This policy explains the cookies and similar storage technologies used on ToolsMaestro.com, what each kind is for, and how to control them. It sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which covers personal information more broadly.
Last reviewed: August 2026.
What a Cookie Is
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store. On your next request, the browser sends it back, which is how a site recognizes a returning visit or remembers a preference. Related technologies do much the same job by other means: local storage and session storage keep data in the browser, pixels and tracking scripts report that a page was loaded, and device fingerprinting infers a browser from its configuration. Where this policy says cookies, it means that whole family.
A first-party cookie is set by the site you are reading. A third-party cookie is set by another company whose code appears on the page. A session cookie is discarded when you close the browser. A persistent cookie stays until it expires or you delete it.
Categories We Use
Strictly necessary
These keep the site functioning and cannot be switched off from within the site. They cover load balancing, basic security, protection against forged requests, and remembering your cookie choices so we do not ask again on every page. If you block them the site may not work correctly.
Preferences
These remember choices you make, such as a display setting or a dismissed notice. They are a convenience, and blocking them means the site forgets your choice between visits.
Analytics
These help us count page views and understand which categories and articles are read, which search terms bring people here, and where readers give up. The reporting is aggregate. We do not use analytics to build advertising profiles of individual readers.
Affiliate attribution
When you follow a link to a retailer, the retailer sets a cookie on its own domain so that any purchase can be attributed to this site. That cookie belongs to the retailer, not to us, and is governed by the retailer’s policy. On Amazon the attribution window is normally 24 hours from your click, extended if you add an item to your cart during that visit. The result is that we may earn an advertising fee. It costs you nothing, and it is explained in our Affiliate Disclosure.
Advertising
Where display advertising is served on this site, advertising partners may set cookies to control how often an advertisement is shown and to measure whether it was seen. Those cookies are set by the advertising provider under its own policy.
Embedded content
Pages sometimes embed material hosted elsewhere, such as a manufacturer video or a specification document. Embedded content behaves as though you had visited that other site directly and can set its own cookies. We do not control what those providers store.
Cookies Set by WordPress
This site runs on WordPress. If you leave a comment where comments are open, WordPress may store your name, email address, and website in cookies so you do not have to retype them. Those are first-party cookies, they expire on their own, and you can clear them at any time. If you log in to an account on this site, WordPress sets session and authentication cookies that are necessary for logging in.
How to Control Cookies
You are in charge of your browser. Every current browser can block cookies, block third-party cookies only, delete existing cookies, or clear them automatically when you close it.
- Chrome: Settings, then Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies and Delete browsing data.
- Firefox: Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Cookies and Site Data and Enhanced Tracking Protection.
- Safari on macOS: Settings, then Privacy, then Manage Website Data and Prevent cross-site tracking.
- Safari on iOS: Settings app, then Safari, then Block All Cookies and Clear History and Website Data.
- Edge: Settings, then Cookies and site permissions, then Manage and delete cookies and site data.
Private or incognito windows discard cookies when the window closes. Browser extensions and content blockers can go further and block tracking scripts outright. Blocking affiliate cookies does not cost you anything and does not change any price you are shown, though it does mean a purchase you make will not be attributed to this site.
Opting Out of Analytics and Advertising
Beyond browser controls, industry opt-out tools are available through the Digital Advertising Alliance at optout.aboutads.info, the Network Advertising Initiative at optout.networkadvertising.org, and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance at youronlinechoices.eu. These tools set their own opt-out cookies, so clearing your cookies removes the opt-out and you will need to set it again.
We also honor the Global Privacy Control signal where your browser sends one. Because browser Do Not Track headers were never defined consistently across the industry, we do not act on them separately.
If You Refuse Cookies
The reading experience is essentially the same. Articles, rankings, specification tables, and category pages all work without preference, analytics, advertising, or affiliate cookies. What changes is that the site forgets your settings between visits, our traffic reporting is less complete, and purchases you make after clicking through are not attributed here.
Changes to This Policy
The services we rely on change from time to time, and this policy changes with them. The current version is always the one posted here, and the review date at the top will tell you when it last changed.
Contact
Questions about cookies on this site go to [email protected].