A cookie is a small file that your browser stores when you visit a website. It can remember a preference, keep pages working normally or measure how a site is used. Browser storage such as local storage does a similar job, and everything below applies to it as well.
lightningstorm-in.com is an informational site without accounts or registration, so its use of cookies is limited. Cookies are described by who sets them and how long they last. First-party cookies are set by this domain, third-party cookies come from another domain whose content is loaded on the page, session cookies disappear when you close the browser, and persistent cookies remain until they expire or you delete them.
These keep the pages loading and displaying properly and can remember small choices, such as having seen a notice. They do not need your consent because the site would not work correctly without them.
If an analytics tool is switched on, it may set cookies that count visits and show which pages are read, usually in aggregate and without naming you. Outbound links to an operator or another service can also lead to cookies from those sites after you click. This site does not control them, and each of those sites explains its own cookies in its own policy.
You decide which cookies your browser accepts. Every major browser lets you view the cookies it holds, delete some or all of them, block cookies from particular sites, and block third-party cookies altogether. The menu is usually found under privacy or security in the settings. Instructions differ between Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge, and the help pages of your browser explain the steps for your version.
Blocking essential cookies can stop parts of a page from displaying as intended. Blocking statistics cookies has no effect on what you see, only on whether your visit is counted. Deleting cookies after each visit removes any stored preference, and the site then treats you as a new visitor next time.
Where the law requires consent for non-essential cookies, you can give it or refuse it in the notice the site shows, and you can change your mind later by clearing the stored choice in your browser. This policy may change as the site or the rules change, and the current version is always the one published on this page. It should be read together with the Privacy Policy, which explains how any data collected through cookies is handled.
