Cookie Policy — Health Secrets

This Cookie Policy explains how Health Secrets ("we", "us", "our") uses cookies and similar tracking technologies (including local storage and web beacons) on healthsecrets.com. This policy should be read alongside our comprehensive Privacy Policy.

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently, remember your preferences across sessions, and provide aggregate reporting information to website operators and advertising partners.

2. Categories of Cookies We Use

We classify the cookies on Health Secrets into the following functional categories:

A. Strictly Necessary (Essential) Cookies

These cookies are essential for the operation of our platform. They enable core site functionality, navigation, and security:

hs_cookie_consent: hs_cookie_consent: Stores your cookie consent choices and category preferences;
theme: theme: Preserves your selected dark mode or light mode visual preference;
session: session / CSRF tokens: Protects interactive forms against cross-site request forgery attacks.

B. Analytics & Performance Cookies

We use Google Analytics 4 with Google Consent Mode v2 to measure how readers discover and engage with our health guides. This data is collected in aggregate to guide editorial improvements:

_ga, _ga_*: _ga, _ga_*: Pseudonymous identifiers used to distinguish unique sessions and traffic sources.

C. Advertising & Targeting Cookies (Google AdSense)

Third-party advertising partners, including Google AdSense, place cookies on your browser to serve relevant advertisements, prevent ad repetition, and measure ad engagement:

__gads, __gpi, IDE: __gads, __gpi, IDE: Google advertising cookies used for ad delivery and fraud prevention;
DoubleClick: DoubleClick cookies: Used to serve interest-based advertisements across partner networks.

D. Affiliate Attribution Cookies

When you click outbound links to products featured in our evidence-based guides (such as Amazon Associates links), a cookie is stored by the merchant platform to attribute qualifying purchases. This supports our independent editorial team at no extra cost to you.

3. Managing & Opting Out of Cookies

You have several options to control and manage how cookies are used on your device:

On-Site Consent Controls: You can manage or update your analytics and advertising cookie preferences at any time using our on-site Cookie Consent banner.
Browser Settings: You can configure your browser to block, alert, or delete cookies. Note that disabling essential cookies may impact certain site functionality.
Industry Opt-Out Portals: You can opt out of personalized interest-based advertising via Google Ads Settings, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), or the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA).

4. Contact Us

If you have questions about our cookie practices, please contact our privacy team at [email protected] or visit our Contact Page.