Cookies and tracking

Cookies

ne_anon

Set by Northline the first time you open a page. A random identifier that protects forms against forgery. It is not linked to your name or email address. Lasts 1 year.

ne_sid

Set by Northline only when an administrator signs in. Keeps you signed in. Lasts up to 30 days, and stops working after 14 days without use or when you sign out.

ne_consent

Set by Northline when you answer the analytics question, and remembers your answer. Scripts on the page can read this one, so that nothing is sent unless you chose Allow. Lasts 180 days.

_ga and _ga_1P9QH3VD2F

Set by Google Analytics, and only if you choose Allow analytics. A random identifier that lets Google count visits from one browser, and the state of your current visit. Lasts up to 13 months. Choosing No thanks deletes them.

ne_ga_evt

Set by Northline only if you allowed analytics, after you confirm a Brief subscription or create an account on a page that does not run Google Analytics. It holds the name of that step so the next page can count it, and lasts at most 10 minutes.

__cf_bm

Set by Cloudflare, the network in front of the hosting platform, to tell people from automated traffic. Northline does not set or read it. Lasts about 30 minutes.

On the live site these cookies are sent only over HTTPS. Only ne_consent, ne_ga_evt and the Google Analytics cookies can be read by scripts on the page.

Storage in your browser

Some features keep information in your browser's own storage. It stays on your device and is not sent to Northline.

• ne.watch: the charts on your watchlist.
• nl-pulse-seen: the date of your last visit to the Pulse and the periods you saw, so that it can mark what is new.
• nl-field-flat: whether you chose the flat view of the Field.
• northline-studio: your Intelligence Studio workspaces, in the browser database.
• studio-ui, studio-emphasis, studio-seen-views, ne.studio.analyst.prefs and items beginning ne-tools-, ne-fwguide- or ne-studio-unsaved:: Studio's layout and tool preferences and its record of unsaved work.

Measurement

Google Analytics runs only if you allow it. A short question at the bottom of the page asks. Until you answer, and if you choose No thanks, no Google script is loaded and nothing is sent to Google. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as No thanks and do not ask. If you choose Allow analytics:

• Google Analytics 4, a service of Google LLC, records the pages you open on this site (the address without its query string), how you arrived (the referring site), your device and browser type, and an approximate location that Google derives from your network address and does not store;
• it also counts a few steps, such as following a call to action, finishing a research note, confirming the Brief or sending a service request, by their names alone;
• it never receives your name, your email address, the text of a form, or a sign-in, order or confirmation link. Pages for accounts, administration, orders and payments, and pages reached by a private link, never load it; and
• Google signals and advertising features are off. Google may process the information in the United States or elsewhere outside Canada, under its own terms.

The same answer covers Google Analytics. You can change it at any time:

The application also keeps counts of events such as sign-ups. These do not use cookies and hold nothing that identifies a person.

Third parties

The only third-party service in your browser is Google Analytics, and only if you allow it. There are no advertising cookies, social media widgets or third-party fonts. The site's security policy tells browsers to load scripts, images, fonts and connections from this site only, plus Google's analytics addresses.

Your choices

You can block or delete cookies in your browser's settings. Deleting ne_anon gives you a new identifier next time. If you block cookies, forms and sign-in on this site will not work, because they depend on ne_anon and ne_sid. A Global Privacy Control signal is treated as No thanks to analytics. The site runs no advertising or cross-site tracking.

Changes

We will update this page before adding a cookie or a measurement tool.