Cookie Policy
What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store. On the next visit, the browser sends it back, which lets the site recognise the same browser and remember something about it. Cookies cannot run programs or read other files on your device. Related techniques, such as local storage, pixels and device fingerprinting, do similar jobs by different means, and this policy treats them all the same way.
Cookies IAQABA sets itself
We set a handful of first-party cookies. One records your consent choices so we do not ask again on every page. One remembers display preferences, such as a chosen theme or a collapsed notice. One or two support the analytics count by distinguishing a returning browser from a new one, without identifying the person behind it. None of these contain your name, your email address or anything you have written to us.
We do not set cookies for logins, because the site has no reader accounts. We do not set cookies to track you across other websites. If you block every first-party cookie, the site still works; you will simply be asked about consent more often and preferences will not stick.
Cookies set by others
Two kinds of third party can set cookies through our pages. The first is the advertising network that fills our banner units. When a unit loads, the network may set or read its own cookies to decide which advertisement to show, to limit how often you see the same one, and to record that it was shown. It may use those cookies to build an interest profile based on your browsing across the many sites it serves.
The second is the host of any embedded content, such as a video player or a social post. Loading the embed is a visit to that host as far as its cookies are concerned. We do not control what either kind of third party stores, and their own policies govern it. We choose partners, we can remove them, and we can restrict formats; we cannot read or edit the cookies they set.
The four categories
Strictly necessary cookies keep the site working and record your consent choices. They cannot be switched off through our controls because the site cannot function without them, but you can block them in your browser. Preference cookies remember settings you have chosen. Analytics cookies help us count visits and understand which pages are read. Advertising cookies are set by the advertising network for the purposes described above.
Where the law where you live requires consent for anything beyond the strictly necessary category, those cookies are not set until you have given it. Where the law allows a different approach, we still show the controls and honour your choices.
How to refuse or remove cookies
The consent notice on the site lets you accept or refuse each non-essential category, and a link in the site footer reopens it so you can change your mind. Every major browser also lets you view, block and delete cookies, either for all sites or for particular ones, and can be set to clear them when you close it. Your browser’s help pages explain where the settings are. Advertising networks and industry bodies also offer opt-out tools that apply across many sites at once.
Refusing advertising cookies does not remove advertisements. It means the units you see are chosen without reference to a profile of you, which usually makes them less relevant and does not reduce their number.
Global privacy signals
If your browser or an extension sends a global privacy control signal, we treat it as a refusal of advertising cookies and as an opt-out from the sharing of personal information for advertising purposes. You do not need to do anything else. If you later change the setting in your browser, the site will follow the new signal on your next visit.
How long they last
Session cookies disappear when you close your browser. Our consent and preference cookies last up to twelve months so that your choices are remembered across visits. Analytics cookies last no longer than that and are refreshed only when you return. Advertising cookies are set by the network and their lifetimes are set by it; they are typically shorter than a year but vary. Deleting cookies in your browser ends all of them immediately.
Why we use cookies at all
A news site could run with no cookies, and some readers would prefer that. We use the few we do because they make the site cheaper to run and easier to read: a remembered consent choice means one prompt instead of one per page, and an honest visit count means we know which sections readers actually use. The advertising cookies exist because advertising pays for the site, and the network that serves it will not run without them. That is the whole justification, and it is why the list above is short.
Changes and questions
We update this page when we add or remove a partner, change a category or change a lifetime. The date at the top shows the current version. Questions go to support@iaqaba.com with PRIVACY in the subject line, and the privacy policy explains the wider picture of what is collected and why.
