Cookie Policy
Last updated: 13 October 2026
1. What cookies and similar technologies do
Cookies are small files stored by a website or third party. Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, pixels, SDKs and scripts that store or access information on your device. Under EU rules, including the ePrivacy Directive as implemented in national law and Greek Law 3471/2006, non-essential storage/access generally requires prior consent unless a legal exception applies. Where personal data is involved, the GDPR also applies.
2. Technology categories used by Budget Explorer
| Category | Purpose | How choices apply |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary storage | Security, core site operation, authentication/session handling, and remembering the privacy choice. | Used only where necessary for a service you request or another applicable exception. These mechanisms cannot always be disabled without affecting the requested feature. |
| Functional browser storage | Remembering interface preferences, language, saved items or other features you choose to use. | Use is limited to the feature and applicable legal requirements. Clearing site data may remove these preferences. |
| Advertising | Google AdSense may use cookies or similar technologies to deliver, limit, measure or personalise ads, depending on configuration and consent choices. | Where consent is required, advertising choices should be presented through the relevant Google consent/CMP interface before the corresponding non-essential storage or processing takes place. |
| Affiliate referral tracking | TradeDoubler or a merchant may record that a visitor clicked a partner offer and attribute an eligible referral or transaction. | Referral tracking can occur after you click and leave Budget Explorer. The destination’s technologies are governed by the third party’s policies and applicable consent rules. |
| Third-party maps/place services | Google Maps Platform/Places supports place search, details and geocoding. Requests may include search terms or location details. | Some requests are made through Budget Explorer’s server-side functions. When you open Google Maps or another third-party page, that provider’s own technologies and policies apply. |
3. What is stored to remember and evidence your choice
On this device, Budget Explorer stores be-consent-v1 (accepted or essential), be-consent-version (the notice version) and a random pseudonymous be-consent-id in browser local storage. When you make or change a choice, the site also sends an audit event to a server-side Netlify Blobs store named budget-explorer-consent-audit. The event records a random event ID, the pseudonymous consent ID, the selected choice, the categories covered, the notice version, the language, the page, the browser-reported choice time, the server receipt time and a limited user-agent string. The site does not intentionally store your IP address in this consent event. The server-side event is append-only for each choice: a later withdrawal or change creates a new event rather than overwriting the earlier one.
The server-side record is intended to help demonstrate what choice was made and when; it is not, by itself, proof of a named individual’s identity. A shared device or cleared browser storage can affect linkage. Access to the audit listing is restricted to an authenticated administrator. Essential-only remains available if audit logging is temporarily unavailable; optional acceptance is not activated unless the server confirms that the event was saved.
The “Essential only” choice blocks the AdSense loader and affiliate-impression pixels in the site code. “Accept & continue” records acceptance of the site’s optional categories, but AdSense remains blocked in this release pending verified Google-certified CMP integration. This site-level choice is separate from Google’s own advertising consent message.
4. Managing or withdrawing choices
Use the available Cookie settings control to reopen the site’s privacy-choice dialog. You can change from “Essential only” to accepting optional technologies or withdraw optional consent by choosing “Essential only” again. Where a Google consent message is shown, use its controls to review or change the advertising choices it covers. You can also clear cookies and site data in your browser settings; this may sign you out and reset preferences. When optional consent is withdrawn, the site reloads the current page to clear optional integrations loaded into that document; this cannot undo data already transmitted before withdrawal. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing lawfully carried out before withdrawal.
For consent to be valid where required, refusal should be as accessible as acceptance, the choice should be specific and informed, and optional technologies should not be activated before consent. The operator should verify that the deployed code and all third-party scripts actually follow these requirements.
5. Third-party policies
Google, TradeDoubler, merchants, hosting and authentication providers may process information under their own policies and roles. Their technologies, cookie names and lifetimes can change. If you follow an affiliate link, you leave Budget Explorer and the third party may set or read its own technologies subject to applicable law.
6. Website operator and contact
Budget Explorer is a personal independent website project operated by Emmanouil Parsonoglou, not a company. For questions about this Cookie Policy or privacy choices, use the Contact form on the website. Additional identity or contact details should be published where required by the laws applicable to the site’s actual activities.
7. Legal framework and updates
This policy is intended to be read alongside the GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive as implemented in national law, Greek Law 3471/2006, Greek Law 4624/2019 and relevant guidance from competent authorities. It will be updated when the site’s technologies or processing change. See also our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.