Cookie policy
Cookie Policy
How the Montana Research Foundation website uses cookies and similar technologies. In short: the only cookie it sets itself is the one that remembers you already unlocked a report or preprint, and it only loads Google Analytics if you say yes.
01 What this policy covers
This Cookie Policy explains how Montana Research Foundation uses cookies and similar technologies on the Montana Research Foundation website, and what third-party services involved in running the site may do.
02 What cookies are
Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website or related services. Similar technologies include local storage, pixels, tags, and other identifiers used to remember information or measure interactions.
03 Cookies set by this website
The website sets one cookie of its own: after you sign up to read or download a report or preprint, a cookie remembers that for 30 days so you are not asked again. It does not otherwise set cookies or use local storage to track you, embed advertising, or embed social-media tracking. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to understand aggregate traffic to the site; it does not set a cookie, does not use local storage, and does not build an individual profile of you or track you across other sites. Web fonts are self-hosted and served from this site’s own origin, so viewing a page does not trigger a separate request to a font provider’s servers.
- Strictly necessary cookies: "mrf_gate", set for 30 days once you sign up to read or download a report or preprint, so you are not asked again on that browser. It stores your email address, protected against tampering, and nothing else.
- Cookieless analytics: Cloudflare Web Analytics, measuring aggregate page views and traffic without a cookie or an individual identifier.
- Cookie-based analytics: Google Analytics (GA4), which sets a "_ga" cookie (used to distinguish visitors, expires after around 2 years) and a "_ga_"-prefixed session cookie tied to this property (used to track session state, expires after around 2 years). Neither is set unless you accept in the cookie banner.
- Advertising or targeting cookies: none at present, for the same reason.
- Third-party embedded content or trackers (video players, social widgets, fonts loaded from an external server): none.
04 Third-party services
- Our hosting and CDN provider may set strictly necessary cookies for security, traffic routing, or bot protection. These are required to serve the site reliably and do not require consent.
- Cloudflare Web Analytics measures aggregate traffic to the site. It is designed not to use cookies, local storage, or a unique visitor identifier, so it does not require consent under European cookie rules. Cloudflare’s privacy policy (cloudflare.com/privacypolicy) has further detail.
- Google Analytics (GA4) measures individual sessions using cookies, and is only loaded if you accept in the cookie banner above. Google’s privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy) has further detail.
- The contact, internship, partnership, and report/preprint access forms are submitted to Formspree. When you send a message, application, or access request, Formspree processes it under its own privacy and cookie practices, described at formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy.
- External links to Zenodo, GitHub, and cited sources lead to sites governed by their own policies.
05 Consent
When you first visit, a banner asks whether you accept Google Analytics cookies. Google Analytics is not loaded, and no cookie is set, unless you choose "Accept." Choosing "Reject" dismisses the banner without loading it. You can change your choice at any time using "Cookie settings" in the footer, which reopens the banner. Strictly necessary cookies, including "mrf_gate" and cookies set by our hosting provider, and our cookieless Cloudflare Web Analytics, do not require consent and are not affected by this choice.
06 Browser controls and device settings
Most browsers allow you to control cookies through settings that can block, limit, delete, or notify you about cookie activity. Device and browser privacy features can also affect how cookies and similar technologies operate. Blocking strictly necessary cookies set by our hosting provider may affect access to the site.
07 Policy updates
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the website, legal requirements, or the tools we use. The latest version published on the site will apply.
08 Further information
Questions about cookies, privacy, or data protection can be raised through the contact page, selecting "Privacy request" as the topic. Where cookie-related processing involves personal data, our Privacy Policy also applies.