Cookie Policy

What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device (computer, tablet, or phone) when you visit a website. They help the website remember information about your visit, such as whether you are logged in, what preferences you have chosen, and how you navigate through the site. Most modern websites rely on cookies to function properly and to provide a smooth experience.

At VanMan, we use cookies to keep you securely signed in, remember your settings, understand how people use our product, and occasionally support marketing efforts. This policy explains what cookies we use, why we use them, and how you can manage your preferences.

Categories of Cookies We Use

We group our cookies into four categories. Here is what each category covers and why we use them.

Essential Cookies

Essential cookies are required for VanMan to function correctly. They handle things like keeping you authenticated after you sign in (via Clerk session tokens), protecting against cross-site request forgery (CSRF tokens), maintaining your session state, and storing your cookie consent preferences. These cookies are always active and cannot be disabled. If they were blocked, core features like logging in or processing payments would not work.

Functional Cookies

Functional cookies remember choices you make to enhance your experience. These include your theme preference (light or dark mode), your selected region, language settings, and other UI preferences. They are not strictly necessary for VanMan to operate, but disabling them means the site will not remember your preferences between visits and you may need to reconfigure them each time.

Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with VanMan. They collect information such as which pages are viewed, how long sessions last, which features are used most, and where users drop off in conversion flows. This data is aggregated and anonymised where possible. We use it to identify problems, prioritise improvements, and make sure VanMan is working well for everyone.

Marketing Cookies

Marketing cookies are used to track advertising effectiveness and attribute sign-ups to specific campaigns. They may be used to deliver more relevant ads to you across other websites. Our use of marketing cookies is currently minimal, and we will update this policy if that changes significantly.

Cookie Table

The table below lists the specific cookies VanMan sets or allows third-party services to set on your device.

| Cookie Name | Purpose | Provider | Category | Expiry Duration | |---|---|---|---|---| | __clerk_db_jwt | Authentication session | Clerk | Essential | Session | | __client_uat | Auth state timestamp | Clerk | Essential | Session | | vanman_cookie_consent | Cookie consent preferences | VanMan | Essential | 12 months | | vanman_theme | Theme preference (light/dark) | VanMan | Functional | 12 months | | vanman_region | Selected region | VanMan | Functional | 12 months | | _ga | User identification | Google Analytics | Analytics | 2 years | | _ga_* | Session tracking | Google Analytics | Analytics | 2 years | | __stripe_mid | Fraud prevention | Stripe | Essential | 1 year | | __stripe_sid | Payment session | Stripe | Essential | 30 minutes |

Session cookies are deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies remain on your device until they expire or you delete them manually.

How to Manage Cookies

You have several options for controlling which cookies are set on your device.

Cookie preferences on our website

The simplest way to manage your cookie preferences is through VanMan directly. When you first visit our site, a cookie banner will appear. Click "Manage Preferences" to choose which categories of cookies you want to allow. You can also access this dialog at any time from the link in the footer of every page. Note that essential cookies cannot be disabled because they are required for the site to function.

Browser settings

All major browsers let you view, manage, and delete cookies through their settings. Keep in mind that if you block essential cookies, parts of VanMan may stop working correctly (for example, you may not be able to stay signed in).

Here is where to find cookie settings in each major browser:

• Google Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and other site data
• Mozilla Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
• Apple Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data
• Microsoft Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Cookies and site data

Each browser also allows you to clear all existing cookies or block cookies from specific sites. Refer to your browser's help documentation for detailed instructions.

Third-Party Cookies

Some of the cookies on VanMan are set by third-party services that we integrate with to provide key functionality. We do not control how these third parties handle the data collected through their cookies, so we encourage you to review their own policies.

• Google Analytics is used to collect anonymised usage data that helps us understand how people use VanMan. You can learn more about how Google handles this data in the Google Privacy Policy and opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

• Clerk provides our authentication system. Clerk cookies manage your sign-in session and ensure your account stays secure. You can read the Clerk Privacy Policy for more details.

• Stripe handles payment processing for VanMan subscriptions. Stripe sets cookies for fraud prevention and to maintain payment sessions. You can review the Stripe Privacy Policy to understand how they use cookies.

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, you can reach us at support@vanman.app.