Cookie Policy
Last updated: August 1, 2026
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device when you visit them. They're widely used to make websites work efficiently, remember your preferences, and provide information to the website owners about how their content is being used. Cookies may be "persistent" (staying on your device for a set period or until you delete them) or "session" cookies (deleted when you close your browser).
2. How We Use Cookies
Puzzles-Sudoku uses cookies for three purposes: essential functionality, analytics, and advertising. We do not use cookies to track you across unrelated websites for profiling or surveillance purposes.
3. Types of Cookies We Use
3.1 Essential Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the Service to function. They enable core features like saving your game progress to localStorage, remembering your preferred difficulty level, and maintaining your session state while you play. The Service cannot function properly without these cookies.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
sudoku_state | Stores current game state (localStorage) | Persistent |
sudoku_prefs | Stores user preferences (difficulty, notes mode) | Persistent |
sudoku_stats | Stores game completion statistics | Persistent |
3.2 Analytics Cookies
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our content. Google Analytics sets cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat) that collect anonymous information about page visits, session duration, and how you reached our site. This data is aggregated and cannot be used to identify you individually.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
_ga | Distinguishes unique users (Google Analytics) | 2 years |
_gid | Distinguishes sessions (Google Analytics) | 24 hours |
_gat | Throttles request rate (Google Analytics) | 1 minute |
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
3.3 Advertising Cookies
When we serve advertisements through Google AdSense, Google and its advertising partners may set cookies to measure ad performance, limit how many times you see an ad, and (where applicable) serve personalized ads based on your browsing activity.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
_gads | Measures interactions with ads (Google AdSense) | 13 months |
DSID / IDE | DoubleClick ad serving cookies | Varies |
__gpi | Google Publisher Insights | 13 months |
You can manage your ad personalization preferences at Google Ad Settings or through YourAdChoices.
4. Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies on our Service are set by third parties whose services we integrate. We do not control these third-party cookies. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the third-party provider:
- Google reCAPTCHA (if used on contact forms) — Google Privacy Policy
- Google Fonts (font loading) — No cookies, but may log IP address
5. Managing and Disabling Cookies
You have the right to accept or reject cookies. Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings preferences. You can:
- Delete all cookies already stored on your device
- Block all cookies by default
- Block third-party cookies specifically
- Set cookies to clear when you close your browser
- Install browser extensions that block tracking scripts
Here are links to cookie management instructions for major browsers:
Please note that disabling essential cookies will affect the functionality of our Service. Specifically, turning off localStorage will prevent your game progress from being saved between sessions.
6. Local Storage
In addition to cookies, our Service uses your browser's localStorage API to save game state, preferences, and statistics. localStorage is similar to a cookie but holds more data and is never transmitted to our servers automatically — the data stays entirely on your device. You can clear localStorage through your browser's developer tools or settings panel, typically by choosing to clear "site data" or "local storage" for our domain.
7. Do Not Track
Some browsers include a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature that signals to websites that you prefer not to be tracked. There is no industry consensus on how to respond to DNT signals, and our Service does not currently respond to them. We do, however, honor opt-out mechanisms provided by Google Analytics and Google AdSense as described in sections 3.2 and 3.3.
8. Changes to This Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the cookies we use, or for operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Please revisit this page regularly to stay informed.
9. Contact
If you have questions about our use of cookies, please contact us through our Contact page.