Cookie Policy

Last Updated: June 25, 2025

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, how White Screen Online uses them, and what options you have to control them. We want to be completely honest and transparent about what happens when you visit our website, so you can make informed decisions about your browsing experience.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that get placed on your computer, phone, or tablet when you visit a website. They are widely used across the internet and serve a variety of purposes. Some cookies are essential for a website to function properly, while others help website owners understand how visitors interact with their pages or allow advertising networks to show you relevant ads.

Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" based. Session cookies are temporary and get deleted as soon as you close your browser. Persistent cookies stay on your device for a set period of time or until you manually delete them. Both types serve different purposes, and not all cookies are created equal.

Cookies and Local Storage Set by Our Website

White Screen Online itself does not set any browser cookies directly. Instead, we use your browser's local storage (a similar but separate technology) to remember a small number of preferences. Local storage works a lot like cookies in that it saves small pieces of data on your device, but it is not sent to any server with each page request the way cookies are.

Here is what we store in local storage and why:

Cookie Consent Preference: When you click "Accept" or "Decline" on our cookie consent banner, we save your choice in local storage so we know not to show the banner again on your next visit.
Tool Preferences: Some of our tools, such as the backlight uniformity test and the yellow tint checker, allow you to place markers or save settings. These are stored in local storage so your work is not lost if you navigate away and come back.

None of this data is sent to our servers or shared with anyone. It stays entirely on your device.

Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics, a third party analytics service provided by Google, to understand how people use our website, which tools are most popular, and where our visitors are coming from. This helps us make better decisions about what to improve and which features to build next.

We use Google's Consent Mode, which means the Google Analytics script is loaded on every page, but it does not collect or store any data until you give your consent. Here is how it works:

Before you consent: The Google Analytics script is present on the page, but all data collection is blocked. Google does not set any cookies on your device, and no information about your visit is recorded.
After you click "Accept": Google Analytics is allowed to collect anonymous usage data and may set cookies on your device (such as _ga and _ga_* cookies) to distinguish unique visitors and track sessions.
If you click "Decline": Google Analytics remains blocked. No cookies are set by Google, and no usage data is collected. The banner simply goes away and your choice is remembered in local storage.

The data collected by Google Analytics (when you consent) is anonymous and aggregated. It may include your browser type, operating system, the pages you visited, how long you stayed, and your general geographic region. We cannot identify individual users from this data.

Advertising Cookies

Our website may display advertisements served by third party advertising networks such as Google AdSense, Ezoic, or other similar platforms. These advertising partners use cookies and similar tracking technologies to serve ads that are relevant to your interests, measure ad performance, and limit the number of times you see a particular ad.

Advertising cookies may collect information such as:

Pages you have visited on our site and other websites
Ads you have clicked on or interacted with
Your general browsing behavior and interests
Your geographic location (at a regional level)
Device and browser information

This information is used by advertising networks to build a profile of your interests and show you ads that are more likely to be relevant to you. This is commonly known as "interest based" or "personalized" advertising. We do not have direct control over the specific cookies that advertising networks place on your device, but these cookies are only activated after you give your consent through our cookie banner.

If you decline cookies, advertising networks will not set tracking cookies on your device. You may still see ads on our site, but they will be generic and not tailored to your browsing history or interests.

What Gets Enabled When You Accept

To be fully transparent, when you click "Accept" on our cookie consent banner, the following consent signals are switched from "denied" to "granted":

Analytics Storage: Allows Google Analytics to store cookies for tracking visits and usage patterns.
Ad Storage: Allows advertising networks to store cookies related to ad delivery and performance tracking.
Ad User Data: Allows user data to be shared with advertising partners for ad targeting and measurement.
Ad Personalization: Allows data to be used for showing you personalized advertisements based on your interests.

If you decline, all four of these remain set to "denied" and no data is collected or stored for any of these purposes. You can still use all of our tools without accepting cookies.

Third Party Cookie Providers

The third party services that may set cookies on our website include, but are not limited to:

Google Analytics: Used for website traffic analysis and usage statistics. Learn more at Google's Privacy Policy.
Google AdSense: Used for displaying advertisements. Google may use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our site or other websites. Learn more at Google's Ads Privacy Policy.
Other Ad Networks: We may partner with additional advertising platforms (such as Ezoic or similar services) that use their own cookies for ad delivery, optimization, and reporting. Each network has its own privacy and cookie policies.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these third party services if you want to understand exactly how they handle your data. We do not have control over the cookies set by these external partners, but we choose our partners carefully and only work with reputable networks.

How to Manage Your Preferences

You have full control over your cookie and data preferences. Here are the ways you can manage them:

Cookie Consent Banner: When you first visit our site, a banner appears at the bottom of the page asking you to accept or decline cookies. Your choice is saved and the banner will not appear again unless you reset your preference.
Cookie Preferences Button: You can change your mind at any time by scrolling to the bottom of any page and clicking the "Cookie Preferences" link in the footer. This will clear your saved preference and reload the page, showing the consent banner again so you can make a new choice.
Browser Settings: You can also manage cookies through your browser's privacy settings. Most browsers allow you to view, block, or delete cookies. Keep in mind that clearing cookies through your browser will remove any analytics and advertising cookies but will not affect your local storage preferences. To clear local storage, you would need to use your browser's developer tools or clear all site data.
Google Analytics Opt-Out: Google provides a browser add-on that lets you opt out of Google Analytics tracking on all websites. You can download it from Google's official site if you prefer a blanket opt-out.
Ad Personalization Opt-Out: You can opt out of personalized advertising from Google by visiting Google's Ad Settings page. For broader opt-out options across multiple advertising networks, you can visit the Digital Advertising Alliance's opt-out page at aboutads.info or the Network Advertising Initiative's opt-out page at optout.networkadvertising.org.

Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time as our website evolves, as we add or change advertising partners, or as regulations change. When we make changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We recommend checking back occasionally to stay informed about how we handle cookies and local storage.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or how we use cookies and local storage on our website, feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected]. We are always happy to help clarify anything.