Cookie policy

What cookies are

Cookies are small files a website stores on your device. Browser storage, such as local storage, works in a similar way, and we treat both the same.

Most of what we store is needed for the service to work. The one exception is analytics: Google Analytics cookies, which we only set if you allow them. We don’t use advertising cookies.

Cookies and storage we set

These keep you signed in, save your progress and remember choices you make. The law allows them without asking, because the service can’t work without them.

sb-[project]-auth-token
Keeps you signed in. It can be split into several numbered cookies when the session is large.
Type
Cookie
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you sign out, or 400 days
sb-[project]-auth-token-code-verifier
Completes signing in with Google securely.
Type
Cookie
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Removed once sign-in finishes
ob_session
Links this browser to the guided setup you’re working through, before you have an account.
Type
Cookie
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
30 days
ce_consent
Remembers your answer to our cookie notice, including whether you allowed analytics cookies, so we don’t ask on every page.
Type
Cookie
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
6 months
ce_master
Keeps a member of our team signed in to the team’s own admin pages. It is never set for students or visitors.
Type
Cookie
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
12 hours
chemeng.onboarding.session
Brings you back to your guided setup after you sign in.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you finish the setup
ce_rail
Remembers whether you collapsed the side menu.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_lab_pin
Remembers whether you pinned the plant to the top of an industrial case, so it stays in view while you read.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_lab_readouts
Remembers whether you folded away the plant's readouts in an industrial case.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_lab_marks
Remembers whether you hid the stage checkpoints and the flow arrow from the plant in an industrial case's free play.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_lab_unlocked
Remembers that you closed the notice saying an industrial case's full plant is unlocked, so it is not shown again.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_lab_review_asks
Counts how many times an industrial case has asked you for a review, so it stops after three.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_lesson_captions
Remembers whether you turned subtitles on for lesson videos, so the next lesson starts the way you left the last.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you change it or clear your browser data
ce_tutor_upgrade_prompt
Remembers that you dismissed a plan reminder in the AI Tutor, so it doesn’t come back too soon.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you clear your browser data
ce_tutor_allowance_notice
Remembers which reminder about today’s CERA allowance you closed, so it stays closed until the next one or the next day.
Type
Local storage
Set by
The ChemEng Student
Lasts
Until you clear your browser data

Lesson videos

Lesson videos play through YouTube, in its privacy-enhanced mode. The videos are part of the lessons, so the YouTube player loads when you open a lesson that has one. YouTube may then store cookies and similar data on your device, and it receives your IP address and information about your browser. Google’s privacy policy explains how YouTube uses this data.

If you block third-party cookies in your browser, some lesson videos may not play.

YouTube player storage
Plays lesson videos. YouTube may use this storage to keep playback working, remember settings such as volume, and detect abuse.
Type
Cookies and local storage
Set by
YouTube (Google)
Lasts
Set by YouTube

Analytics cookies

If you allow analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics to see how the site is used: which pages are visited, how people find us, and what kind of device and browser they use. It shows us which parts of the platform help students and which need fixing.

We send Google Analytics the address of each page you visit, cut down to the page itself, and never your name, email or account. Google Analytics doesn’t store your IP address, and we’ve switched off its advertising features. Google explains how it handles this data in How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

These cookies stay off until you turn them on, and nothing is sent to Google Analytics before then.

_ga
Tells Google Analytics that visits come from the same browser, using a random number rather than anything about you, so we count visitors rather than page loads. Set only if you allow analytics cookies.
Type
Cookie
Set by
Google Analytics (Google)
Lasts
2 years
_ga_[stream]
Keeps track of your current visit for Google Analytics, such as when it started. Set only if you allow analytics cookies.
Type
Cookie
Set by
Google Analytics (Google)
Lasts
2 years

Sites we send you to

When you pay for a plan, update your card or sign in with Google, you leave our site for a page run by Stripe or Google. Those pages set their own cookies, covered by Stripe’s cookie policy and Google’s cookie information.

Your choices

We ask before setting analytics cookies, on your first visit. You can change your answer at any time from Cookie settings at the bottom of every page of the site or, once you’re signed in, from Settings in the app. Switching analytics off stops Google Analytics straight away and removes its cookies from this site.

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser’s settings. If you block the essential cookies we set, you won’t be able to sign in.