1. What Are Cookies
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences, keep you logged in, and understand how you use the site.
SettlementRadar uses cookies and similar technologies (local storage, session storage) to provide our service, improve your experience, and understand how visitors use our platform.
2. Types of Cookies We Use
We use the following categories of cookies:
| Category | Purpose | Can You Opt Out? |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Keeps you logged in, CSRF protection, session management | No — required for the site to work |
| Analytics | Google Analytics — anonymous usage statistics | Yes — see Your Choices below |
| Marketing | Meta Pixel — measures ad effectiveness | Yes — see Your Choices below |
| Advertising | Google AdSense / DART — serves and personalizes display ads | Yes — Google Ad Settings / NAI opt-out |
| Preferences | Remembers your settings (theme, notification preferences) | Yes — clearing cookies resets preferences |
3. Essential Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary for the website to function. Without them, you cannot use core features like logging in or saving settlements.
- Session cookie — keeps you logged in during your visit
- CSRF token — protects against cross-site request forgery attacks
- Preference cookies — stores theme and UI preferences in localStorage
These cannot be disabled without breaking the site.
4. Analytics Cookies
We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors interact with SettlementRadar. This helps us improve search, navigation, and settlement discovery.
GA4 collects anonymized data including:
- Pages visited and time spent
- Browser type and device category (no personal identifiers)
- Geographic region (country/state level, not city)
- How you arrived at SettlementRadar (search, direct, referral)
Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy
5. Marketing Cookies
We use the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram. This helps us understand which ads lead people to discover settlements they can claim.
The Meta Pixel tracks:
- Whether you arrived from a Meta ad
- Key actions (account creation, settlement views)
Meta's privacy policy: facebook.com/privacy/policy
6. Advertising Cookies (Google AdSense)
SettlementRadar displays ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its advertising partners use cookies — including the DART cookie — to serve ads to you based on your visits to this and other websites.
- DART cookie — set by Google (domain:
doubleclick.net) to serve contextually relevant ads. Used for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, and fraud detection. - Ad personalization cookies — Google uses your browsing history to show ads relevant to your interests. These are third-party cookies governed by Google's advertising policies.
- Conversion tracking cookies — help advertisers understand what happens after a user clicks an ad.
Opt out of personalized Google ads: Visit Google Ad Settings or install the Google Ads opt-out browser extension. You can also opt out via the Digital Advertising Alliance or the Network Advertising Initiative.
Opting out means you'll still see ads, but they won't be personalized to your browsing history.
7. Third-Party Cookies
Certain features on SettlementRadar load third-party scripts that may set their own cookies:
- Stripe — payment processing for Pro subscriptions
- Google Identity Services — Google Sign-In functionality
- Cloudflare — security and performance (bot protection)
We do not control these third-party cookies. Please review the privacy policies of each provider for details.
8. Your Choices
You have several options for controlling cookies:
- Browser settings — All major browsers allow you to view, delete, and block cookies. See your browser's help documentation for instructions.
- Google Analytics opt-out — Install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
- Google Ad Settings — Opt out of personalized Google ads at google.com/settings/ads
- Meta ad preferences — Manage at facebook.com/adpreferences
- Digital Advertising Alliance — Opt out of interest-based advertising at aboutads.info/choices
- Network Advertising Initiative — Opt out at optout.networkadvertising.org
- Clear all cookies — Clearing your browser cookies removes all stored preferences and logs you out
Note: blocking essential cookies will prevent you from using core features like logging in. Opting out of advertising cookies means you'll still see ads — they just won't be personalized.
9. Contact Us
Questions about our use of cookies? Contact us at:
- Email: privacy@settlementradar.com
- Contact form: /contact
For broader privacy questions, see our Privacy Policy.
