Summary (not a substitute for the full Policy)
First-party only
We rely on first-party cookies and local storage to secure sessions, enforce audiences, and remember your preferences.
Opt-in discovery
Lenses are opt-in, so private reactions and non-public posts never power personalization.
Consent where required
In the EU/UK/EEA, non-essential categories stay off until you choose otherwise. Controls live in Settings.
No cross-site tracking
We operate privacy-light analytics with coarse metrics only. No third-party ad pixels on core surfaces.
Honor opt-out signals
We recognise Global Privacy Control (GPC) and similar browser signals wherever laws require.
1. What we mean by cookies & similar technologies
"Cookies" are small text files your browser stores for a site. We also reference local storage, session storage, and pixels or tags — all of which help us operate and improve Alinkah while keeping your session secure and respecting your choices.
2. Where we use them
Cookies and similar technologies apply on alinkah.com (and subdomains), our web apps, and APIs that link to this policy. Third-party services such as payment checkout may set their own cookies under their policies.
3. Categories & purposes
(a) Strictly necessary
- Authentication & session security — keep you logged in, prevent account hijacking, enable CSRF protections.
- Load balancing & performance — ensure pages render reliably.
- Audience gating — enforce Public / Followers / Trusted audiences at query time.
- Fraud & abuse prevention — rate-limit abusive traffic and stop spam.
(b) Functionality & preferences (consent where required)
- Language, theme, timezone — remember your UI choices.
- Saved Lens & UI state — preserve Lens selections and interface preferences.
(c) Analytics & quality (consent where required)
Privacy-light analytics provide coarse session counts, latency, and error rates to keep the service healthy. We avoid cross-site tracking and do not buy or sell data.
(d) Payments (processors)
Stripe may set cookies to complete checkout and prevent fraud when you make a purchase or tip.
(e) Marketing (off by default)
We do not run third-party marketing pixels on core feeds. Campaign landing pages, if any, will present granular consent choices.
4. Examples of cookies & storage keys
| Name / Key | Type | Purpose | Typical lifetime | HttpOnly | SameSite | Secure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alinkah_session | Cookie | Authenticated session ID (server-set) | Session | Yes | Lax | Yes |
| alinkah_csrf | Cookie | CSRF token pairing for form/API requests | Session | No* | Lax | Yes |
| cookies_consent | Cookie | Stores your consent choices by category | 12 months | No | Lax | Yes |
| lens_last | Local Storage | Remember last Lens selection | 12 months | — | — | — |
| ui_theme | Local Storage | Remember light/dark/auto preference | 12 months | — | — | — |
| tz | Local Storage | Save timezone preference | 12 months | — | — | — |
| anon_session_id | Cookie | Privacy-light analytics session counter (if enabled) | Session or ≤ 13 months | No | Lax | Yes |
| __stripe_sid / __stripe_mid | Stripe cookie | Checkout & fraud prevention | Per Stripe policy | — | — | — |
*Some frameworks expose a readable CSRF token. If so, we rotate the value per session and scope it to your origin.
5. Your choices
In-product controls
- Consent banner (EU/UK/EEA) keeps non-essential categories off until you choose otherwise.
- Adjust cookie preferences any time in Settings → Privacy & Discovery → Cookies.
- We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) and similar browser signals where required.
Browser & device controls
Most browsers let you block or delete cookies, clear storage, and set site-specific permissions. Blocking all cookies may prevent some Alinkah features (for example, signing in).
6. Third-party cookies
Payment processors such as Stripe may set cookies on their domains to complete transactions and prevent fraud. If you interact with embedded media hosted by other providers, those providers may set their own cookies subject to their policies. We aim to avoid third-party tracking in embeds and prefer our own lightweight versions for public posts.
7. Region-specific notes
- EU/UK/EEA: We ask for consent before setting non-essential cookies. Withdraw consent any time in Settings.
- US state laws: We do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising. If targeted advertising cookies are ever introduced, you will receive region-appropriate opt-outs.
8. Updates to this Cookie Policy
We may update this policy as our service evolves. Material changes will be announced, and the "Last updated" date will reflect the latest version.
9. Contact
Email: privacy@alinkah.com
Support: support@alinkah.com
Postal: 548 Market Street, PMB 12894, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA