Essential session cookies
Keep a reading session open between page loads so a story you just opened does not reset when you move to the next one. Set when you arrive, cleared when you close the browser.
Session only
Policy desk · Elisha Yong Journal
Cookie Policy
This page explains how cookie files are used on Elisha Yong Journal, what each kind of cookie does for readers, and how you can control them in your own browser. It is a record of practice, not marketing copy.
- Read first
- Cookies keep the reading session steady — they remember your text-size choice and which sections you visited so the next page loads the way you left it.
- Your control
- You choose. Clearing cookies in your browser removes everything we set, and blocking them costs you only convenience, not access to stories.
- Last updated
- 8 October 2026. Substantive edits to this page are noted on the Editorial Standards page.
What a cookie actually is
A cookie is a small text file your browser saves when you open a website. On this site it holds a short label, a value, and an expiry time — nothing else. It travels back to us with each page request, which is how a server knows that the reader asking for a story is the same reader who asked for the previous one.
That is the whole mechanism. A cookie cannot read other files on your device, cannot start a program, and cannot see what you do on other websites unless that website also set a cookie of its own. When we say "cookie policy" on this page, we mean the plain record of which files this site sets, what each one remembers, and how long it stays.
Cookies are only one of a few storage methods a browser offers. Where a related technology such as local storage or a session store is used at all, we name it here and treat it under the same rules as a cookie — same notice, same clearing behaviour, same respect for your choice. If a change adds a new file, we update this page before the change goes live.
The cookies this site sets
Four families, listed by what they do
Preference cookies
Remember how you like the paper set — text size where the site offers it, and whether you dismissed a notice so it does not return on every visit. They carry no identifier that points back to you.
Up to 12 months
Measurement cookies
Count which sections get read and which headlines are opened, in aggregate — enough to see whether a beat like Technology or Local New York is worth the space it takes on the front page.
Up to 13 months
Embedded media cookies
Set only where a story page carries an embedded player or a chart loaded from another service. Until you press play or interact, we keep that third party out and the file is not written.
On interaction
We do not set advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, and we do not sell reader data. If that ever changes, the change is described on this page before it takes effect — the same rule we hold at the Editorial Standards desk.
How to take control
In your browser
Each browser keeps its own list. Look under settings, usually Privacy or Site data, and you can list what a site saved, delete a single entry, or block cookies for this domain while leaving others alone.
Private windows
A private or incognito window writes its own store and throws it away when you close the window. Useful for reading once; it does not stop a server from setting a cookie during the visit itself.
If you block them all
Stories still open and the archive still loads. What you lose is convenience: preferences reset, and embedded media may not start. Blocking essentials never locks you out of reporting.
If you want to inspect a file before you decide, open your browser's cookie list and look for the domain elishayong.com. Anything set here carries a short label and a value you can read. If a name on that list does not match one of the four families above, write to us and we will look into it.
Questions the desk gets
Short answers to the things readers ask most about cookies on a news site. If yours is not here, the contact details below reach a person.
Do cookies identify me by name?
No. The files this site sets hold short labels and values, not a name or an account. We do not run a login, so there is no profile to attach a reader to. Measurement data is read in aggregate — counts of visits to a section, not a trail of one person.
What happens if I clear my cookies today?
Everything we set is removed on the spot. The next story you open starts a fresh session, any preference you set earlier is forgotten, and a notice you dismissed may appear once more so you can make the choice again. Nothing on the site breaks — you simply start from the default.
Do you set cookies for advertising?
No. This site does not run advertising cookies and does not pass reader data to an ad network. Measurement stays on our own side, used to decide what the front page carries. If third-party media on a story page would set its own file, we say so in the caption and you choose whether to start it.
How will I know if this page changes?
The date at the top of this page moves whenever the record changes, and a real edit — a new cookie family, a new retention period — is described in plain words rather than quietly swapped in. Typos and formatting fixes do not move the date.
Ask the desk a question
If a cookie question is not answered here, or you want a record of what this site sets before you decide, write to the newsroom. We answer policy questions during working hours and point you to the right page rather than repeat it.
ContactNewsroom
Elisha Yong Journal354 E 31st St, Brooklyn, NY 11226, USA
+1 833 292 3148
TheodoreMeyer@elishayong.com
Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Related reading