Cookies and browser storage

01 The short version

• In the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland you see a banner, and nothing non-essential is written before you answer it.
• Elsewhere analytics load by default. Cookie settings in the footer lets you reject them, and we remember that answer on later visits wherever you are.
• Refusing costs you nothing. No feature on this site depends on an analytics cookie, and no content is held back.
• The measurement we actually rely on happens on our server. It sets a cookie only if you accept analytics, so we are not fighting you for one.
• Our emails record opens and clicks. That tracking lives in the email and is not a cookie, so the banner does not change it.

02 What can be written, by group

03 Strictly necessary

Cloudflare sits in front of the site as CDN and firewall. It may set __cf_bm to tell bots from people, and cf_clearance if you were shown a challenge. Both are security cookies, both are Cloudflare's, and there is no version of this site without them.

We also store your answer to the cookie banner in your own browser so you are not asked again on the next page. If you accept, a small sy_consent cookie tells our server it may set sy_vid. Rejecting clears both cookies.

04 Analytics, and when it waits for you

Google Analytics 4 is loaded through Cloudflare Zaraz, so the tag is served from our own domain instead of googletagmanager.com. That changes where the file comes from and who writes the identifier. The measurement still ends up at Google. That is why it waits for consent in the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland.

Microsoft Clarity records a replay of your session: pointer, scroll, clicks, page structure. Clarity masks text input by default, so what you type into a form is not in the recording. It needs a cookie to join the pages of one visit together. It waits for permission in the countries listed above.

PostHog keeps a random visitor id in session storage, which links the pages you open in one tab. The id is gone when you close the tab, and PostHog sets no cookie. It loads only when analytics are allowed. Rejecting stops its capture, including cookieless capture, and deletes the id. Its events reach us through /ingest/ on this domain.

Ahrefs Web Analytics counts page views, where visits come from, and clicks on links that leave this site. It writes nothing into your browser. We checked on 24 September 2026 by loading it with its real script and comparing cookies, local storage, session storage and IndexedDB before and after. The script and the address it reports to are both on analytics.ahrefs.com. So it follows the same rule as the tools above and waits for your permission in those countries. Rejecting stops it from sending anything more from that page, and it is not loaded on later pages.

05 Measurement outside the analytics tools

Cloudflare Web Analytics counts page views and loading speed without a cookie and without building an identifier for you. It runs for every visitor, including in the EU, because it stores nothing in your browser and gives us no way to recognise you on a later visit.

Our own visitor_event log runs on our server. It writes a row when you send a form, run the audit tool or unsubscribe, whether or not your browser stores anything. The server sets sy_vid only if you have accepted analytics. This first-party cookie holds a random ID for 13 months. Rejecting or withdrawing consent deletes it. Without that cookie, the log uses a code that changes daily. The privacy policy describes what we keep.

Email tracking stores nothing in your browser either. Our marketing, follow-up and acknowledgement emails record opens with a tracking pixel. Clicks are recorded as links pass through links.synapsereality.io. Blocking remote images in your mail app stops the open record, and every commercial email has a one-click unsubscribe.

06 Changing your answer

Use Cookie settings in the footer to accept or reject analytics at any time. We remember your answer for a year. Rejecting stops capture, clears sy_vid and deletes PostHog's visitor id. Later pages keep respecting your choice, and Ahrefs, Clarity, PostHog and Google Analytics stay unloaded.

You can also clear this site's cookies and storage in your browser, or block cookies and turn on tracking protection. The forms and content remain available.

07 The exact list

These are the identifiers and settings the site and its analytics tools can store. Analytics identifiers are separate from the settings that remember your answer.

PostHog keeps its visitor id in session storage for as long as the tab is open, and never in a cookie. Its separate consent setting is stored locally so the library can remember whether capture is allowed. The … in the PostHog names is our project key, which is public. Google Analytics runs through Cloudflare Zaraz on this domain, so its cookies are set by synapsereality.io and none come from google.com.

Ahrefs Web Analytics has no row because it stores nothing. Our 24 September 2026 check found no cookie, no storage key and no database from it, and its server set no cookie in reply.

Visitors in the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland see the consent banner. Until they accept, nothing loads for them beyond our own server log and Cloudflare's cookieless page count. Accepting stores your answer in a cookie called sy_consent for a year, so we do not ask on every page.