Cookies and local storage are related, but not identical
A cookie is a small value associated with a website or service that a browser can store and send with later requests. Cookies can remember a preference, maintain a session, distinguish a browser, measure activity, prevent fraud, or support advertising.
Local storage is browser storage tied to a site. It is not automatically sent with each web request, but page scripts can read and change it. Sleep Manager uses local storage for two preferences described below. Third-party services may also use cookies, local storage, pixels, or similar technologies under their own settings and policies.
Sleep Manager's current local-storage entries
| Storage entry | Purpose | Contents | Duration/control |
|---|---|---|---|
sm_analytics_consent | Remember whether Google Analytics may load. | granted or denied. | Remains until site data is cleared or the choice is changed through Analytics Settings. |
sm_blog_view | Remember the article-library grid/list layout. | The selected view mode. | Remains until site data is cleared or another view is selected. |
The reviewed code does not save tool answers, quiz scores, checklist responses, search words, sleep times, caffeine inputs, travel details, or generated results in local storage or session storage. Those values remain in the active page's memory and generally disappear when it reloads or closes.
These two preferences are not user accounts
They do not contain a name, email address, medical record, result history, or server-side profile. Another person using the same browser profile may still see the remembered layout or Analytics choice.
A legacy sm_cookie_consent value may briefly exist after an older visit. A previous declined value is migrated to denied. A previous accepted value is not treated as Analytics permission, because that older banner did not provide a working Analytics choice. The legacy key is removed after a current choice is saved.
Google Analytics loads only after you allow it
Every public page includes Sleep Manager's local Analytics control. Before permission, it does not request Google's gtag.js library, configure the GA property, send an Analytics page view, or set GA cookies. Choosing “No analytics” keeps it blocked.
After you choose “Allow analytics” on the production site, the Google tag can set first-party cookies such as _ga and _ga_MHKPYQRKLN. Sleep Manager configures a maximum age of 395 days and does not refresh that configured age on later visits; browsers or Google may shorten it. See Google's official GA4 cookie documentation.
Sleep Manager sends a page title and path plus a small allowlist of coarse actions: tool start, completion or retake; article contents, reading-depth, related-page, FAQ, and methodology interactions. Its page fields omit query strings, URL fragments, and the referring page. Custom events do not contain tool answers, sleep or caffeine times, scores, symptoms, searches, partner responses, generated result values, email addresses, or free text.
Google Analytics may still process ordinary device, browser, session, and approximate-location information after permission. Google signals and ad-personalization signals are disabled in Sleep Manager's Analytics code. Account-side settings, including enhanced measurement, retention, product links, and data sharing, require separate operator review.
Advertising code can use cookies and similar technologies
The homepage contains a Google AdSense publisher tag. Although the visible manual ad containers are commented out in the reviewed HTML, account-side options such as Auto ads are not visible in the repository. The tag itself calls Google when it loads.
| Possible purpose | What it can involve |
|---|---|
| Ad delivery and relevance | Choosing an ad using page context, general location, consent/settings, and where permitted, interests or prior activity. |
| Measurement and frequency | Counting impressions/interactions, reporting performance, and limiting repeated ads. |
| Fraud and abuse prevention | Using request, device, cookie, or similar signals to detect invalid traffic and protect ad systems. |
| First- and third-party storage | Cookies associated with Google or related domains and, depending on settings, first-party cookies or local storage used by advertising services. |
Google explains that AdSense can send a cookie after a server call and that a page can make such a call by including ad tags even without visibly showing an ad. See How AdSense uses cookies and How Google uses information from partner sites.
The exact cookies and storage used can depend on browser restrictions, location, user choices, ad-serving mode, Google account settings, publisher settings, and changes to Google's services. Sleep Manager does not label a static list as permanently complete.
How the Analytics choice works
- It begins blocked. With no saved choice, the Analytics tag and its requests stay off while a plain-language choice is shown.
- It records only the choice. “Allow analytics” stores
granted; “No analytics” storesdenied. - It loads Analytics after permission. On sleepmanager.in, granting permission initializes GA and allows only the approved custom event structure.
- It supports refusal and revocation. Denying blocks future Analytics calls and makes a best-effort attempt to remove the named first-party GA cookies. It cannot delete information already sent.
- It remains available. Analytics Settings in the footer reopens the choice on any public page.
This choice controls Analytics, not advertising
The homepage AdSense tag is a separate integration. A Google-managed privacy message can depend on the publisher's AdSense Privacy & Messaging configuration, which cannot be confirmed from the public repository and must be tested on the deployed site.
How to control or remove storage
- Open Analytics Settings in the footer to allow or refuse future Analytics measurement at any time.
- Clear site data for sleepmanager.in in your browser to remove the two first-party local-storage entries and first-party cookies stored for this site.
- Block or delete cookies in browser privacy settings. Blocking all cookies may change ads or third-party features, but the current sleep tools do not rely on cookies to calculate results.
- Block third-party scripts or requests with browser protections or a trusted content blocker. Google Fonts may fall back to system fonts, and advertising or sharing destinations may be unavailable.
- Manage Google ad personalization through Google My Ad Center. Turning off personalization does not necessarily stop all ad measurement, security, or contextual-ad processing.
- Avoid external share or source links if you do not want the selected destination to receive the connection.
Browser menus differ by product and version. Look for settings named Privacy, Cookies, Site data, Tracking protection, or Permissions. Clearing local storage will make the Analytics choice appear again and reset the article-library layout.
When this policy must be reviewed again
This page must change before or with any new cookie, local-storage key, persistent result, Analytics event or parameter, automatic measurement setting, ad-service change, consent system, external embed, account, form, personalization feature, or materially different Google configuration.
For the wider data map, email behavior, sharing, retention, and provider information, read the Privacy Policy. Send a correction or cookie question to connectwithus@sleepmanager.in.
Effective and substantively reviewed: 10 September 2026. Verified against all 34 public page includes, js/google_analytics_impl.js, js/sm-footer.js, the public AdSense tag, and repository-wide storage, script, and event searches.