Legal

Cookie Policy

Last updated: June 2026

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They help the site function properly, remember preferences, and measure traffic. Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, and pixels.

2. How We Use Cookies

visualworksmd.com uses cookies for two purposes:

  • Strictly necessary cookies — required for the Site to load, render securely, and remember session-level preferences (e.g. reduced-motion).
  • Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4) — to measure aggregate traffic, page performance, and how visitors find us.

We do not use advertising cookies, remarketing pixels, or social-media trackers.

3. Google Analytics & Google Search Console

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4), loaded directly with Google's gtag.js, to understand how visitors use the Site. GA4 sets the following first-party cookies on visualworksmd.com:

  • _ga — distinguishes unique users (expires after 2 years).
  • _ga_<measurement-id> — used by GA4 to persist session state (expires after 2 years).
  • _gid — distinguishes users (expires after 24 hours; not always set).

We have configured GA4 with IP anonymization and have disabled Google Signals and Google Ads remarketing.

Google Search Console measures how the Site appears in Google Search (impressions, clicks, average position, and indexed pages). Search Console does not set cookies on your browser when you visit our Site — its data comes directly from Google's own crawl and search logs.

4. Third-Party Cookies

When you pay an invoice, our payment provider (Stripe) may set its own cookies on its own domain. Their cookie practices are governed by their own policies. Our contact form does not set any third-party cookies — submissions are sent straight to our own inbox.

5. Managing & Opting Out

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the Site from working correctly.

To opt out of Google Analytics across all sites, install the official Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. You can also block analytics cookies in your browser, or use a content blocker.

Most browsers also offer a "Do Not Track" / Global Privacy Control signal. We honor GPC by not loading analytics for visitors who enable it.

6. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance.

7. Contact

Questions? Email info@visualworksmd.com or call (240) 841-5264.

Visual Works, Laurel, MD, USA