Effective date: April 17, 2026 · Last updated: April 17, 2026 · Version 1.0
This Cookie Policy explains how HAWZ Inc. uses cookies and similar technologies on hawz.net and when you are signed in to an account on a HAWZ-hosted application. It sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which describes how we handle personal information more broadly.
1. What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file stored on your device when you visit a website. Cookies let the site remember information between visits — for example, that you are signed in, your language preference, or which pages you viewed. We also use similar technologies such as pixels, local storage, and session storage. In this policy, “cookies” refers to all of them.
2. Why we use cookies
Keep the site and platform working — authentication, session integrity, security, load balancing, and anti-fraud checks.
Remember your choices — such as your language, theme, and whether you have dismissed a banner.
Understand how our site is used — measuring traffic, feature usage, and performance, in a way that helps us improve.
Support marketing (only with your consent) — measuring the effectiveness of campaigns and showing relevant ads on other sites.
3. The cookies we use
The categories below reflect our current setup. Specific cookie names and providers are listed in our cookie banner and are updated as we change tools. If you want the most current list, open the banner from the footer of our site (“Cookie preferences”).
3.1 Strictly necessary
| Purpose | Required for the site to function. Authentication, CSRF protection, session persistence, load balancing. |
| Consent | Not required — these cookies are exempt under PIPEDA's functional-necessity principle. |
| Examples | session ID, CSRF token, sign-in state, rate-limit counters. |
| Expiry | Session or up to 30 days. |
3.2 Functional
| Purpose | Remember your preferences and improve your experience. |
| Consent | Implied consent once you continue to use the site after the banner; you can opt out at any time. |
| Examples | language, theme, dismissed banner state. |
| Expiry | Up to 12 months. |
3.3 Performance and analytics
| Purpose | Measure how visitors use our site so we can improve it. |
| Consent | Turned off until you give consent through the cookie banner. |
| Examples | aggregated page views, referrer, approximate location based on IP, feature usage events. We use privacy-respecting analytics where we can. |
| Providers | Vercel Web Analytics, Vercel Speed Insights |
| Expiry | Up to 24 months. |
3.4 Marketing and retargeting
| Purpose | Measure ad performance and show you relevant HAWZ content on other sites. |
| Consent | Off by default. On only with your explicit consent. |
| Examples | Google Ads, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Meta Pixel, or similar. |
| Providers | None — we don't currently use marketing cookies. This row will be updated if we ever do. |
| Expiry | Up to 13 months. |
4. Third parties
Some cookies are set by third parties we embed (for example, analytics providers, YouTube videos, or advertising networks). Those third parties are independent data handlers. Their use of cookies is governed by their own privacy notices. We only load non-strictly-necessary third-party cookies after you consent.
5. How to manage cookies
Our banner. When you first arrive on hawz.net you can accept, reject, or customise non-strictly-necessary cookies. You can re-open the banner at any time via the “Cookie preferences” link in the footer.
Your browser. All major browsers let you block or delete cookies. See your browser's help pages for instructions. Blocking strictly-necessary cookies may break the site.
Do Not Track. We recognise the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal and treat it as an opt-out of non-necessary cookies.
6. Changes
We update this policy when we add, remove, or change the cookies we use. The “Effective date” at the top reflects the current version. Material changes will be communicated through the site.
7. Contact
Questions about cookies? Email privacy@hawz.net.