Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files placed on your browser or device by the sites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work, to improve performance, and to provide information to the operators of the site.

Similar technologies — such as web beacons, pixels, local storage, session storage, and software development kits (SDKs) — perform comparable functions. In this policy, references to “cookies” cover all of these technologies unless we say otherwise.

Cookies are either first-party (set by Astinode) or third-party (set by a service we use, such as an analytics or content provider). They can also be session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, or persistent cookies, which remain on your device for a defined period.

We group the cookies we deploy into four categories. Each category serves a distinct purpose and has its own retention and consent posture.

• Strictly necessary — required to deliver the website you have asked for, including page routing, security, load balancing, and remembering your cookie preferences. These cannot be disabled because the site would not function without them. Typical retention: session to 12 months.
• Functional — remember choices you make (such as preferred language or region) and enable enhanced features. Disabling these may degrade portions of the experience but will not break the site. Typical retention: up to 12 months.
• Performance & analytics — help us understand how visitors interact with the site in aggregate, including which pages are most visited and where errors occur. We use this data to improve the site. Where required, these are only set after you consent. Typical retention: up to 24 months.
• Marketing & attribution — used sparingly and only with consent to measure the effectiveness of our own communications (for example, attribution for traffic referred from a research note or press mention). We do not run third-party advertising networks on this site. Typical retention: up to 13 months.

The set of technologies in use evolves with the site. Representative examples include:

• Session and authentication tokens — short-lived first-party cookies and storage entries used to keep you signed in to the administrative interface and to protect form submissions against cross-site request forgery.
• Preference storage — a first-party cookie that records your consent choices so we do not ask again on every visit.
• Privacy-respecting analytics — first-party measurements of page views, navigation paths, and broad device characteristics. We do not collect IP addresses, fingerprints, or cross-site identifiers for analytics purposes.
• Embedded media and third-party content — when we embed a video, document, or feed from another provider, that provider may set its own cookies governed by its own policy. We link to those policies wherever the integration is used.

A current technical inventory is available on request; see Section 8.

Where the EU/UK GDPR, Swiss FADP, or comparable laws apply, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Strictly necessary cookies are set on the basis of our legitimate interest in delivering the service you requested and are exempt from consent under the ePrivacy Directive.
• Functional, analytics, and marketing cookies are set only after we obtain your consent through the cookie banner. You may withdraw consent at any time, with effect for the future.

For visitors in jurisdictions with opt-out frameworks (such as certain US states), we honor recognized opt-out signals, including the Global Privacy Control (GPC), where technically feasible.

You can manage cookies in three ways:

• On this site — open the cookie preferences panel from the link in the site footer to enable or disable categories at any time. Your choice is stored and applied immediately.
• In your browser — modern browsers let you block or delete cookies in settings. Help pages: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
• Through signals — we honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) where applicable. Enabling GPC in your browser is treated as a withdrawal of consent for non-essential cookies.

Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the site from working as expected, including sign-in and form submission.

Because there is still no industry standard for how to interpret browser “Do Not Track” signals, we do not rely on DNT alone. Instead, we provide an explicit consent control and honor recognized opt-out signals such as Global Privacy Control as described above.

Some service providers we work with may process limited cookie-derived data outside your country of residence. Where this involves a transfer of personal data out of the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses and supplementary measures, as described in our Privacy Policy.

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the technologies we use, in applicable law, or in our operations. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, through a more prominent notice on the site.

For questions about this policy, the technologies we use, or to exercise a right under applicable privacy law, contact privacy@astinode.com. For general inquiries, write to hello@astinode.com.