centralised opt-out.
• Browser settings — every major browser exposes per-site cookie controls under Settings → Privacy. Blocking third-party cookies blocks personalised advertising on every site you visit.

Changes

When this policy changes, the change is reflected in the dateModified on this page and a corresponding entry is added to /changelog.