Cookie Policy
Last updated: April 18, 2026
1. What we use cookies for
Visual Sentinel uses cookies and similar technologies (pixels, local storage, session replay) to operate the site, measure traffic, and (when you consent) serve advertising. This page lists every category of cookie and pixel we set, who sets it, and what it does.
2. Your choices
If you are visiting from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we default every non-essential cookie to denied until you opt in via the consent banner. If you are visiting from California, you can use the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link in the footer to opt out of marketing cookies. Everywhere else non-essential cookies are on by default and you can disable them in your browser at any time.
Essential cookies (authentication, CSRF protection, theme preference) cannot be disabled because the site will not function without them.
3. Full list of cookies and pixels we use
| Vendor | Category | Purpose | Retention | Policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Sentinel (first-party) | essential | Authentication session, CSRF protection, theme preference, consent preference. | 30 days (session), 1 year (preferences) | View |
| Paddle | essential | Checkout, subscription management, fraud prevention. Paddle is our Merchant of Record. | As specified in Paddle privacy policy | View |
| Google Analytics 4 | analytics | Aggregate page view, traffic source, and engagement metrics. | 14 months | View |
| Microsoft Clarity | session-replay | Anonymous session recording and heatmaps for UX improvement. | 1 year | View |
| Hotjar | session-replay | Session recording and heatmaps (may be phased out in favor of Clarity). | 1 year | View |
| Meta Pixel (Facebook) | marketing | Conversion tracking and retargeting for Meta Ads campaigns. | 90-180 days | View |
| Google Ads | marketing | Conversion tracking and remarketing for Google Ads campaigns. | Up to 540 days | View |
| Bing UET (Microsoft Advertising) | marketing | Conversion tracking for Microsoft Ads campaigns. | Up to 13 months | View |
| Ahrefs Analytics | analytics | Privacy-respecting web analytics (aggregate page views). | 2 years | View |
| Sentry | essential | Error monitoring and session replay for debugging crashes. Input values are masked. | 90 days | View |
4. Changing your preferences later
You can clear your consent preference at any time by deleting thevs_analytics_consentkey from your browser local storage, then reloading the page. The consent banner will reappear for EU/UK/Swiss visitors, and we will treat non-essential cookies as denied until you choose again.
5. Questions
For privacy questions contact privacy@visualsentinel.com. See also our Privacy Policy.