Cookies and browser storage
Sign in safely, protect unfinished work and choose whether this device remembers your display settings.
On this page (6)
Ruebex cookie and local storage notice
Ruebex is a trading name of Optamix Tech Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17202050). Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. Email: info@ruebex.com.
This page lists the cookies and browser storage Ruebex uses on ruebex.com. Our Privacy Policy covers everything else.
The short version
- We use four essential cookies, only when you sign in or create an account, to keep you signed in and protect your account.
- Your browser also keeps your unsent work, your display settings (which you can switch off on this page) and a few records of your choices.
- There is no cookie banner. Ruebex sets only strictly necessary cookies and uses browser storage only for things you ask for, so the law does not require us to ask you to accept cookies. If that ever changes, we will ask you first.
Cookies we use
All four are first-party and essential, set only when you create an account or sign in. If you block them, you can't sign in.
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts | Essential? |
|---|---|---|---|
__Host-rx_student_session | Keeps you signed in. It holds a random code; our server keeps only a hashed copy | Up to 30 days after you sign in. It stops working after 12 hours without use. Signing out removes it | Yes: sign-in |
__Host-rx_csrf | Security: stops other websites from tricking your browser into changing your account (cross-site request forgery) | Up to 30 days after you sign in. Signing out removes it | Yes: security |
__Host-rx_device | Recognises this browser as one device, to apply device limits (1 on the free plan, 2 on Ruebex Plus) and list your signed-in devices. It is a random code, not based on your IP address | Up to 30 days after you sign in. Signing out removes it. A new code is created if someone else signs in on this browser | Yes: sign-in and account security |
__Host-rx_google | Only for "Continue with Google": links Google's answer to this browser and, for a new account, holds your place until you finish signing up | Up to 10 minutes, or 30 minutes while you finish signing up | Yes: sign-in and security |
Browser storage
Browser storage keeps information on your device and is not sent to our server automatically. Names with u… include your Ruebex account number, so each person's work stays separate on a shared browser.
1. Your unsent work (essential)
| Name | What it keeps | When it is removed |
|---|---|---|
rx:draft:u…:a… | Your Writing answer while you work on it | When you submit the task |
rx:draft-aside:u…:a… | A copy of your own text, kept if you chose a newer version saved in another tab or on another device | When you submit the task or dismiss the copy |
rx:plan:u…:a… | Your Writing planning notes. These stay only on this device | When you submit the task or empty the notes box |
rx:answers:u…:a… | Reading, Listening, mock or Speaking self-review answers not yet saved | When you submit, finish the mock, or load a newer saved version |
rx:revision:u…:a…:v… | An unsaved revision of your Writing answer | When you save or reset the revision |
rx:coach-draft:u…:c… | A question you are still typing to the AI Coach | When you send it or empty the box |
rx:listens:u…:a… | How many times you have played a Listening recording (timed practice and mocks allow one listen) | When you sign out |
rx:draft-seen:v1 | When this browser first found each unsent item that has no saved date, so items older than 30 days can be removed | When the items it lists are removed |
When you sign out, Ruebex tries to save your work to your account, then removes unsent work from this browser. We ask first before removing planning notes. Unsent work older than 30 days, except planning notes, is removed the next time you open Ruebex.
2. Records of your choices (essential)
| Name | What it keeps | When it is removed |
|---|---|---|
rx:appearance-storage:v1 | Whether "Remember display settings on this device" is on or off | When you clear your browser data |
rx:tour:v1:u… | That you finished or closed the guided tour | When you replay the tour or clear your browser data |
rx-cookie-notice-v1 | Only if you pressed "Got it" on a cookie notice that earlier versions of Ruebex showed. We no longer create it | When you clear your browser data |
3. Display settings (your choice)
| Name | What it keeps |
|---|---|
rx:preferences:u… | Interface language, light or dark theme, and colour palette (u0 before you sign in) |
rx:rail:u… | Whether the side menu is open or folded away |
rx:reading-size | Text size in Reading tasks |
rx:motion-paused | Whether you have paused animations |
These stay until you clear your browser data or switch them off. You can switch them off at any time, free of charge, with "Remember display settings on this device" below. Switching off deletes the saved settings and stops new ones being saved. Your current settings work until you reload the page, and your sign-in and unsent work are not affected.
Language, theme, colour palette, reading size, menu layout and motion. Turn this off to remove their saved values. Your current display stays in this page’s memory; your study drafts and sign-in are kept.
Display settings will be remembered. You can change this here at any time.
4. Kept until you close the tab (session storage)
| Name | What it keeps | When it is removed |
|---|---|---|
rx:onboarding:progress, rx:preauth-answers, rx:apply-preauth-answers | Your answers to the getting-started questions before you create an account, such as your target band and test date, so they can be added to your new account | When they have been added to your account, or when you close the tab |
rx:tour:v1:u…:progress | Which step of the guided tour you have reached | When you finish the tour or close the tab |
rx_launch_banner_hidden | That you closed the announcement on our public pages | When you close the tab |
Shared devices and your controls
- On a shared computer, sign out when you finish. This removes the sign-in cookies and your unsent work from the browser.
- Remove my study drafts from this device and signing out other devices are under Profile and settings → Settings → Signed-in devices.
- In your browser settings you can block or delete cookies and site data. Without the essential cookies you can't sign in, and deleting site data removes unsent work and planning notes.
Our payment processor sets its own cookies on its own payment pages; its privacy notice explains them.
Why we don't ask for cookie consent
Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, a website needs your consent to store or read information on your device unless an exception applies. We rely on two:
- Strictly necessary for a service you asked for, including security and keeping a record of what you entered or chose: our cookies, your unsent work, the records of your choices and your getting-started answers.
- Appearance and functionality, where we explain it clearly and give you a simple, free way to say no: your display settings, which you can refuse with the switch on this page.
Some of this information is personal data, for example the device cookie, so our Privacy Policy also applies.
Changes and questions
If we change the cookies or storage we use, we will update this page before the change happens, and ask for your permission first if it is needed. Questions: email info@ruebex.com with "Cookies" in the subject line. You can also complain to the UK regulator, the Information Commission (ICO), at ico.org.uk.