Cookie Policy — WaterParkUSA.org — CCPA/CPRA & State Privacy Patchwork

1. What Cookies Are

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. Similar technologies include local storage, pixels, and SDKs. They allow a website to remember your preferences, keep your visit working smoothly, measure usage, and (when you consent) support personalized advertising.

In the U.S., cookie use is governed by a patchwork of state privacy laws — CCPA/CPRA in California, VCDPA in Virginia, CPA in Colorado, CTDPA in Connecticut, UCPA in Utah, TDPSA in Texas, OCPA in Oregon, and a growing list — plus federal frameworks such as Section 5 of the FTC Act and COPPA for users under 13.

2. Why We Use Cookies

• To make the site work — load pages, remember cookie preferences, protect against abuse
• To remember your preferences — state preference, font-size choice, accessibility preferences
• To understand what is useful — aggregated, anonymous analytics on which park guides are read most
• To support display advertising — frequency capping and measurement, with personalized advertising only where you have not opted out

3. The Four Categories of Cookie

4. First-Party Cookies (Set by waterparkusa.org/)

5. Third-Party Cookies

6. “Sale” and “Share” Under CCPA/CPRA

We do not “sell” personal information for money. However, the broad definitions of “sale” under California’s CCPA/CPRA and “sharing” under the CPRA (for cross-context behavioral advertising) can cover the disclosure of cookie-based identifiers to third-party advertising partners (e.g., Google AdSense) when you have not opted out. To the extent any of our cookie-based advertising falls within those definitions, you can opt out via:

• The Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal — we honor it as a “Do Not Sell or Share” request
• The “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link in our footer (where displayed for your state)
• The cookie banner — reject advertising cookies
• Google’s own opt-out: adssettings.google.com

7. How to Manage Cookies

• Cookie banner — accept, reject, or customize on first visit
• “Cookie settings” link in the footer — change your choice at any time
• Browser controls — block or delete cookies (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Brave)
• Private / Incognito browsing
• GPC-enabled browser — Brave, Firefox (with extension), DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser; we honor the Global Privacy Control as a “Do Not Sell or Share” opt-out

8. Industry Opt-Out Tools

• Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) WebChoices — optout.aboutads.info
• Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) — optout.networkadvertising.org
• Google Ads settings — adssettings.google.com
• Browser-level controls — your browser’s “Settings” → “Privacy” → “Cookies”

9. Global Privacy Control (GPC) and Do Not Track

The original browser-level Do Not Track (DNT) signal is no longer widely supported and the original DNT specification was never finalized. We honor the more current Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a “Do Not Sell or Share” opt-out under the CCPA/CPRA and as an opt-out signal under the CPA, CTDPA, and other state laws that recognize universal opt-out mechanisms.

10. Changes to This Cookie Policy

We update this policy when our practices or U.S. law change. The “Last reviewed” date at the top reflects the current version.

11. Contact

For any cookie or privacy query, email info@waterparkusa.org with the subject “Cookie query” — see our Privacy Policy for the full state-privacy-rights framework.