What Are Cookies Anyway?

Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device. They're not programs—they can't run software or carry viruses. Instead, they work like recipe cards that remember your preferences and help websites function smoothly.

When you visit connect-recipes.com, we use these digital breadcrumbs to remember things like your preferred measurement units (metric or imperial), dietary restrictions you've set, and which cooking courses you've started. It makes your next visit feel less like starting from scratch and more like picking up where you left off.

The Types of Tracking We Use

How We Actually Use This Data

Here's what happens behind the scenes. When you watch a cooking video, we track completion rates and common replay points. This tells us which techniques need clearer explanations. If everyone rewinds the same 30 seconds about tempering chocolate, we know we need to improve that section.

We also monitor search patterns. When students search for "vegan protein sources" repeatedly without finding good results, that's a signal we need more content in that area. Your behavior helps shape our autumn 2025 course lineup.

Taking Control of Your Tracking

You're in charge of your digital kitchen. Modern browsers give you comprehensive control over cookies—though blocking all of them means losing some convenience features.

• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data. You can block third-party cookies while keeping functional ones.
• Firefox: Options → Privacy & Security → Enhanced Tracking Protection. Choose Standard, Strict, or Custom protection levels.
• Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Prevent cross-site tracking. Safari blocks most third-party cookies by default.
• Edge: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Tracking prevention. Set to Basic, Balanced, or Strict.

Most mobile browsers have similar settings. Look for "Privacy" or "Site settings" in your browser menu. You can also clear existing cookies anytime—just know you'll lose saved preferences and might need to log in again.

Data Retention Practices

We review and delete outdated tracking data regularly. If you've been inactive for 18 months, we clear most of your associated cookies and stored preferences—except essential account information.

Third-Party Tools We Work With

We use Google Analytics to understand traffic patterns and Vimeo for video hosting. These services use their own cookies. We've configured them to respect privacy as much as possible, but they operate under their own policies too.

Social media embeds (if you share a recipe or course) might place tracking pixels. We try to minimize these—you won't find Facebook trackers monitoring your every move through our site.

Payment processing happens through secure third-party providers who use their own security cookies. We never store complete credit card information on our servers.

Updates to This Policy

Digital privacy practices evolve. When we make significant changes to how we handle tracking, we'll update this page and notify active users via email. Minor clarifications might happen without notification—we'll always update the "Last Updated" date at the top.

Check back occasionally, especially if you care about these details. We're planning improvements to our learning platform throughout 2025, and some might affect how we use cookies to enhance your experience.