Policy

Cookies

Three kinds, two of them optional, and one page that actually turns them off.

Last updated: 2 September 2026
Applies to: huegrade.com and every tool on it

A cookie is a small file a site asks your browser to keep and hand back on the next request. This page lists every one HueGrade is responsible for and gives you the switches for the two that are optional. The same controls cover the equivalent browser storage we use, which is not technically a cookie but is close enough that separating them would only make this page harder to trust.

Your preferences

You have not changed anything yet, so the defaults below are in force. Changes take effect immediately — there is nothing to submit.

Essential
One session cookie, set only after you sign in, so the site knows it is still you on the next page. It is a random identifier — it carries no personal data and is not used to track you anywhere else. It cannot be switched off here because switching it off is the same thing as signing out.
Always on
Analytics
Google Analytics, so we can see which tools get used and which pages people leave. Aggregate counts — pages viewed, exports run, nothing about the colors you pick. Turning this off stops collection on your next page view and expires the analytics cookie already in this browser.
OnAllow analytics cookies
Advertising
Google AdSense pays for the free tier. Turning this off stops the AdSense script from loading at all, not just the ad slots — so no advertising identifiers are set. Pro accounts see no ads either way.
OnAllow advertising cookies

This preference is stored in this browser only — it is not tied to an account, so clearing your site data resets it, and another browser or device keeps its own answer.

What we set

Essential — a signed-in session

When you sign in we set one httpOnly cookie holding a random session id. The server looks that id up to know which account you are; the cookie itself contains no name, email or anything else about you. httpOnly means page scripts cannot read it, which is what keeps a cross-site scripting bug from turning into a stolen session. It expires when the session does, and signing out deletes it immediately.

There is no equivalent for signed-out visitors. Every color tool on this site — the generator, the contrast checker, the photo picker, the inspector — runs with no cookie at all.

Analytics — Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics sets _ga and related cookies to tell one browser from another across visits, so a returning reader is not counted as a new one. We use it to see which tools people use and where they give up. We do not send it your palettes, your images, or anything you type.

Turning the analytics switch off unmounts the tag so nothing further is collected, and expires the _ga cookies this origin can reach. Cookies set on Google’s own domains are outside our reach by design — clear those through your browser’s site-data controls.

Advertising — Google AdSense

Ads pay for the free tier. AdSense sets its own identifiers to limit how often you see the same ad and to measure clicks. Turning the advertising switch off prevents the AdSense script from loading in the first place, rather than merely hiding the slot after the fact.

Pro accounts see no ads regardless of this setting.

Not a cookie, but worth listing

Saved palettes and preferences are kept in your browser’s localStorage so a palette survives a reload. It never leaves your device unless you save it to an account.
This cookie preference itself is stored the same way. That is the trade-off of not asking you to sign in to set it: clearing your site data resets it to the defaults, and each browser you use keeps its own answer.

Why there is no consent banner

Analytics and advertising run until you turn them off here, rather than being blocked behind a dialog on your first visit. We would rather say that plainly on a page you can act on than put a modal between you and a free tool. If you would prefer the stricter posture, the switches above are the whole of it — there is no second layer of “legitimate interest” toggles behind them.

Your browser’s own controls sit above ours: blocking third-party cookies, or an extension that blocks the scripts outright, will stop analytics and ads whatever this page says, and nothing on the site breaks when they do.