Effective Date: January 1, 2025 | Last Updated: June 2025
This Cookie Policy explains what cookies and similar tracking technologies are, how Vip Magzine Media, Inc. (“Vip,” “we,” “our,” or “us“) uses them on our websites, mobile applications, newsletters, and other digital services (collectively, the “Services“), and how you can manage your cookie preferences.
This Cookie Policy should be read alongside our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which together govern your use of our Services.
Jump to a Section
- What Are Cookies?
- Types of Cookies We Use
- Cookies We Set — Detailed Table
- Third-Party Cookies
- Other Tracking Technologies
- Interest-Based Advertising
- How to Manage Your Cookie Preferences
- Cookie Preferences by Browser
- Do Not Track & Global Privacy Control
- Changes to This Cookie Policy
- Contact Us
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, tablet, smartphone, or other device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, to remember your preferences, and to provide information to website operators.
Cookies can be “session cookies,” which are temporary and expire when you close your browser, or “persistent cookies,” which remain on your device for a set period of time or until you delete them. Cookies can be set by the website you are visiting (“first-party cookies“) or by third parties whose content appears on that website (“third-party cookies“).
Not all tracking technologies are cookies. We also use other technologies described in Section 5, including web beacons, pixels, and software development kits (SDKs), which function similarly to cookies.
2. Types of Cookies We Use
We use four categories of cookies on our Services:
Always On
Strictly Necessary
These cookies are essential for our Services to function and cannot be switched off. They are usually set in response to actions you take, such as logging in, setting your privacy preferences, or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block them, but some parts of the site will not work.
Optional
Performance & Analytics
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our Services. They help us understand which pages are most and least popular and how visitors move around the site. All information collected is aggregated and anonymous.
Optional
Functional
These cookies enable enhanced functionality and personalisation, such as remembering your region, language preferences, or newsletter sign-up status. They may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we use.
Optional
Targeting & Advertising
These cookies are set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device.
3. Cookies We Set — Detailed Table
The table below describes the specific cookies currently used on our Services, their purpose, and how long they persist. This list may be updated periodically as our Services evolve.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| vip_session | Vip Magzine | Maintains your login session and keeps you signed in as you navigate between pages. | Session |
| vip_csrf | Vip Magzine | Cross-site request forgery protection. Ensures form submissions originate from our site. | Session |
| vip_cookie_consent | Vip Magzine | Stores your cookie consent preferences so we do not ask for them on every visit. | 12 months |
| vip_sub_status | Vip Magzine | Records whether you have an active subscription, to manage access to subscriber-only content. | 30 days |
| vip_paywall | Vip Magzine | Tracks article views against your free article allowance before displaying the subscription prompt. | 30 days |
| __stripe_sid | Stripe | Required for payment processing. Prevents fraud during checkout sessions. | 30 minutes |
| __stripe_mid | Stripe | Required for payment processing. Used for fraud detection and prevention. | 1 year |
Performance & Analytics Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics | Registers a unique ID to generate statistical data about how visitors use the site. | 2 years |
| _ga_XXXXXXXX | Google Analytics | Used by Google Analytics 4 to persist session state and count page sessions. | 2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics | Registers a unique ID to generate statistics about how visitors use the site. Resets daily. | 24 hours |
| _gat | Google Analytics | Throttles the request rate, limiting data collection on high-traffic sites. | 1 minute |
| _hjSessionUser_* | Hotjar | Sets a unique user ID to track how the user uses the website across sessions. | 1 year |
| _hjSession_* | Hotjar | Holds current session data. Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session. | 30 minutes |
| vip_perf | Vip Magzine | Internal analytics cookie tracking page load performance and user engagement metrics. | 6 months |
Functional Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| vip_region | Vip Magzine | Stores your region/country preference to serve localised content and editions. | 12 months |
| vip_newsletter | Vip Magzine | Records your newsletter subscription status and preferences to avoid duplicate prompts. | 12 months |
| vip_darkmode | Vip Magzine | Saves your display mode preference (light or dark) across visits. | 12 months |
| mp_*_mixpanel | Mixpanel | Used to track user interactions and events to improve product experience and content personalisation. | 1 year |
Targeting & Advertising Cookies
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| _fbp | Meta (Facebook) | Used by Meta to deliver, measure, and improve the relevance of advertisements on and off Meta platforms. | 3 months |
| fr | Meta (Facebook) | Primary advertising cookie used to deliver, measure, and improve ad targeting across Meta products. | 3 months |
| _pin_unauth | Tracks user behaviour on the site for Pinterest advertising and conversion measurement. | 1 year | |
| IDE | Google (DoubleClick) | Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report user actions after viewing or clicking an ad. | 13 months |
| test_cookie | Google (DoubleClick) | Checks whether the user’s browser supports cookies by setting a test cookie. | 15 minutes |
| NID | Registers a unique ID to remember your preferences and personalise ads across Google services. | 6 months | |
| MUID | Microsoft (Bing) | Used by Microsoft Advertising to identify unique web browsers visiting Microsoft-served pages. | 13 months |
| __gads | Google Ads | Linked to Google’s advertising requirements. Helps limit how many times an ad is shown and measures ad effectiveness. | 13 months |
| vip_adid | Vip Magzine | Internal first-party advertising ID used to frequency-cap and sequence Vip’s own promotional content. | 6 months |
4. Third-Party Cookies
In addition to our own cookies, third parties — including advertisers, analytics providers, social media platforms, and embedded content providers — may place cookies on your device when you visit our Services. We do not control these third-party cookies and they are subject to each third party’s own privacy and cookie policies.
