1. Controller and contact
Controller / responsible party:
Mark O'Neill / O'Neill Media
Postfach 9301
97093 Wurzburg
Germany
Privacy contact: Mark O'Neill
This cookie policy applies to markoneill.org and related pages operated under Mark O'Neill, O'Neill Media, Glass Dagger Press, Samizdat Press, and ZeroStrike Labs. It should be read together with the Privacy Policy.
2. What cookies and similar technologies are
Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, pixels, tags, SDK identifiers, device identifiers, cache entries, embedded content signals, and server-side logs.
Some are harmless plumbing. Some are useful. Some are creepy marketing barnacles. The legal point is simple: technologies that are strictly necessary can usually run without consent; technologies used for analytics, advertising, personalisation, third-party embeds, or cross-site tracking may require consent before they run.
3. Legal basis and consent rules
For users in the EU, EEA, UK, Switzerland, and similar jurisdictions, cookie and tracking rules may come from GDPR, ePrivacy rules, UK PECR, Germany's telecommunications and digital services data protection rules, and related guidance.
- Strictly necessary technologies: used to provide a service you requested, secure the site, remember required choices, prevent spam, or make core features work. These generally do not require consent.
- Optional technologies: analytics, advertising, retargeting, social media embeds, video embeds, affiliate measurement, personalisation, and similar extras. These require consent where applicable.
- Withdrawal: if consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent does not make previous lawful processing magically illegal. That would be convenient, but no.
Blunt version: if it is needed to make the site work, it can run. If it tracks, measures, embeds, profiles, advertises, or follows you around the web, it should wait for consent unless a valid legal exception applies.
4. Cookie and tracking categories
| Category | Purpose | Consent? | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Page delivery, security, login state if used, forms, consent preferences, spam protection, load balancing, basic website operation. | No, where legally classed as necessary. | Session to 12 months, depending on purpose. |
| Security and abuse prevention | Detecting spam, bots, suspicious requests, brute-force attempts, malicious traffic, and other internet sewage. | Usually no, where necessary for security. | Session to several months; security logs may last longer after incidents. |
| Preferences | Remembering language, display choices, cookie choices, dismissed notices, and similar settings. | Sometimes no for requested settings; otherwise consent may apply. | Session to 12 months. |
| Analytics | Understanding page visits, traffic sources, popular pages, errors, performance, and whether anyone reads anything beyond the first paragraph. | Consent may be required unless analytics is genuinely privacy-friendly and exempt under local law. | Session to 24 months, depending on tool. |
| Affiliate and referral | Attributing clicks to book retailers, smart links, marketplaces, or affiliate partners. | Consent may be required depending on implementation and jurisdiction. | Usually session to 90 days, depending on partner. |
| Embedded content | Displaying videos, social posts, app store widgets, retailer widgets, maps, fonts, comments, or other third-party content. | Usually consent before loading where tracking can occur. | Controlled by the third party. |
| Advertising and retargeting | Showing ads, measuring ads, building audiences, frequency capping, cross-site tracking, and retargeting. | Yes, where used and where law requires it. | Often 30 days to 24 months, depending on ad network. |
5. Likely tools and technologies
This site may use, or may later use, the following types of services. If a listed type is not active, that processing does not happen. This is a policy, not a haunted inventory magically proving every tool is installed.
