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Cookie Policy

Last updated: April 11, 2026

The short version. We use exactly 4 cookies. Three are strictly necessary for the site to function (theme, consent, session). The fourth is an ad cookie that fires only if you explicitly consent. No tracking cookies. No analytics cookies. No fingerprinting. If you decline all optional cookies, every tool still works.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device to remember information between visits. They have a legitimate role (remembering your theme preference, keeping you logged in) and an illegitimate one (tracking you across sites for ad targeting). Our goal is to use only the legitimate kind, and to be transparent about each one.

The complete list of cookies we use

1. fmt_theme — theme preference

  • Type: strictly necessary
  • Duration: 1 year
  • Data stored: one of light, dark, or auto
  • Purpose: remembers your choice of color theme so the site loads in the correct mode on next visit, with no "flash of wrong theme" during page load
  • Third party: no — first-party cookie set by us
  • PII: no

2. fmt_consent — cookie consent choice

  • Type: strictly necessary (required by GDPR to remember your consent choice)
  • Duration: 1 year
  • Data stored: your consent choice — accept, essential, or customize with per-category settings
  • Purpose: remembers whether you accepted optional cookies (ads) so we don't ask again on every page load
  • Third party: no
  • PII: no

3. fmt_session — session cookie for registered users

  • Type: strictly necessary (for registered users)
  • Duration: 30 days rolling (extended on each visit)
  • Data stored: an opaque session identifier (ULID). No personal data.
  • Purpose: keeps you logged in between visits
  • Third party: no
  • PII: no (opaque ID, not an email)
  • Set only if: you have created an account and logged in
  • Flags: httpOnly (JavaScript cannot read it), Secure (HTTPS only), SameSite=Lax (CSRF protection)

4. Ad cookie — Google AdSense (optional)

  • Type: advertising (consent-gated)
  • Duration: as set by Google (typically 13 months)
  • Data stored: managed by Google
  • Purpose: serving display ads, measuring ad performance, frequency capping
  • Third party: yes — Google
  • PII: potentially, per Google's policy
  • Set only if: you explicitly click "Accept all" on the cookie banner AND you're not in a jurisdiction with stricter defaults (EEA/UK/CH default to non-personalized ads)
  • Opt out: use the "Only essential" button on the cookie banner

What we don't use

To be explicit, freemarkdowntools.com does not use:

  • Google Analytics (we use cookieless Cloudflare Web Analytics instead)
  • Facebook Pixel, Meta Pixel, or any Meta/Facebook tracking
  • TikTok Pixel
  • LinkedIn Insight Tag
  • Reddit Pixel
  • Twitter/X conversion tracking
  • Hotjar, FullStory, LogRocket, or any session-replay tool
  • Intercom, Drift, or any chatbot that deploys a persistent cookie
  • Any fingerprinting library (FingerprintJS, etc.)
  • Any cross-domain tracking or retargeting

Managing your cookie preferences

On your first visit, a cookie banner appears at the bottom of the page with three options:

  1. Accept all — enables the ad cookie (if your jurisdiction allows).
  2. Only essential — declines the ad cookie; only the 3 strictly-necessary cookies are used.
  3. Customize — per-category choice.

You can change your choice at any time by clicking the "Cookie preferences" link in the footer. Most browsers also let you inspect and delete specific cookies from their privacy settings.

Browser-level controls

You can block or delete cookies via your browser settings. Note that blocking fmt_session will log you out of your account, and blocking fmt_theme will reset your theme to "Auto" on every visit. Blocking fmt_consent will make the cookie banner reappear every time you load the page.

Do Not Track

We respect the browser Do Not Track (DNT) signal where it's still supported. DNT has been deprecated by most browsers, but if your browser sends it, we treat it the same as "Only essential" on the cookie banner.

Global Privacy Control (GPC)

We honor the Global Privacy Control signal. If your browser sends GPC, we treat it as an opt-out of ad personalization and a "Do Not Sell or Share" signal (which, as noted in our Privacy Policy, is redundant — we don't sell data anyway).

Changes to this policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time as we add or remove tools. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top. For material changes, we'll surface a notice on the site.

Questions?

Email privacy@freemarkdowntools.com or use our contact form.