A cookie is a small text file placed on your device (computer, tablet, or phone) when you visit a website, letting that site — or a third party — recognize your device for a period of time. Cookies may be "session" cookies, deleted when you close your browser, or "persistent" cookies, which remain on your device for a set duration. They may also be "first-party" cookies, set directly by the site you're visiting, or "third-party" cookies, set by a different domain, such as an analytics provider. This page explains exactly which cookies The Rational Project uses, why, for how long, and how you can control them.
What are cookies
Beyond the definition above, it's worth knowing that a cookie itself generally cannot identify you by name — it identifies your device or browser. Depending on what it's used for and how long it lasts, a cookie may or may not require your consent before it's placed: this policy tells you, for each cookie we use, into which category it falls.
Legal basis
Placing non-essential cookies on your device is subject to your prior consent, in accordance with Article 82 of the amended French Data Protection Act n°78-17 of 6 January 1978 (which transposes the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC into French law) and the recommendations of the CNIL, the French data protection authority (deliberation n°2020-091 of 17 September 2020). Cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to operate are exempt from this consent requirement.
Processing of data collected through cookies that require consent is based on that consent (Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR). Processing of data through strictly necessary cookies is based on The Rational Project's legitimate interest in operating a secure, functional website and in remembering your own choices (Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR).
Strictly necessary cookies
The Rational Project sets one strictly necessary, first-party cookie, exempt from consent under the CNIL's guidance for cookies necessary to provide a service you've explicitly requested:
- trp_cookie_consent — functional. Records your choice (accept or refuse) from the cookie banner, so we don't ask again on every visit and so a refusal is actually respected. Kept for 180 days from your last choice.
Without this cookie, the consent banner would reappear on every single page. Nothing else on the site depends on a cookie in this way. In particular, signing in does not use a cookie: authentication is handled through your browser's local storage, not a cookie, so no separate "session cookie" is created when you log in.
Analytics cookies
With your consent, The Rational Project uses Google Analytics 4 (via Firebase, operated by Google Ireland Limited) to understand how visitors use the site — which pages are viewed, how visitors found us, and broad, aggregated usage trends — so we can improve it. The following cookies may be set once you accept:
- _ga — first-party. A unique identifier used to distinguish visitors from one another. Kept for 13 months.
- _ga_<container-id> (a property-specific identifier, e.g.
_ga_G-39RN80FQKX) — first-party. Persists session state for this specific Analytics property. Kept for 13 months.
These exact cookie names can change slightly if Google updates how Google Analytics 4 operates; if that happens, we'll update this page accordingly. These cookies are set only after you click "Accept" in the banner — never before. No advertising, retargeting, or commercial-profiling cookie is used on this site: analytics measurement is the only consent signal we ever request, and we never request or use it for advertising purposes.
Data collected through Google Analytics is pseudonymized and aggregated by Google's measurement tool, and IP addresses are anonymized before storage. Administrators of the site only ever see aggregate statistics — number of visits, pages viewed, approximate geographic origin, device type, and similar metrics — and cannot use this data to personally identify an individual visitor, such as their name, email address, or any other directly identifying information.
Managing your consent
On your first visit, a banner asks you to accept or refuse analytics cookies. Refusing is exactly as easy as accepting — a single click either way — and there is no "cookie wall": the site remains fully usable whichever you choose. No non-essential cookie is placed before you've made a choice.
You can change your choice at any time:
You can also control or delete cookies directly from your browser's settings. The exact steps vary by browser — consult the official documentation for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge. Disabling non-essential cookies does not prevent you from browsing the site or submitting an application.
Recipients and international transfers
Data collected through Google Analytics is processed by Google Ireland Limited and, as part of the service, may be transferred to Google servers located outside the European Union, including in the United States. These transfers are governed by the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the European Commission, in accordance with Article 46 of the GDPR, which require the recipient to apply safeguards equivalent to those required under EU law.
Retention period
Cookie retention periods are listed in the sections above. For the underlying Analytics data itself (as distinct from the cookie stored on your device), Google Analytics 4 properties are, by default, configured to retain event-level data for 2 months and user-level data for up to 14 months before automatic deletion. This reflects Google Analytics' standard configuration rather than a figure we independently control day to day, and it may be adjusted from the Analytics administration console; this page will be updated if that configuration changes.
Your rights
Because analytics data is pseudonymized, we generally cannot connect it back to a specific individual. Where you can be identified — for example, through account data covered by our Privacy Policy — the same rights apply: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, and portability. See our Privacy Policy for how to exercise these rights and how to contact the CNIL if you believe your rights are not being respected.
Contact
For any question about the cookies used on this site: legal@therationalproject.com
For how we process personal data submitted through our forms, see our Privacy Policy.