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Cookie Policy
This page lists everything CubingHQ stores in your browser — real
cookies and the localStorage entries that do a similar job — what each one
is for, and how long it stays. It is a companion to the
Privacy Policy, which covers everything else.
Do you need to consent?
Portuguese law (Law no. 41/2004, implementing the EU ePrivacy Directive) and the GDPR say that storing anything on your device, or reading anything from it, needs your consent — unless it is strictly necessary to provide the service you asked for.
So the answer is different for the two groups below:
- Strictly necessary — no consent needed, and none is asked for. These are entries the site sets to do the thing you are using it for: remember your theme, keep you signed in, hold your solve times. They are first-party, they never leave your device, and they are not used to track you or to build a profile.
- Analytics and advertising — consent needed, and nothing is set until you give it. These are Google's cookies, and they can follow you across sites. Analytics is live; advertising is not running yet, and is in the banner so it cannot be turned on later without asking.
You are asked once, on your first visit. Rejecting is one click, in the same place and the same size as accepting. If you do nothing, nothing in the second group is set. You can change your answer whenever you like using the button above, or the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page.
Strictly necessary — always on
These are localStorage entries rather than cookies, which means they
are never sent to our server; the page reads them on your own device. They persist
until you clear your browser's site data for CubingHQ.
| Name | What it holds |
|---|---|
sc-consent | Your answer to the cookie banner. Without it you would be asked on every page. |
sc-theme, sc-accent | Dark or light, and your accent colour. |
chq_lang | Your language choice. |
chq_auth_token | Your sign-in session, if you have an account. Deleting it signs you out. |
wca_access_token | Your World Cube Association sign-in token, if you use WCA sign-in. |
chq_wca_link_intent | A short-lived marker set while you link a WCA account, so the site knows you were linking rather than signing in. Cleared as soon as you return. |
cstimer_data_v2 | Your timer sessions, solve times and timer settings. |
sc-history, sc-sim-state, sc-last-activity | Your competition-simulation history, and any round you are part-way through, so a reload does not lose it. |
sc-comp-muted, sc-comp-volume | Whether the ambient competition-room sound is muted, and how loud. |
sor-people | The list of WCA IDs on your Sum of Ranks board. |
battle_uid, sc_guest_id, chq_last_room_created | A random identifier so a Battle room can tell players apart, and which room you last made. Not linked to you unless you are signed in. |
chq_coach_v1, chq_coach_chat_v1, chq_coach_observations_v1, chq_coach_drill_result | Your AI Coach plan, conversation, recorded observations and the result of a drill handed to the timer. |
Analytics — only with your consent
Set by Google Analytics 4 so we can see which pages are used and which are broken. It reports in aggregate; we do not use it to identify anyone.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Tells one browser from another | 2 years | |
_ga_<id> | Keeps session state for this property | 2 years |
Advertising — not running yet, and only with your consent
No advertising is being shown on CubingHQ at the moment, so none of the cookies in this section is currently being set. The site is not part of an advertising programme yet. Google's verification code sits on the page so it can be reviewed, and advertising stays in the cookie banner so nothing has to be switched on behind your back later — if you have already said no, it stays no.
These are the cookies that would be set by Google AdSense once advertising is enabled. They can be read across other sites in Google's network, which is what makes ads "personalised".
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
__gads, __gpi | Ad selection, frequency capping and fraud prevention | Up to 13 months | |
IDE, DSID | Google (doubleclick.net) | Measuring and personalising ads | Up to 13 months |
test_cookie | Google (doubleclick.net) | Checks whether your browser accepts cookies at all | 15 minutes |
NID | Ad preferences | 6 months |
Google may change this list; the current version is always at business.safety.google/adscookies. Turning advertising off does not remove ads — it means the ones you see are chosen without your browsing history.
Not cookies, but worth naming
- Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights measure page views and load performance without cookies and without tracking you between sites, so they are not in the consent groups above.
- Google Fonts, jsDelivr, cdn.cubing.net and flagcdn.com serve fonts, scripts and flag images. They set no cookies here, but like any web request they see your IP address.
Turning cookies off in your browser
Every browser lets you block or delete cookies — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge. Blocking everything will also clear the strictly necessary entries above, which means losing your solve history and being signed out. Export anything you care about first.
Questions
martimcubing@gmail.com, or the contact page.