Legal
Cookies
Four cookies, all functional, none of them following you anywhere.
Last revised January 2026.
The site sets a small number of cookies, all of them necessary for it to work:
| Cookie | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| session | Keeps you logged in between page loads. | Until you log out |
| _read | Tracks which topics are new to you, and the reading counts trust levels are computed from. | Rolling |
| theme | Remembers whether you chose light or dark. | Long-lived |
| prefs | Display choices — list density and default sort. | Long-lived |
Why there is no banner
Because there is nothing to consent to. All four are strictly necessary, we set no advertising or analytics cookies, and we allow no third party to set any. A consent dialogue would be theatre.
Blocking them
Blocking cookies entirely leaves the whole site readable. You simply cannot stay logged in, new-topic markers stop working, and the theme resets each visit. Reading has never required an account.
The Commons is run by volunteers and sells nothing.
If something here needs correcting, post in the
meta category — it is read, and it is the fastest route.