Our privacy policy explains our principles for collecting, processing, and storing your data. This policy outlines how we, our partners, and users of our services use cookies and what options you have to control them.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small data stored in text files that are saved on your computer or other device when websites are loaded in a browser. They provide a consistent and efficient experience for visitors and perform basic functions like allowing you to register and stay logged in. Cookies can be set by the website you are visiting (called “first-party cookies”) or by third parties, such as those providing content, advertising, or analytics services on the website (“third-party cookies”).
Websites and HTML emails may also contain other tracking technologies, such as “web beacons” or “pixels.” These are typically small transparent images that provide us with statistical information and serve similar purposes to cookies. If you disable cookies, web beacons may still load, but their functionality will be limited.
How we use cookies
We use cookies for various reasons. Some cookies are necessary for technical reasons, others allow for a personalized experience for visitors and registered users, and others enable the display of advertisements from selected third-party networks. Some of these cookies are installed when a page loads or when a visitor performs a specific action (e.g., clicking the “Like” or “Follow” button on a post).
Many of the cookies we use are only set if you are a registered user of WordPress.com (so you don’t have to log in each time, for example), while others are set every time you visit one of our pages, whether or not you have an account.
If you want to learn more about the options you have regarding the cookies we use, please read the section on controlling cookies below.
Where we place cookies
We place cookies in various locations across our Services. These include:
On our websites Admin panels On websites we host for our users On websites using our plugins (e.g., Jetpack) In the emails we send out
Types of cookies
Below you’ll find the different types we have on our portal and why we have them:
Cookie Types Why we use these cookies Necessary These cookies are necessary for the basic functionality of our websites and services and are essential for certain features to work. Among them are cookies necessary for registered users to authenticate and perform account-related functions, to store custom settings like account name, language, and location, and to ensure the proper functioning of our services. Analysis and performance These cookies allow us to optimize performance by collecting information about how users interact with our websites, including the most visited pages and other analytics. We use this information to improve the operation of our websites and to understand how users interact with them. Advertising These cookies are installed by us and our advertising partners to provide you with relevant content and understand the effectiveness of that content. They may be used to collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites to predict your preferences and show you more relevant advertising. These cookies also build a profile about you and your interests and show you personalized advertising based on your profile.
User Locations
In addition to cookies we place on our own websites, we use cookies for our Site Stats feature. It measures the number of visitors to a website, as well as the number of visitors from specific geographic regions.
Examples
Here are instances of cookies established by Automattic, accompanied by their intended functions. While some of these cookies are applied universally across our network, others are tailored to individual services (e.g., WordPress.com, Longreads, etc.). It’s worth noting that this compilation is illustrative rather than exhaustive. Details regarding cookies potentially set by external entities, like our advertising affiliates, are outlined below. Additionally, from time to time, we place referral cookies on WooCommerce-connected sites utilizing Jetpack.
Additionally, individuals and companies using our services to publish or host their own websites may set additional cookies. You can find more information about these cookies below.
Purpose of Cookies
Cookies serve various purposes on our website, including:
Payment Processing and Fraud Detection: Cookies like csrftoken are utilized to securely process payments and detect fraudulent activities.
User Preferences: Cookies such as akm_mobile record whether a user has opted for the mobile version of the website.
Language Tracking: botdlang is used to track the language in which a user views popular blogs.
Country Determination: código_país determines whether to display the banner cookie and stores the visitor’s country for 6 hours.
Currency Setting: landingpage_currency sets the currency displayed on WordPress.com landing pages.
User Configuration: wp-settings-{user_id} manages the wp-admin settings for a user.
For analysis and performance, cookies are employed for tasks like troubleshooting survey data (_hjIncluidoEnLaMuestra) and conducting A/B testing for new features (ab).
Additionally, cookies are utilized for advertising purposes, allowing us and our partners to deliver and personalize ads based on user interactions.
Regarding third-party advertising through the Automattic advertising program, cookies like pi-userid are used to personalize email ads, while eid_ tracks ad clicks in email campaigns.
Jetpack Comments
Cookie NamePurpose
comment_author_{HASH}Remembers the value entered in the name field of the comment form. Site-specific where set. This cookie mirrors a cookie set by the WordPress software for comments.
comment_author_email_{HASH}Stores the value entered in the email field of the comment form. Site-specific where set. This cookie reflects a cookie set by the main WordPress commenting software.
comment_author_url_{HASH}Stores the value entered in the URL field of the comment form. Site-specific where set. This cookie mirrors a cookie set by the WordPress software for comments.
Mobile Theme
Cookie NamePurpose
akm_mobileRemembers if a user wants to view the mobile version of a website.
