Cookie Policy

This page lists the cookies used on blog.musicheadsafrica.com, says who sets them, and explains how to turn them off. The Privacy Policy covers the wider question of what data is collected and your rights over it.

What a cookie is

A cookie is a small text file that a website, or a third party loaded by that website, stores in your browser. On your next request the browser sends it back, which is how a site can tell a returning visit from a new one.

Cookies cannot read files on your computer and cannot run programmes. What they can do is carry an identifier, and an identifier seen on enough sites builds a picture of what you read. That is the mechanism behind personalised advertising, and why the third category below matters more than the other two.

Local storage, session storage and pixel tags work the same way. Where this page says "cookie", treat it as covering those too.

The categories used here

Essential cookies

Set by this site, its hosting platform and its security layer.

They do the unglamorous work: keeping a request attached to the right session, remembering that you dismissed a notice, rate-limiting a scraper, and telling a human from a bot during an attack. They carry no advertising identifier and do not follow you to other sites. They cannot be switched off from within the site, but you can block them in your browser — see below for what breaks.

Analytics cookies

Set by the analytics provider used to measure how the site is read.

They tell a new visitor from a returning one, record which pages were viewed and for how long, and note the referring site or search. The reporting is aggregate: it answers "which guides do people finish?", not "what did this person read?". It is how it gets decided which guides are worth expanding. Blocking them costs you nothing.

Advertising cookies

Set by third-party advertising vendors, including Google, not by this site.

This is how the site is funded. These cookies carry an identifier that lets a vendor recognise your browser across every site in its network, and select advertisements based on your prior visits here and elsewhere. Google's advertising cookies, including the DART cookie, are used by Google and its partners for exactly that.

Stateside Money does not set them, cannot read them, and cannot delete them for you. The vendor controls them. You can use the opt-out links in the Privacy Policy, or block third-party cookies in your browser — the more complete option, because it does not depend on a vendor honouring anything.

How to control cookies in your browser

Every major browser lets you block third-party cookies, block all cookies, or delete what is stored. Menus move between versions, so these are the settings to look for rather than exact click paths.

Chrome. Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies. Choose to block third-party cookies. "Clear browsing data" deletes cookies already set.

Safari. Settings → Privacy. "Prevent cross-site tracking" is on by default and blocks third-party advertising cookies. "Manage Website Data" removes stored cookies. On iOS, Settings → Apps → Safari.

Firefox. Settings → Privacy & Security. Enhanced Tracking Protection set to Strict blocks third-party tracking cookies. "Cookies and Site Data" clears what exists.

Edge. Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies and site data. Block third-party cookies there; Tracking prevention set to Strict goes further.

Private or incognito windows discard cookies when you close the window — a per-session fix, not a setting. A Global Privacy Control signal is honoured where received.

What breaks if you block them

Stated plainly, because most cookie notices are vague about it.

Block third-party cookies. Nothing breaks. Every guide, table and link works as before. Advertisements still appear, but generic ones rather than any selected from your browsing history. This is the setting to choose if you want one.

Block analytics cookies. Nothing breaks. Your visit stops being counted in the reporting.

Block all cookies, including essential ones. The site still renders — the guides are static pages and need no cookie to be read. What you may lose is smooth passage through the security layer: a browser carrying no cookie at all is occasionally treated as suspicious traffic and shown a verification step. Dismissed notices also reappear, because nothing records that you dismissed them.

Delete cookies after a visit. No effect on anything here. Nothing on this site relies on a cookie persisting between visits.

Changes

New vendors or categories are added here when introduced, and the date at the top is updated. Questions go to privacy@blog.musicheadsafrica.com.