Last updated · 7 August 2026

Cookie notice

A cookie is a small text file your browser stores when a website asks it to remember something — a preference, a session token, a login state. Note Haven uses very few of them. I am Wen; this is my personal blog from Bukit Merah View, not a shop or an app with accounts. You will not find advertising trackers here. What you will find is one preference cookie for the banner at the bottom of the screen, a short-lived token when you use the contact form, and a Google Maps picture-frame on every page that may bring its own third-party cookies along. This page explains each piece in plain language.

Cookies this site sets

I set only two kinds of cookies directly:

  • Consent preference (nh_cookie_consent). When you click Accept all, Reject all, or Save on the cookie banner, a cookie records your choice so the strip does not reappear on every visit. It lasts up to six months, then expires and the banner asks again. Values are simple words like all, reject, essential, or custom-maps — not a unique ID and not used to track you across other websites.
  • Rate-limit token (session). When you submit the hello form, the server may set a short-lived session cookie to count recent submissions from the same browser. This prevents a burst of automated messages. It expires within minutes to an hour and is not used for analytics or advertising.

Neither cookie is strictly necessary to read the blog, but the consent cookie improves the experience by remembering that you already answered the banner. The rate-limit cookie is necessary only if you use the form repeatedly in a short window.

Google Maps on every page

Every content page on Note Haven — start, shelf, notes, me, hello, privacy, cookies, even this page and the missing-page screen — includes an embedded Google Map centred roughly on the Bukit Merah neighbourhood. The map is an <iframe> loaded from Google's servers, not an image I host. When your browser loads that frame, Google receives technical information: your IP address, browser type, the URL of the page you were reading, and possibly cookies or local storage under Google's policies. I do not see that data, cannot download Google's logs, and do not receive analytics from the embed.

I include the map because readers sometimes want a sense of where these notes are written — the canal walks, the kopitiam under the next block, the corridor light at dusk. The trade-off is third-party processing. Google's privacy policy applies to their side of the iframe; mine applies to everything I control directly. For a fuller picture of personal data handling, see the privacy notice.

How to reject or limit cookies

You have several options, and none of them will break the blog text:

  • Cookie banner. Click Reject all to store a preference against non-essential cookies. Click Customise to allow essential cookies only while toggling the Maps checkbox off if you add that logic later — currently the map still loads as an embed, but your documented preference is stored. Accept all records consent for the banner preference cookie itself.
  • Browser settings. Most browsers let you block all cookies, block third-party cookies only, or clear cookies when you close the window. Blocking third-party cookies may prevent the Google Maps frame from loading; you will see an empty box where the map was, and the rest of the page will read normally.
  • Extensions. Privacy extensions can block known tracker domains. Google Maps embeds may be caught by aggressive lists; again, only the map frame is affected.
  • Do not use the form. If you prefer zero session tokens, email [email protected] directly instead of using hello.php.

I do not use a full-screen cookie modal that blocks reading. The banner is a bottom strip you can dismiss with a choice.

How consent is stored and changed

Your banner choice is written to the nh_cookie_consent cookie with a six-month lifetime and SameSite=Lax so it is not sent on cross-site requests. To change your mind later, clear cookies for notehaven.life in your browser settings — the banner will return on the next visit — or use Customise again if the banner is still visible. There is no account system; I cannot change your browser storage remotely.

If you withdraw consent for contact messages, email me at [email protected] and ask that prior form submissions be deleted. That is separate from cookies but related to the same hello page.

Last updated

This notice was written on 7 August 2026, the same date as the site build. I will update it if I add new cookies or change embeds. Changes will be noted here with a new date at the top.

Note Haven is a personal blog. These pages reflect my own view of how small technical choices affect readers. They are not legal advice. If you need formal guidance on cookies or PDPA, the Personal Data Protection Commission at pdpc.gov.sg publishes resources for individuals and organisations.