Cookie notice

Cookies

The 400 day lifetime is the default of the sign-in library we use and the longest that current browsers allow. We kept it by choice so that you stay signed in between visits. Cookie storage lifetime does not extend the validity of sign-in links, tokens or sessions. Your browser may remove cookies sooner.

Browser storage

Local storage remembers comparison selections, score preferences, panel table columns and whether you chose to see only products with listed sellers (charged_sellers). When you are signed in, that last choice is also saved on your account so it follows you to other devices. charged_theme holds the color theme you saved on your account (light, dark or match device), copied here so the next page can be drawn in it; it is read only while you are signed in. charged_units holds your choice of US, metric, or both for lengths, weights, and temperatures. It is written only when you press the units control and kept in this browser until you clear it. When you are signed in, the same choice is saved on your account so it follows you to other devices. If you sign in and the account has no choice yet, the choice already in this browser is saved on the account. Until you choose, the page starts with US or metric units from your browser’s language list, read in your browser only; nothing about that list is stored or sent to us. charged_view holds your choice of Basic or Expert. It is written only when you choose that view and kept in this browser until you clear it. When you are signed in, the same choice is saved on your account so it follows you to other devices. If you sign in and the account has no choice yet, the choice already in this browser is saved on the account. It is not used to track you. charged_my_system holds the catalog products you put in My system, such as batteries, inverters, charge controllers, solar panels and power stations. It is written only when you add one and kept in this browser until you remove them or clear site data. While you are signed in, it also holds your account number, a copy of your account’s list and a record of what this browser has added to it, so that a list is not added to the wrong account or added twice. A list you made before signing in is added to your account only after you confirm it. Signing out removes your account number and your account’s list from this browser. When you are signed in, the same products are saved on your account so they follow you to other devices. They are private and deleted with your account. Unfinished review text, ratings, the store, photos and form choices are saved on this device, for this browser before you sign in and for your account after, until you submit or discard the draft. Receipts, serial photos and passwords are not saved in review drafts. Photos in a draft are kept in this browser’s database, charged-review-draft-photos, and removed when you submit or discard the draft. A verification receipt exists only as the file you upload to us; you may redact it before uploading, it is seen only by an administrator, and it is deleted automatically once the review has been checked. These local preferences and drafts have no automatic expiration. Submitting or discarding a draft removes it, and clearing site data removes these saved items.

Session storage remembers your position in product lists so you can return to where you were. It does not save the products or reviews themselves. The browser normally clears session storage when you close the tab; restoring a browser session can retain it.

Two more session storage items are kept in the tab. charged:price-drops holds the time of the last request to compare your saved products’ prices, so a signed-in visit does not ask on every page; it holds no price and no account number. charged:signup-email holds the email address you typed when creating an account, so the page that says to check your email can show it with the middle hidden and resend the confirmation email without typing it again. We remove it when the address is confirmed; because a restored browser session can retain session storage, that removal, not closing the tab, is what clears it. It is not copied to local storage or any other record. Neither item is used for advertising or tracking.

External services

Cloudflare, our network provider, measures traffic on its own side of the connection: how many requests arrived, what status they were answered with and how long they took. That happens before the page reaches you, so nothing is loaded into your browser for it, it sets no cookie and it uses no browser storage. One first-party script of ours measures how pages are used (see the Privacy Policy): it sets no cookie, uses no browser storage and sends its message without your cookies. Cloudflare Web Analytics also runs, to watch page speed and site health: its script sends Cloudflare the page address, the page you came from, your browser’s description and how long the page took to load. It sets no cookie and uses no browser storage. No other third-party analytics runs. Neither our script nor Cloudflare’s runs for visitors in the European Union, the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, as Cloudflare locates them. Cloudflare data collection

Videos connect to YouTube only when you choose to load them. Seller links open another website, which has its own privacy and cookie policies. When you follow a link marked Paid link, the seller or its affiliate program may set a cookie on its own website so that a purchase you make there is credited to us. We do not set or read that cookie.

An “I am not a robot” check (Cloudflare Turnstile) is built into the review, report and product suggestion forms, and into the registration, confirmation resend and document upload forms. Right now it is switched on for writing or editing a review, reporting incorrect information and suggesting a missing product; for registration and confirmation resend; for document uploads. Where it is on, your browser loads a script from challenges.cloudflare.com on those forms only, and nowhere else on the site. Where it is off, your browser does not contact it at all. Cloudflare states that it does not use cookies or browser storage and is not used to track you across websites.

Phone verification by text message is not currently offered, and we do not collect phone numbers.

California and opt-out signals

We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. No advertising or tracking cookie is set, so there is nothing to opt out of. Our usage script sends nothing when a browser Global Privacy Control (GPC) or Do Not Track signal is set. California residents can ask what we hold, ask for a correction, or ask for deletion through your account or by email to privacy@chargedreviews.com; we answer within 45 days and never treat you differently for asking.

Your choices

You can clear cookies and site data in your browser at any time. Doing so signs you out and removes your saved selections and unfinished reviews. You can discard individual review drafts from your account page. Questions: privacy@chargedreviews.com. See the Privacy Policy for everything else we collect.