Privacy & Cookie Policy

Last updated: June 2026  ·  Applies to cm26bracket.com

This is an independent fan site not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to any official football governing body, tournament organiser, or their commercial partners. This page explains how this website collects, uses, and protects information when you visit. By using this site you agree to the practices described below.

1. Information We Collect

This is a static website. We do not operate a server that stores your personal data. However, third-party services embedded on this site may collect data as described below. Analytics and advertising services are only activated after you give consent via the cookie banner.

• Usage analytics — if you accept cookies, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to collect anonymised data about how visitors use the site (pages viewed, tab interactions, language preference, approximate location at country/region level). IP addresses are anonymised before storage.
• Advertising — if you accept cookies, we use Google AdSense and Infolinks to display advertisements. These services may use cookies and device identifiers to personalise ads based on your previous browsing activity.
• Scenario links — if you use the "Copy Link" feature, the scenario data is encoded in the URL itself. We do not store it on any server.

2. Cookies & Consent

When you first visit this site a cookie banner is displayed. Analytics and advertising cookies are only set if you click Accept. You can decline without affecting the core bracket functionality. We use the following categories:

• Strictly necessary — two entries in localStorage: your language preference (fb2026lang) and your cookie consent choice (fb2026consent). No expiry. Never transmitted to any server.
• Analytics (GA4) — _ga, _ga_XJS6GHZWQS. Expire after 2 years. Set by Google LLC. Only placed after you accept.
• Advertising (AdSense & Infolinks) — various cookies set by Google and Infolinks for ad targeting and measurement. Only placed after you accept. See Google's advertising policy and Infolinks' privacy policy.

You can withdraw consent at any time by clearing your browser's site data for cm26bracket.com, which will reset the banner on your next visit. You can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings.

3. Third-Party Services

• Google Analytics 4 — Privacy Policy
• Google AdSense — Advertising Policy
• Infolinks — in-text and display advertising. Privacy Policy
• Google Fonts — fonts are loaded from Google's CDN; Google may log the request.
• GitHub (raw.githubusercontent.com) — standings data is fetched from a public GitHub repository. No personal data is sent.
• Cloudflare Pages — the site is hosted on Cloudflare. Cloudflare may log HTTP request metadata per their privacy policy.

4. Your Rights & Legal Bases

EU / EEA residents (GDPR) — the lawful basis for any analytics or advertising processing is your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)), given via the cookie banner. You can withdraw consent at any time (see Section 2). Data collected by Google and Infolinks may be transferred to and processed in the United States; both providers operate under Standard Contractual Clauses and/or other GDPR-compliant transfer mechanisms. For other rights (access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection) please contact the relevant third-party processor directly using the links in Section 3.

California residents (CCPA / CPRA) — we do not sell your personal information. However, allowing Google and Infolinks to serve personalised ads may constitute "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising under the CPRA. You have the right to opt out of this sharing at any time using the links below, without affecting your ability to use the site.

To opt out of personalised / behavioural advertising:

• Google — adssettings.google.com
• Infolinks — Infolinks opt-out
• All participating ad networks — NAI opt-out  |  DAA opt-out

California residents may also submit access, deletion, or correction requests by emailing [email protected]. We will respond within 45 days as required by law.

5. Children

This site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

6. Changes

We may update this policy as the site evolves. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect any changes.

7. Contact

Questions about this policy? Email: [email protected]