Legal
Cookies Policy
Effective Date: May 24, 2026
Last Updated: May 24, 2026
1. Overview
This Cookies Policy explains what cookies are, which cookies risertools.com sets, who sets them, and how you can control them.
Short version: risertools sets minimal cookies. Your authenticated session requires one cookie. Advertisements set by Google AdSense set advertising cookies. Our site analytics tool (Cloudflare Web Analytics) is cookieless — it collects no cookies whatsoever. That’s it.
2. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website or a third-party service embedded in that website. They are stored in your browser and sent back to the originating domain on subsequent requests. Cookies serve different purposes: some are strictly necessary to make a site function, others remember your preferences, and others are used to track your behavior across sites for advertising purposes.
3. Cookies We Set (and Who Sets Them)
Category 1: Essential Cookies — Set by Clerk (Authentication)
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide the authenticated account features of risertools. Without them, you cannot stay signed in.
| Cookie Name | Set By | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
__session | Clerk (first-party via risertools.com) | Stores your authenticated session token (a JWT) in an HttpOnly cookie so you remain signed in across page loads. | Session / sliding expiry per Clerk’s session configuration (default ~7 days) |
__client_uat | Clerk (first-party via risertools.com) | Coordinates session synchronization across browser tabs and applications on the same domain. | Session |
| Short-lived OAuth state / nonce cookies | Clerk | Used during the OAuth sign-in handshake to prevent cross-site request forgery. Cleared when the sign-in flow completes. | Seconds to minutes |
These cookies are set with HttpOnly (where applicable), SameSite=Lax, and the Secure flag. Authoritative cookie list per Clerk’s documentation: https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/cookies.
These cookies are set only when you actively sign in or have an active session. If you use risertools without signing in, no Clerk cookies are set.
Legal basis: Strictly necessary — these cookies cannot be disabled without breaking the authenticated service. No consent banner opt-in is required for strictly necessary cookies under most frameworks.
Category 2: Advertising Cookies — Set by Google AdSense
risertools displays advertisements served by Google AdSense. When an AdSense ad loads on a page, Google sets advertising cookies on your device. These cookies are used to serve relevant ads, measure ad performance, and limit how often you see the same ad.
risertools does not control these cookies. They are set by Google’s advertising infrastructure, which operates under Google’s Privacy Policy and Google’s Cookie Policy.
The following are typical AdSense-related cookies. The actual cookies set may vary based on Google’s current configuration:
| Cookie Name | Set By | Domain | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__gads | Google Ad Manager | First-party (risertools.com) | Registers a unique browser ID for serving and frequency-capping ads on the publisher’s site. | 13 months |
__gpi | Google Ad Manager | First-party (risertools.com) | Used alongside __gads for ad personalization and frequency capping. | 13 months |
IDE | Google (doubleclick.net) | Third-party | Registers and reports ad interactions; ad effectiveness measurement. | 13 months |
DSID | Third-party (Google domains) | Identifies a signed-in Google user for ad targeting across Google’s network. | ~2 weeks | |
AID | Third-party | Links activity across devices for signed-in Google users. | 13 months | |
NID, SNID, ANID, ID | Third-party | General Google ad serving and user preferences — set when Google ads are served. May vary by user state. | Varies (typically 6 months to 2 years) |
The cookies above reflect Google’s published documentation as of the drafting date. Note: __gads and __gpi are set as first-party cookies on the risertools.com domain (a 2024 Google change); other Google ad cookies remain third-party. Google periodically updates the cookie list and naming convention. For the authoritative current list, see How Google uses cookies and How AdSense uses cookies.
Legal basis:
- EU / UK / EEA users: Explicit affirmative consent via a cookie consent banner is required and implemented. AdSense cookies are not set on a user’s device until consent is given. risertools uses geographic detection at the network edge to determine when consent is required, consistent with GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive (and Google AdSense Consent Mode v2 for EU traffic).
- US users: Transparency disclosure is provided in this Cookies Policy. No prior consent banner is presented. Users may opt out of interest-based ads via Google’s Ad Settings or via the Network Advertising Initiative and Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out tools described in §5.
Category 3: Analytics — No Cookies Set
risertools uses Cloudflare Web Analytics for site traffic analysis. Cloudflare Web Analytics is cookieless by design. It does not set any cookies on your device, does not use fingerprinting, and does not track you across other websites. It collects only aggregate, non-personal pageview metadata (page URL, approximate geographic region, browser family, referrer).
Because no cookies are involved, no consent or opt-out mechanism is required for this analytics tool.
4. What We Do Not Do
- We do not set marketing or retargeting cookies on risertools’s own behalf.
- We do not use social media tracking pixels (Facebook, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, TikTok, etc.).
- We do not use session recording, heatmapping, or replay tools (e.g., Hotjar, FullStory).
- We do not set analytics cookies (our analytics tool is cookieless).
5. How to Control Cookies
Option 1: Google Ad Settings (AdSense Opt-Out)
You can opt out of interest-based advertising from Google by visiting Google’s Ad Settings. This affects Google’s advertising cookies across all sites, not just risertools.
You can also opt out via the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out tool at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/ or the Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out at https://optout.aboutads.info/.
Note: opting out of interest-based advertising does not stop ads from appearing on risertools; it means the ads shown will be less personalized.
Option 2: Browser-Level Cookie Controls
All modern browsers allow you to view, block, or delete cookies. The links below go to the cookie settings for the most common browsers:
If you block all cookies, the authenticated features of risertools (saving calculator results, account preferences) will not function. Unauthenticated calculator use is not affected.
Option 3: Private / Incognito Browsing
Browsing risertools in a private or incognito window means cookies set during that session are not persisted after you close the window.
6. Cookie Consent Banner
risertools’ cookie consent posture depends on user location:
- EU / UK / EEA users: A cookie consent banner is presented before any Google AdSense advertising cookies are loaded. AdSense cookies are not set on the user’s device until affirmative consent is given. This is implemented via geographic detection at the network edge, consistent with GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive, and Google AdSense Consent Mode v2.
- US users: No cookie consent banner is presented. The Clerk authentication cookies (
__session,__client_uat) are strictly necessary for the authenticated service and are exempt from the consent requirement under all major frameworks. AdSense cookies are disclosed in this policy; users may opt out via the mechanisms described in §5.
risertools targets a primarily US-based audience. The consent banner posture will be reviewed at the 6-month launch mark, and the implementation expanded if EU/UK/EEA traffic exceeds approximately 5% of total visitors.
7. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Cookies Policy when our cookie use changes or when laws require updates. We will update the “Last Updated” date when we do. Continued use of risertools after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
8. Contact
For questions about this Cookies Policy:
Email: [email protected]