Cookie policy

Updated November 13, 2026

This page explains the use of cookies and local storage on prosound.ixbt.com. Some data is stored by the site itself, and some by embedded advertising, security and media services.

What cookies are

Cookies are small records stored by your browser at the request of a site or an embedded service. They may contain a visitor ID, session data or interface settings. Identifiers and activity data may be personal data. A cookie does not have to contain your name to identify you.

Why they are used

Protection against automated requests and attacks.
Editor sign-in and comments on pages that use them.
Advertising and ad measurement through the Yandex Advertising Network.
Embedded videos, audio players and maps.

Connected services may receive your IP address, browser information, the address of the requested resource and other technical data. Cookies vary by page, browser settings, sign-in to external services and user actions.

Names and lifetimes

The information below comes from checks on November 12, 2026. Lifetimes are values requested by a server or set in code. Your browser may shorten a lifetime or block a cookie. Setting a cookie again may renew its lifetime. These are browser storage periods, not data retention periods on a provider's servers.

__ddg1_: Bot and DDoS protection. Set by comment resources at cmt.ixbt.com for the .ixbt.com domain. Requested lifetime: 1 year.
__ddg8_, __ddg9_, __ddg10_: Supporting cookies for the same protection service. Requested lifetime: about 20 minutes.
i, yandexuid: Visitor identifiers used by Yandex services. The checked response requests 730 days.
pcuid_context, pi, yashr, bh: Cookies from the Yandex advertising infrastructure. Requested lifetimes: pcuid_context — about 68 years; pi — 730 days; yashr — 365 days; bh — 400 days. The exact internal purpose of each cookie has not been established from public information.
YSC: Protects requests made by the embedded YouTube player. Lifetime: browser session.
__Secure-YNID, VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, __Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN, VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA: Identifiers and service settings used by embedded YouTube players, including preferences, analytics and feature tests. The checked responses request about 180 days. The role of individual cookies and their use for advertising depend on the service and user settings.
sc_anonymous_id: Visitor identifier used by the embedded SoundCloud player. Its code requests 10 years.
datadome: Bot protection for SoundCloud. The provider allows lifetimes from 7 to 365 days; the lifetime used by this specific configuration has not been confirmed.
news_comments: Stores selected comment settings, such as message order and visibility. The code requests 10 years. Used on pages with the relevant comment system.
uid, sid: Sign-in for the iXBT forum and support for older settings. These cookies may be present for forum users. One migration mechanism gives uid an expiry date of January 1, 2034; the lifetime of sid was not established in this review.
is_gdpr, is_gdpr_b, _yasc: Used by Yandex Maps embedded on some event pages. is_gdpr and is_gdpr_b identify whether GDPR rules apply; the server requests 730 days. For _yasc, the server requests 10 years; its exact internal purpose has not been confirmed.

Some articles use Vimeo and other external embeds. The Vimeo player checked did not allow automated inspection, so its cookies are not listed as cookies actually received. Vimeo documents vuid (2 years), player and flags (1 year), and security cookies. The list and conditions may change.

The advertising code may also load the Metrica library. Loading a library does not prove that all its cookies are set. For example, _ym_uid and _ym_d are not listed here as cookies confirmed on ProSound.

The “Got it” button

The button closes an information notice. It does not enable or disable advertising, analytics or external players, and it does not give separate consent to their data processing.

To avoid showing the notice on every page, the site stores only its version and a 180-day expiry time in localStorage. It creates no unique visitor ID and does not send this record to the server. The notice appears again on your next visit after that period. If your browser blocks local storage, dismissal applies only to the current page.

The record may remain in your browser until you clear site data or visit the site after its expiry. The button below reopens the notice without changing any external service settings.

How to manage cookies

Browser settings let you remove cookies and site data, block third-party cookies or limit storage. Blocking may affect sign-in and some players. You do not need to sign in to read articles.

Yandex offers advertising preference settings. Turning off ad personalisation does not block all cookies. Settings in external platform accounts may also affect processing.

Provider documents

This information is reviewed when connected services or their settings change. Please report any differences using the email address above.

Who operates this site

Individual entrepreneur Maxim Vladimirovich Liadov, Russian registration number (OGRNIP) 312774611700441. Questions about this policy: maxim@ixbt.com.