Cookie Policy

Last updated: November 3, 2026

Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. Local storage is a similar space in your browser that only the page can read. This page lists everything of that kind that can be used when you visit The Social Security Directory, grouped by purpose, and who sets it.

Summary

Necessary: the site does not need any cookie of its own to work. Cloudflare may set a security cookie in some cases.
Preferences: none.
Advertising: Google and its partners set cookies to serve and measure ads.
Analytics: none. The site does not use Google Analytics or any other tracking script.

Detail

Category	Name	Set by	Purpose and duration
Necessary	`__cf_bm`, `cf_clearance`	Cloudflare	Set only when Cloudflare needs to filter automated traffic. Up to 30 minutes (__cf_bm) or as set by the security check.
Third-party content	Google cookies such as `NID`	Google (Maps)	Only when a Google map loads on a page. Remembers map preferences and protects against abuse. Up to 6 months.
Advertising	Google cookies such as `__gads`, `__gpi`, `__eoi`, `IDE`, `DSID`, `test_cookie`	Google and its ad partners	Set when ads are shown. Serve ads, limit repetition, measure results and, with personalized ads on, choose ads based on your activity. From a few minutes up to 13 months.

Cookie names and durations are decided by each company and may change. Google publishes the current list in How Google uses cookies in advertising.

Fonts, icons and map tiles loaded from other servers (described in the privacy policy) do not set cookies, but those servers do receive your IP address.

How to control them

In your browser: you can block or delete cookies at any time: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge.
Google ads: turn off personalized ads in My Ad Center or Google Ads Settings. You will still see ads, but they will not be based on your activity.
Industry opt-out: WebChoices (Digital Advertising Alliance) lets you opt out of interest-based ads from many companies at once.
Blocking all cookies does not stop the site from working. Only maps from Google may need cookies to load correctly.

Visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland

Google requires that, for visitors in those regions, personalized ads be shown only after consent collected through a certified consent tool. Without consent, Google serves non-personalized or limited ads, which still use cookies for frequency capping and fraud prevention. This site does not show a cookie banner of its own; if one appears for ads, it is the consent message required by Google.

Questions