Cookies policy

This cookies policy explains how Smiling Bard uses cookies and similar technologies, such as local storage, on our website and platform. Essential cookies are always on because the service cannot work without them. Analytics cookies are only used if you accept them in our cookie banner.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. Local storage works in a similar way. They help websites function properly, remember your choices, and provide useful analytics.

Essential cookies and storage

These are needed for the website to work, so they do not require your consent:

• Signing in: cookies whose names start with "sb-" are set by Supabase, our authentication provider, to keep you signed in. They last until you sign out or your session expires.
• Your cookie choice: the "sb_consent" cookie remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics cookies. It lasts 12 months.
• Local storage: we keep a few small items in your browser to count the free lessons used on the homepage, to remember your email address on the sign-in form if you tick "Remember me on this device", and to remember notices you have dismissed.
• Payments: when you subscribe you are taken to a checkout page hosted by Stripe, which sets its own cookies on its own website.
• Bot protection: Cloudflare Turnstile runs invisibly on the homepage lesson generator, the sign-up form and the contact form to tell people from bots. It may set a "cf_" cookie for a few minutes and reads technical signals from your browser. It is strictly necessary to keep the service available, so it does not need your consent.

Analytics cookies

These are only used if you choose "Accept cookies" in our cookie banner. One choice covers both tools. Until you accept, neither tool is loaded and no analytics cookies are set.

• Google Analytics: cookies named "_ga" and "_ga_" followed by an ID tell visitors and sessions apart so we can see which pages are used. They last up to 2 years. Advertising features and ad personalisation are switched off.
• PostHog: a cookie and a local storage entry whose names start with "ph_" hold an anonymous ID so we can understand how features are used and find errors. They last up to 12 months. PostHog stores this data in the EU.

We also use Vercel Web Analytics to count page visits. It does not use cookies and does not identify or track individual visitors.

We do not use advertising or targeting cookies.

Managing your cookie preferences

You can change your choice at any time using the button below. If you withdraw consent we stop collecting analytics straight away and remove the analytics cookies from your browser where we can.

Change cookie settings

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies will stop signing in from working.

Third-party cookies

The third parties named above process data under their own policies:

• Google privacy policy
• PostHog privacy policy
• Supabase privacy policy
• Stripe cookie settings
• Vercel privacy policy

Cookie retention periods

Cookies are retained for varying periods depending on their type:

• Session cookies: deleted when you close your browser.
• Persistent cookies: remain on your device for the periods given above, or until you delete them.

Changes to this policy

We may update this cookies policy periodically to reflect changes in technology, laws, or our business practices. Any updates will be posted on this page with the date of the latest revision.

Contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about this cookies policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at hello@smilingbard.com.