MEpedia:Cookie statement
As stated in our Privacy Policy, MEpedia relies on the twin values of privacy and transparency. To that end, we’ve created this Cookie Statement as a clear reference guide to the use of cookies on MEpedia. This Cookie Statement explains how we use cookies (and other locally stored data technologies), how we use third-party cookies, and how you can manage your cookie options. For more information on our privacy practices, please visit our Privacy Policy.
MEAction, the non-profit organization that hosts MEpedia, actively collects some types of information with a variety of commonly-used technologies. These generally include tracking pixels, JavaScript, and a variety of "locally stored data" technologies, such as cookies and local storage.
What is a cookie?
A “cookie” is a tiny data file that we transfer onto your computer, mobile phone, or any other device that you use to access MEpedia, and is generally used for authentication and tracking. Every cookie expires after a certain period of time, but that period varies depending on what the cookie is used for and how your browser is configured.
Cookies are often categorized based on how long they remain active before they expire. A “session” cookie is one that generally expires when you close your web browser or mobile application. A “persistent” cookie is one that remains in your device, even after you close your browser or mobile application. A persistent cookie expires according to the duration set by us, or when you delete it manually.
You may remove or disable cookies through your browser settings. For more information on how to manage your cookie options, please see the "What are my cookie options?" section of this Cookie Statement below.
What types of cookies does MEpedia use and for what purposes?
Cookies are not required in order to read MEpedia. We use the information we receive from cookies and other locally-stored data technologies to make your experience with MEpedia safer and better, to gain a greater understanding of user preferences and interactions with MEpedia, and to generally improve our services. Cookies are required in order to login and for your edits to be associated to a user account; without cookies, your edits would be anonymous and unassociated with an account.
We use cookies, JavaScript, tracking pixels, and other locally-stored data technologies to accomplish different purposes. Below is a list of examples of cookies we use and what they are used for.
Functionality:
These cookies help MEpedia work and enable you to move around MEpedia and use its features. These cookies are useful for remembering your username in the login field, maintaining your session and remembering previous actions, keeping you logged in (if selected), maintaining security and blocking, and more.
Here are a few examples:
| Name | Expires | Category | What does it do? |
|---|---|---|---|
| me_pedia_org_3_enToken | 365 days, if the user chooses ‘Keep me logged in’. Otherwise omitted. | Functionality | Provides ‘Keep me logged in’ functionality. |
| me_pedia_org_3_enUserID, me_pedia_org_3_enUserName | 365 days, if the user chooses ‘Keep me logged in’. Otherwise 30 days. | Functionality | Helps identify you to the wiki, and keeps you logged in. |
| me_pedia_org_3_en_session | When user exits browser | Functionality | Manage MEpedia sessions. Without sessions, your edits may be lost. |
| loginnotify_prevlogins | 180 days | Functionality | Verifies that you are logging in from a known device. This affects the threshold for how many unsuccessful login attempts trigger a notification to the user. |
Preferences:
These cookies store your preferences, so that they can be remembered the next time you use MEpedia, for a more customized experience. These cookies are useful for recognizing and maintaining your language preference, remembering changes you have made to text size, fonts and other display preferences, so we can provide you with the look and feel that you want, and more.
Here are a few examples:
| Name | Expires | Category | What does it do? |
|---|---|---|---|
| uls-preferences | Local Storage, not a cookie | Preferences | Allows you to set preferences for the Universal Language Selector, which allows you to select your preferred reading language. |
| hidewatchlistmessage-watchlistMessageId (where watchlistMessageId is the Id of the message being hidden) | 28 days | Preferences | Allows a user to hide a watchlist message. |
| dismissSiteNotice | generally 30 days, but actual expiration may change. May be moved to Local Storage in the future. | Preferences | Remembers if you have chosen to "dismiss" the site notice at the top of the screen. |
| VEE | generally 30 days, but actual expiration may change | Preferences | Remembers if you prefer the Visual Editor instead of the Source Editor. |
| userFontSize | Local Storage, not a cookie | Preferences | Keeps track of your preferred font size. May not be currently used. |
| preferredEditor | Local Storage, not a cookie | Preferences | Keeps track of your preferred editor. May not be currently used. |
Performance and Analysis:
These cookies count the number of visitors and collect information about how you use MEpedia. This allows us to better understand your user experience on MEpedia and helps us improve it for you and other users — for instance, by making sure users are finding what they need easily. Other examples include:
- remembering pages visited, and actions taken on MEpedia so we can optimize the pages;
- remembering if users get error messages from web pages;
- storing your most recently read articles directly on your device, so they can be retrieved quickly;
- remembering the topics searched so that we can optimize the search results we deliver to you;
- remembering the list of articles you are following on your watchlist so that we can recommend similar articles that you may be interested in.
Here is an example:
| Name | Expires | Category | What does it do? |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga, _gid | _gid: about 1 day. _ga: up to 2 years, but often shorter. | Performance and Analysis | Enables MEpedia to compile "Google Analytics" statistics on search queries and visits to this website. Statistics derived from this information help us identify how well certain pages and aspects of the site perform, and where we can make improvements to help visitors access the information they need more quickly and with less hassle. These statistics are never used for marketing purposes. Google Analytics stores your IP address (anonymously) on its servers in the United States, and Google does not associate your IP address with any personally identifiable information. Users have the right to install a browser add-on that would opt-out of these cookies. This browser add-on is available here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout |
Third-Party:
These cookies allow us to render services provided by third parties, such as “like” and “share” buttons. When a third party provides these kinds of services, they may require the use of a cookie in order to provide their services. The only such third party that MEpedia uses is "AddThis", which enables users to optionally share MEpedia articles on social media via AddThis's "Share" options at the top of each page. These "Share" options at the top of each page are entirely optional; you don't have to use any of them to in order to use MEpedia. If you do use them, be aware that social media companies may use your "likes" and "shares" for marketing purposes.
If you ever come across any other third-party cookie transferred to your device during your access of MEpedia, please report that cookie to us at mepedia@meaction.net.
Here are two cookies used by AddThis:
| Name | Expires | Category | What does it do? |
|---|---|---|---|
| __atuvc, __atssc | up to 2 years, but often shorter. | Third-Party: optional social media sharing | Enables users to optionally share MEpedia articles on social media via AddThis's "Share" options at the top of each page. Specifically, these cookies are used to manage the "share count" displayed to the user at the top of the page. Users have the right to not use any of the "Share" options at the top of each page. For more information, including how AddThis may use your "shares" for marketing purposes, see AddThis's privacy page. |
What are my cookie options?
While this is not a comprehensive list, below are some of the things that you can do to limit use of cookies and other locally-stored data technologies on your device. While cookies and other locally-stored data technologies may not be necessary to use our site, some features may not function properly if you disable them.
You can:
- remove or disable specific locally-stored data in your browser’s settings (you may be able to reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent);
- use a browser that can block third-party cookies; or
- install a plug-in to block locally-stored data, if one is available.
Turning off the browser’s cookies will prevent tracking pixels from tracking your specific activity. A tracking pixel may still record an anonymous visit from your IP address, but unique information will not be recorded. If you do not want to receive tracking pixels, you will need to disable HTML images in your browser or email client, and that may affect your ability to view images.
Where can I find more information?
Please read through our Privacy Policy for more information. If you have any further questions, contact mepedia@meaction.net
Thank You
Thank you for reading through our Cookie Statement! We ask that you consider adding this page to your watchlist to be alerted to new changes.
Please note that in the event of any differences in meaning or interpretation between the original English version of this document and a translation, the original English version takes precedence.