Third parties that may set cookies on our Services include:
- Google Analytics & Google Ads — analytics and advertising measurement
- Meta (Facebook & Instagram) — advertising and social sharing
- Pinterest — advertising and content distribution
- Microsoft (Bing Ads) — advertising measurement
- Hotjar — user experience analytics and session recording
- Mixpanel — product analytics and personalisation
- Stripe — payment processing
- Mailchimp / Email Service Providers — newsletter delivery tracking
- Affiliate networks (e.g. ShareASale, Skimlinks) — commerce attribution
We cannot guarantee the accuracy of, or assume responsibility for, third-party cookies or the content delivered by third parties. We encourage you to check the relevant third-party privacy policies for more information about how they use cookies.
5. Other Tracking Technologies
In addition to cookies, we and our partners use the following technologies to collect information about your use of our Services:
Web Beacons & Pixels
Web beacons (also called “tracking pixels,” “clear GIFs,” or “pixel tags”) are tiny graphic images embedded in web pages or emails. They allow us to determine whether a page has been viewed, whether an email has been opened, and to count visits and track conversions. Advertising partners may use pixels to track your actions following an ad click.
Local Storage
We may use browser local storage (including HTML5 localStorage and sessionStorage) to store information on your device beyond a single session. This is used, for example, to remember your reading progress, display preferences, and recently viewed articles.
Software Development Kits (SDKs)
Our mobile applications may use SDKs — blocks of third-party code — that collect device identifiers, usage data, and other information to support analytics, advertising, and app functionality. SDKs function similarly to cookies but operate within mobile app environments rather than browsers.
Fingerprinting
Some of our advertising partners may use device fingerprinting — a method of collecting information about your device’s characteristics (browser type, operating system, screen resolution, installed fonts, etc.) — to identify your device across sessions for advertising purposes.
6. Interest-Based Advertising
We work with third-party advertising companies to display advertisements on our Services and on other websites. These companies may use information about your visits to our Services and other websites — including pages viewed, articles read, and products considered — to provide advertisements about goods and services more likely to be of interest to you. This is known as interest-based advertising (IBA) or behavioural advertising.
Interest-based advertising requires the use of targeting and advertising cookies and similar technologies, as described in the table in Section 3. Under some U.S. state laws, this activity may be characterized as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information. You have the right to opt out — see Section 7 below and our Privacy Notice for details.
You can opt out of interest-based advertising from many of our third-party advertising partners through industry opt-out tools including:
- Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out tool
- Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) opt-out tool
- YourAdChoices (DAA)
Please note that opting out through these tools does not mean you will stop seeing advertising. You will still see contextual ads; they will simply be less tailored to your interests.
7. How to Manage Your Cookie Preferences
Cookie Consent Tool
When you first visit our website, you will be shown a cookie consent banner that allows you to accept all cookies or customise your preferences by cookie category. You can update your preferences at any time by clicking the “Cookie Settings” link in the footer of our website.
Please note that strictly necessary cookies cannot be disabled, as they are required for our Services to function correctly.
Manage Cookie Preferences
To review and update your cookie preferences at any time, click the link in the footer of any page on our website labelled “Cookie Settings.” Your preferences will be saved for 12 months, after which we will ask for your consent again.
Withdrawing Consent
You may withdraw your consent to optional cookies at any time by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings tool. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before withdrawal. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our Services, including personalisation, saved preferences, and advertising.
8. Cookie Preferences by Browser
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, delete existing cookies, or alert you when cookies are being set. The method varies by browser — please refer to the links below for guidance on the most widely used browsers:
| Browser | Cookie Settings Instructions |
|---|---|
| Google Chrome | support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647 |
| Mozilla Firefox | support.mozilla.org — Enhanced Tracking Protection |
| Apple Safari | support.apple.com — Safari Cookie Settings |
| Microsoft Edge | support.microsoft.com — Edge Cookie Settings |
| Opera | help.opera.com — Web Preferences |
| iOS Safari (iPhone/iPad) | Go to Settings → Safari → Privacy & Security and toggle “Block All Cookies.” |
| Android Chrome | Open Chrome → tap ⋮ Menu → Settings → Site Settings → Cookies |
Please be aware that restricting cookies through your browser settings may impact the functionality of our Services, including your ability to log in, maintain a subscription, and receive a personalised experience.
9. Do Not Track & Global Privacy Control
Do Not Track (DNT)
Some browsers support a “Do Not Track” (DNT) setting that sends a signal to websites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Because there is currently no universal standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals, our Services do not respond to DNT signals at this time.
Global Privacy Control (GPC)
The Global Privacy Control (GPC) is a browser-level signal that indicates a user’s preference to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information. Where required by applicable law — including the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and similar U.S. state privacy laws — we honor GPC signals as a valid opt-out of the sale and sharing of personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising. If you enable GPC in a supported browser, we will process it accordingly on our website.
To use the Global Privacy Control, you can install a supported browser extension or use a browser that has GPC built in. For more information, visit globalprivacycontrol.org.
10. Changes to This Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use, changes in applicable law, or changes to our Services. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you through a notice on our website or via email.
We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies. Your continued use of our Services after any changes have been posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Cookie Policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or how we use cookies and similar technologies, please contact us:
Vip Magzine Media, Inc. — Privacy Team
Email: privacy@vipmagzine.com
Address: Vip Magzine Media, Inc.
Website: vipmagzine.com/contact
For subscription or account inquiries, please contact: customercare@vipmagzine.com