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Privacy Policy

What CokeGas collects (analytics, comments, affiliate clicks), the cookies Google uses for analytics and ads, and how to opt out or ask for your data.

Last updated: October 29, 2026

This policy explains what information CokeGas (“we”, “us”) collects when you visit cokegas.com, how we use it and the choices you have. CokeGas is an independent personal-finance website and is the controller of the personal information described here. We don’t offer user accounts, and we don’t take payments on this site. You can reach us at hello@cokegas.com.

The short version

  • You can read every page without giving us anything.
  • We use Google Analytics, through Google Tag Manager, to see which pages are useful.
  • We may show ads from Google, which use cookies.
  • In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, analytics and advertising cookies stay off unless you agree to them.
  • We honor Global Privacy Control as an opt-out of targeted advertising.
  • Some links are affiliate links. Partners may set their own cookies after you click one.
  • If you leave a comment, we keep what you submit so we can review and publish it.
  • We don’t sell your personal information for money.

Information we collect

Information you give us

  • Comments. Your name, email address, optional website and the comment itself. Name and email are required to comment, so we can reach you about your comment and keep out spam; if you’d rather not give them, you can still read everything. Every comment waits for our approval before it appears. Your email address is never published.
  • Messages. If you email us, we receive your address and whatever you write.
  • Sponsorship requests. If you use the form on our Advertise page, we receive your email address, website, topic, the kind of placement you want, your message, and whether you’d like emails about new sponsorship openings. We use them to reply and, only if you ticked that box, to email you about openings. You can ask us to stop at any time.

Information collected automatically

  • Analytics. Google Analytics, loaded through Google Tag Manager, records the pages you view, your approximate location (city level, based on your IP address), your device and browser, the site that referred you and actions such as clicks on partner links. Where cookies are allowed, it uses cookies such as _ga to tell visits apart. Where they aren’t, Google may still receive cookieless signals, such as the page viewed, which it uses to estimate traffic in aggregate. We look at analytics in aggregate and don’t use it to identify you.
  • Server and security logs. Our hosting provider records technical data such as IP address, browser and the page requested, to keep the site running and secure. If someone fails to log in to the site’s admin area, we keep a one-way hashed form of the IP address for 15 minutes to stop password guessing. The sponsorship form does the same for an hour, to limit repeat submissions.
  • Comment checks. WordPress records the IP address and browser of each comment submission to help detect spam.
  • Broken links. When a page isn’t found, we record the missing address and the page that linked to it, not who visited, so we can fix or redirect it.
  • The FIRE calculator. The calculator runs in your browser. The numbers you enter are added to the page address so you can bookmark or share your results, which means they can appear in our analytics as part of that address. They aren’t linked to your name or email, but don’t enter anything you consider private.

Cookies and similar technologies

  • Analytics cookies from Google Analytics, described above.
  • Advertising cookies from Google and its partners, described under Advertising.
  • Comment cookies. If you tick “Save my name, email, and website in this browser”, WordPress keeps those details in cookies for a year so you don’t have to type them again.
  • Preferences. Your choice of blog grid layout is saved in your browser’s local storage and never sent to us.

For visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, analytics and advertising cookies are off by default and are only set if you agree to them through our consent message. Everywhere, you can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and the site still works without them.

Advertising

We may display ads served by Google AdSense to fund the site.

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
  • Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
  • This means third parties such as Google may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites when you visit CokeGas.
  • You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google’s My Ad Center. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.eu (Europe).

Google explains how it uses this data in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

Affiliate links

Some links on CokeGas are affiliate links; they go through an address starting with cokegas.com/go/. When you click one, we add one to that partner’s click count (a total only, nothing about you) and send you to the partner’s site. The partner may then set its own cookies to credit us for the referral, and its privacy policy applies on its site. See our affiliate disclosure for how this affects what we publish (it doesn’t change our scores).

How we use information, and why we’re allowed to

Where EU or UK law applies, each use has a legal basis:

  • Running and securing the site (server logs, login protection, broken-link records): our legitimate interest in a working, secure website.
  • Reviewing, publishing and replying to comments, and answering messages: our legitimate interest in hosting a discussion and replying to readers, which you start by writing to us.
  • Answering sponsorship requests: steps you ask us to take before entering into an agreement, and our legitimate interest in running the site’s advertising.
  • Analytics cookies, personalized advertising and emails about sponsorship openings: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
  • Measuring affiliate referrals (a click count with nothing about you): our legitimate interest in funding the site.
  • Keeping records the law requires: legal obligation.

We don’t make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects. Google may use advertising cookies to infer interests for ads, as described above.

Who we share it with

  • Google, for Tag Manager, Analytics and advertising, under Google’s terms.
  • Our hosting provider, which stores the site and its logs.
  • Gravatar (Automattic), which shows commenters’ profile pictures. A hashed form of your email address is sent to Gravatar to check whether you have one.
  • Affiliate partners, only when you click through to their site.
  • Authorities, if the law requires it.

We don’t sell your personal information for money. Under some US state laws, letting Google use advertising and analytics cookies on our site can count as “selling” or “sharing” personal information for targeted advertising. You can opt out as described below.

How long we keep it

  • Comments: until they’re deleted. Ask us any time to remove yours.
  • Analytics: for the retention period set in Google Analytics, no longer than 14 months.
  • Server logs: for as long as our hosting provider keeps them for security and troubleshooting.
  • Failed-login records: 15 minutes.
  • Emails: as long as needed to answer you and keep a record of the conversation.
  • Sponsorship requests: as long as needed to handle your request and any agreement that follows. Ask us any time to delete yours.

Your privacy choices

  • Opt out of targeted advertising (“sale” or “sharing”). Turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser and we treat it as your opt-out: we switch off ad personalization and ad storage for that browser and ask Google for non-personalized ads only. You can also use the advertising controls above, or email hello@cokegas.com.
  • Withdraw consent. If you agreed to cookies through our consent message, you can change your choice at any time from that message’s privacy settings link, or by clearing this site’s cookies in your browser.
  • Block cookies in your browser settings. The site still works.
  • Do Not Track. There’s no agreed standard for how websites should respond to browsers’ Do Not Track signal, so we don’t respond to it. We do honor Global Privacy Control, as described above.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, including the EU, the UK, California and other US states, you may have the right to:

  • know what personal information we hold about you and get a copy of it, including in a portable format;
  • correct it or have it deleted;
  • object to or restrict how we use it;
  • withdraw consent you’ve given, without affecting anything done before;
  • opt out of targeted advertising and the “sale” or “sharing” of your information.

To make a request, email hello@cokegas.com. We may need to confirm it’s you, for example by asking you to reply from the email address you used to comment. You can also have an authorized agent make the request for you. We answer within 30 days and won’t treat you differently for exercising your rights. If we turn down your request, you can appeal by replying to our answer, and we’ll respond to the appeal within 60 days. If you’re in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

CokeGas is written for adults and isn’t directed at children under 16. We don’t knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we’ll delete it.

International transfers

Google and our hosting provider may process information in the United States and other countries. Where EU or UK law requires it, these transfers rely on safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we update this page and the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use information we already hold, we’ll make it prominent on this page before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your information: hello@cokegas.com.

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