Subscriptions
Cookie NamePurpose
jetpack_comments_subscribe_{HASH}Remembers the status of the subscription checkboxes for articles and comments.
jetpack_blog_subscribe_{HASH}Remembers the status of the subscription checkboxes for articles and comments.
EU Cookie Law Banner
Cookie NamePurpose
eucookielawRemembers the visitor’s consent status to the EU Cookie Law banner.
Please note that this section is not exhaustive but representative, and our users may install other cookies (such as those from Google Analytics) based on the features they have enabled or plugins they have installed.
Cookie Control
Visitors can restrict the use of cookies or prevent their installation altogether. Most browsers offer ways to control cookie behavior, such as the duration they are stored, either through built-in functions or by using third-party plugins. If you disable cookies, please note that some features of our service may not work correctly.
Explore further on how to handle and remove cookies by visiting aboutcookies.org. Delve into details about your choices concerning the utilization of your browsing habits for interest-based advertising by checking out.
Some analytics services we use, which place their own cookies or web beacons in your browser, offer their own opt-out options. For example, you can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google browser add-on, Hotjar by using the “Do Not Track” header, and Nielsen by clicking on the opt-out link in the Nielsen privacy policy.
Our Internal Analytics Tool
To better understand how our services are used, we track certain user activity that occurs within our products, including visits to pages and clicks on any links used when operating on a website through our dashboards.
We call each of these activities an “event.” Analytics events are linked to your WordPress.com account and processed through a first-party system owned and maintained by Automattic. In general, we collect the following data for each event: IP address, WordPress.com user ID and username, site ID associated with WordPress.com (for sites not hosted on WordPress.com), user agent, referrer URL, event timestamp, browser language, and country code.
We use this information to improve our products, make the marketing we offer you more relevant, personalize your experience, and for other purposes described in our Privacy Policy.
You can opt out of our analytics program through your user settings. If you do so, you will not share information with our analytics tool about events or actions that occur after you opt out while logged into your WordPress.com account. Please note that leaving the site does not disable the functionality of the actions we track – for example, if you publish a post, we still have a record of it (don’t worry!), but for an event or action after leaving the site, we no longer have any data related to that action or event in our analytics tool.
For Simplenote Users: We use first-party analytics tool in Simplenote to better understand how Simplenote is used and to improve the application for our users. You can opt out through the privacy settings of the app. If you do so, you will not share any information about events or actions that occur after you opt out with our analytics tool. One last point: if you sign into Simplenote with your WordPress.com username, you should also disable the Simplenote analytics tool in the Simplenote app, not in your account privacy settings.
Consent for Cookie Usage
You may see a “cookie banner” on our websites and dashboards. When you visit one of our EU sites, we do not install cookies or allow our advertising partners to install cookies used to show you targeted ads before you accept them. If you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may place advertising cookies on the website you visit and on our other websites, dashboards, and services that we use to show you ads for various Automattic products. We will periodically show you the banner if you change your mind.
Consent and Opt-In for Advertising on our Users’ Pages through our Advertising Program. You may see a “cookie banner” on our users’ websites, especially if you are in the European Union. If this is the case, our advertising program will not set cookies used to show you targeted advertising until you consent or allow our advertising partners to set them.
If you consent in this manner, we and our advertising partners may set third-party cookies to show you personalized advertising on the website you visit and, if you visit a WordPress.com network website, on all websites in that network. You can tell that a site is part of the WordPress.com network by the fact that it has a WordPress.com subdomain (for example, example.wordpress.com). For other sites participating in our advertising program, your consent only applies to personalized advertising on the specific site you visit.
For visitors to WordPress.com network sites:
You can manage your privacy options for third-party advertising cookies for WordPress.com network sites by clicking “Learn more” in the banner, which will display the Consent Management Platform (CMP). You can also adjust the settings for WordPress.com network sites at any time by clicking the “Privacy” link below each ad.
In March 2021, we began developing a new CMP for some of our users as part of our transition to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) European Transparency and Consent Framework, in which we participate as a CMP provider and seller (Framework ID 496). Our new CMP complies with the standards and guidelines of the framework and takes into account the decisions you make when using IAB tools. In the CMP, we list all providers participating in the IAB Framework as partners. We do not work with all of these providers, but our aforementioned advertising partners may work with them, so we want to give you the option to opt out. (That’s why the CMP list is longer than you might think).
Other options
We also set a cookie to help us understand how visitors engage with sites participating in our advertising program. Visitors can opt out of the use of this data via this link (opt-out is processed immediately without confirmation). If you choose to opt out, we will replace the unique value of this cookie with an opt-out value. The opt-out function works on all pages of our advertising program. If you have opted out by mistake or wish to re-register, you can do so through this link. Please note that this option is specific to the browser. Therefore, if you use a different device or browser, or clear your cookies, you will need to start the process again.
Contact us
You can do so through our contact page.