| Service type | Examples | What it may do |
|---|---|---|
| Website software and components | Site templates, forms, security tools, caching, and consent tools. | Run the site, remember settings, protect forms, manage comments, cache pages, record admin or security events. |
| Privacy-friendly analytics | Simple Analytics or similar cookieless analytics. | Measure visits and page performance without using invasive cross-site tracking cookies. |
| Hosting and infrastructure | Web host, DNS, CDN, firewall, backup, uptime monitoring. | Deliver pages, log requests, block attacks, maintain availability, diagnose failures. |
| Affiliate and smart links | Amazon, Geniuslink, mybook.to, book retailers, affiliate networks. | Redirect users to retailers, attribute referrals, measure clicks, process purchases on third-party sites. |
| Embedded media and external content | YouTube, Google Play, Goodreads, Fantastic Fiction, Linktree, social platforms, retailer widgets. | Display external content or send you to external services. Those services may set their own cookies. |
| Email and newsletters | Mailing list services, email platforms, contact form delivery. | Manage subscriptions, send emails, record consent, measure opens/clicks if that tracking is enabled. |
| Payment and checkout providers | Stripe, PayPal, Google Play Billing, retailers, marketplaces, or similar processors if used. | Process payments, prevent fraud, issue receipts, handle refunds, meet legal obligations. |
| Advertising tools | Google Ads, Meta, Amazon Ads, or other networks if used. | Measure campaigns, show ads, build audiences, perform retargeting. Should not load without valid consent where required. |
6. Third-party cookies and external platforms
Third-party cookies may be set when you interact with embedded content, videos, social widgets, book retailers, affiliate links, app stores, payment processors, or external platforms. Those third parties control their own cookies and tracking.
Examples may include Amazon, Goodreads, Fantastic Fiction, YouTube, Google, Google Play, Linktree, Geniuslink, mybook.to, social media platforms, payment processors, web hosts, analytics providers, and email providers.
When you click out to a third-party site, that third party's privacy and cookie policies apply. I do not control their cookies, accounts, checkout flows, advertising profiles, recommendation systems, or whatever data confetti they throw around behind the curtain.
7. How to manage or refuse cookies
You can manage cookies and similar technologies in several ways:
- Cookie banner: if a consent banner is shown, use it to accept, reject, or adjust optional categories.
- Browser settings: block, delete, or limit cookies in your browser.
- Private browsing: reduce local storage after your session ends, depending on browser behaviour.
- Tracking protection: use browser privacy controls, ad blockers, anti-tracking tools, or DNS filtering.
- Third-party controls: manage Google, Amazon, YouTube, social media, advertising, and retailer privacy settings directly with those services.
- Global Privacy Control: where legally recognised and technically feasible, opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control will be honoured where required.
Blocking strictly necessary cookies may break the site. Blocking optional cookies should not stop you reading the site, though embedded content or retailer widgets may sulk and refuse to load.
8. Cookie retention
Cookie duration depends on the category and provider:
- Session cookies: deleted when your browser session ends.
- Persistent cookies: remain until they expire or you delete them.
- Consent cookies: usually last long enough to remember your choice, commonly 6 to 12 months.
- Analytics cookies: may last from the session to 24 months, unless cookieless analytics is used.
- Affiliate cookies: may last from the session to a partner-defined attribution period.
- Third-party cookies: controlled by the third party that sets them.
Server logs and security logs are not cookies, but they may include IP addresses and request data. They are retained as described in the Privacy Policy.
9. ZeroStrike and app storage
ZeroStrike is an Android app, not a website, so browser cookies are usually not the point. The app may still use local storage, cached files, preferences, saved game data, diagnostics, crash reports, Google Play services, or SDK identifiers depending on the app build and enabled features.
Local ZeroStrike data can usually be deleted through Android settings, by clearing app storage, or by uninstalling the app. Google Play or Google account data must be managed through Google settings because I cannot delete data sitting inside Google's machinery.
If ZeroStrike adds advertising, analytics, push notifications, accounts, cloud saves, leaderboards, multiplayer, or other SDKs, the Privacy Policy, this Cookie Policy where relevant, and the Google Play Data safety form must be updated to match reality. Otherwise the compliance dashboard will throw a fit, and frankly it would be right.
10. Changes to this policy
This cookie policy may be updated when the site, app, plugins, analytics, ads, embeds, affiliate links, legal rules, or third-party services change. The latest version will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.
Because cookies can be set by plugins and third-party services, the exact cookie list should be checked periodically with a cookie scan or browser inspection. Boring? Absolutely. Necessary? Also absolutely.
11. Contact
Questions, cookie complaints, consent problems, or privacy requests can be sent here:
Mark O'Neill / O'Neill Media
Glass Dagger Press, Samizdat Press, ZeroStrike Labs
Postfach 9301
97093 Wurzburg
Germany
Email: Here