Cookie Policy
Last updated: September 15, 2026
The short version
PackRated.com uses the smallest practical number of cookies. Nothing on this site is personalized, and there is no advertising network embedded in these pages.
What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store. On a later visit the browser hands it back, which is how a site recognizes a returning browser. Related technologies such as local storage work the same way for this purpose, and this policy covers them too.
Cookies used here
Strictly necessary
| Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| packrated_cookie_choice | Records that you answered the cookie notice, so it stops appearing | 6 months |
| PHPSESSID or equivalent | Maintains a server session where the host requires one | Session |
These cannot be switched off without breaking the site, and they do not track you across other websites.
Set by WordPress for signed-in users
If someone signs in to administer the site, WordPress sets authentication and comment cookies. Readers never receive these, because there is no reader login.
Analytics
Where analytics are enabled, they are configured to measure page traffic rather than to identify individuals, and they load only after you accept in the cookie notice. If you decline, analytics are not loaded.
Advertising
If display advertising is running on this site, the advertising provider may set cookies to control how often an advertisement is shown and to measure whether it was seen. Those cookies are the provider’s, governed by the provider’s own policy, and they load only where you have accepted. This site does not sell reader data to advertisers and does not accept payment to change what an article says.
Managing cookies
Use the cookie notice to change your answer at any time. You can also clear or block cookies in your browser settings, and every major browser publishes instructions for doing so. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may mean the cookie notice reappears on every visit, because the record of your choice is itself a cookie.
Do Not Track
Browsers send a Do Not Track signal inconsistently and there is no agreed standard for honoring it. Rather than claim compliance with an ambiguous signal, this site keeps tracking minimal for everyone.
More
See the privacy policy for how personal information is handled generally, or write to [email protected].