Cookie Policy

Effective date: January 13, 2026
Website: makingphysicsclear.com (“Website”)
This Cookie Policy explains how makingphysicsclear.com (“Site”, “we”, “us”) uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit our WordPress website.

This policy is designed to support common requirements in the United States, Canada, the European Economic Area/UK, Australia, Israel, New Zealand, and many Asian jurisdictions. Requirements vary by country and (in some places) by state/province; where local law requires it, we show a cookie banner and ask for your consent before placing non-essential cookies.

This Cookie Policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which explains how we process personal information more broadly.

1) What are cookies and similar technologies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device (computer, phone, tablet) when you visit a website. Similar technologies include pixels, tags, SDKs, local storage, and device identifiers. For simplicity, we refer to all of these as “cookies”.

Cookies may be:

First-party cookies (set by our Site), or
Third-party cookies (set by services we use, such as analytics, advertising, social sharing, and payment providers)

For simplicity, we refer to all of these as “cookies”.

2) Why we use cookies

We use cookies for the following purposes:

Strictly necessary: to make the Site work properly (security, basic functionality).
Preferences: to remember choices you make (e.g., comment details).
Analytics: to understand how visitors use the Site (Google Analytics).
Advertising: to display ads and measure ad performance (Google AdSense).
Social sharing / third-party features: to let you share posts (Sassy Social Share) and to connect to third-party platforms.
Payments/Donations: to redirect you to PayPal to donate; PayPal may set cookies on their site.

3) Types of cookies we use

A. Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are required for the Website to function and cannot be switched off in some systems. They are usually set in response to actions you take, such as security settings.

Examples on this Website may include:

Security and fraud-prevention cookies
Load balancing and basic functionality cookies
Cookies used to remember your cookie preferences (if we use a cookie banner/tool)

Legal basis (where applicable): Necessary for providing the Website / legitimate interests.

B. Functional Cookies (Preferences)

These cookies help the Website remember choices you make and improve your experience.

Examples may include:

Remembering preferences such as language (if implemented)
Comment-related preferences (e.g., remembering commenter details if you choose “remember me” in WordPress)

Legal basis (where applicable): Consent (in some regions) or legitimate interests.

C. Analytics / Measurement Cookies (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with the Website (e.g., pages visited, time spent, approximate location, device/browser). This helps us improve content and site performance.

Google Analytics may set cookies and collect information such as:

IP address (often used to infer approximate location)
Device identifiers and browser details
Site usage data (pages visited, links clicked)

Depending on configuration, we may use features like IP anonymization (where supported) and limit data sharing options. Google may process data as a service provider/processor or as an independent controller depending on your location and Google’s terms.

Legal basis (where applicable):

EEA/UK and similar regimes: Typically, consent is required before analytics cookies are set.
Other regions: Legitimate interests and/or consent depending on local law.

D. Social Sharing Cookies (Sassy Social Share)

We use Sassy Social Share to enable sharing posts on social platforms. Depending on how the plugin is configured and which networks are used, clicking or loading sharing buttons may cause third-party services (e.g., Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, WhatsApp, etc.) to receive information and potentially set cookies.

We do not control third-party cookies set by social networks. Their use of cookies is governed by their own privacy/cookie policies.

E. Payment / Donation Redirection (PayPal)

We provide a button/link that redirects you to PayPal to make donations. PayPal may set cookies on its own websites and may collect data according to PayPal’s privacy practices.

We do not set PayPal’s cookies ourselves when you are on our Website, but interacting with PayPal services can result in PayPal cookies being placed and information being processed by PayPal.

Legal basis (where applicable): Necessary to perform the action you request (donation) and PayPal’s own legal bases for its processing.

F. Google AdSense (advertising cookies)

We use Google AdSense to display ads. AdSense and its partners may use cookies to:

Serve ads
Limit the number of times you see an ad
Measure ad effectiveness
Detect fraud and abuse,
(Where permitted and configured) personalize ads based on your interests.

4) Cookies related to comments and search

Comments (WordPress)

If comments are enabled, WordPress may set cookies to:

Remember your name/email/website if you choose to save them for future comments
Maintain certain session/security functions

Search input

The Website includes a search feature. Typically, searching does not require cookies, but some themes/plugins may store preferences or track search usage via analytics.

Some cookies are placed by third parties (for example, Google or social networks). We do not control these cookies and cannot always access or delete them from our systems. You can manage them through your browser settings and, where available, consent tools.

The Website may also contain links to third-party sites (e.g., PayPal). We are not responsible for the cookie practices of third-party websites.

5) Legal bases and consent (important for Europe/UK and similar regimes)

Strictly necessary cookies are used based on our legitimate interest in operating a secure, functional website and do not require consent in many jurisdictions.
Analytics, advertising, and social sharing cookies may be used only with your consent where required by law (e.g., EEA/UK and some other jurisdictions).
Where required, our cookie banner lets you accept, reject, or customize non-essential cookies and change your choice later.

6) How you can control cookies

A) Cookie banner settings

Our Site provides a cookie preference tool/banner, which you can use to:

Accept all cookies,
Reject non-essential cookies,
Select categories (statisitcs, advertising, etc.).

B. Browser controls

Most browsers let you:

View cookies stored on your device
Delete cookies
Block cookies entirely or block third-party cookies
Set rules per website

Instructions vary by browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox). Note: Blocking some cookies may affect Website functionality.

C. Google controls

Google ad settings: You can manage ad personalization in your Google account settings and via Google’s ad controls.
Analytics opt-out: Google provides tools/add-ons to limit Google Analytics tracking in some browsers.

(We do not provide direct links here; you can find these controls by searching for “Google Ad Settings” and “Google Analytics Opt-out”.)

7) International visitors

We operate the Site globally and may show different consent experiences depending on your location. Regardless of region, you can manage cookies using the methods described above.

8) How long cookies stay on your device