Cookie Policy
Last updated: January 15, 2025
What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device. They help us remember your preferences and understand how you use our financial reporting automation platform. Think of them as digital sticky notes that make your experience smoother.
Most websites use them. We use them thoughtfully. Each cookie serves a specific purpose, and we don't collect information we don't need.
Types of Tracking We Use
Essential Cookies
These keep our platform working. They handle security, maintain your session when you're logged in, and remember your language preference. Without these, you can't use our service properly.
Functional Cookies
These remember your choices. If you've customized your dashboard layout or set specific reporting preferences, functional cookies store those settings so you don't have to configure everything each visit.
Analytical Cookies
These help us understand which features people actually use. We track page views, time spent on different sections, and which automation tools are most popular. This guides our development priorities.
Marketing Cookies
These track your journey across different websites to show relevant content. If you've visited our pricing page, you might see related information when browsing other sites. You can disable these anytime.
How We Use This Information
- We analyze which reporting templates businesses download most frequently, helping us prioritize updates to the most valuable tools
- We track error messages to identify technical issues before they affect multiple users
- We monitor how long setup processes take so we can simplify complicated workflows
- We measure which educational resources people find helpful when configuring automation rules
- We identify common navigation patterns to improve our interface design
Everything we track serves a practical purpose. We're not interested in surveillance. We want to build better financial automation tools.
A Real Example
Last year, our analytics showed people were abandoning the multi-currency report setup halfway through. We investigated and found the process had too many steps. After simplifying it to three steps instead of seven, completion rates jumped significantly. That's the kind of improvement tracking data enables.
Managing Your Preferences
Browser Settings: Every modern browser lets you block or delete cookies. Check your browser's privacy settings. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge all have clear options for managing tracking.
Selective Blocking: You can allow essential cookies while blocking marketing ones. Most browsers let you set rules for different types of tracking.
Private Browsing: Incognito or private windows don't save cookies after you close them. Good for one-time visits when you don't want any tracking.
Third-Party Tools: Browser extensions like Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin provide granular control over tracking across all websites you visit.
Keep in mind that blocking essential cookies will prevent you from logging into your GlowPulseWave account or accessing your saved reports. The platform needs certain tracking to function.
Specific Cookies We Set
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpw_session | Maintains your login state and active session | 24 hours | Essential |
| gpw_preferences | Stores dashboard layout and display settings | 1 year | Functional |
| gpw_analytics | Tracks page views and feature usage patterns | 6 months | Analytical |
| gpw_language | Remembers your selected language preference | 1 year | Functional |
| gpw_marketing | Enables personalized content recommendations | 3 months | Marketing |
| gpw_security | Detects suspicious login attempts and unusual activity | Session | Essential |
Third-Party Services
Some tracking comes from services we rely on to run our platform. Here's what we use and why:
Analytics Provider
We use standard web analytics to understand site traffic patterns. This tells us which pages people visit, how they found us, and what content resonates. The data is aggregated and anonymized.
Support Chat
Our customer support widget sets cookies to maintain conversation history. If you close the chat window and return later, you'll see your previous messages. This improves support quality.
Payment Processing
When you upgrade or purchase additional features, our payment processor uses secure cookies to handle transaction data. These are essential for completing purchases safely.
Data Retention
We keep cookie data only as long as it's useful. Session cookies disappear when you close your browser. Preference cookies last up to a year. Analytics data is aggregated monthly and individual tracking identifiers are removed after six months. We don't hoard old data.
Your Rights and Control
You have complete control over your data. Here's what you can do:
- Request a copy of all data we've collected about your usage patterns
- Ask us to delete your tracking history entirely
- Opt out of marketing cookies while keeping functional ones active
- Change your consent preferences at any time through account settings
- Request details about specific cookies and their exact purposes
We respond to all privacy requests within 72 hours. Usually much faster. If you want something changed or deleted, just ask. No complicated forms or long wait times.
Mobile Applications
Our mobile apps use similar tracking technologies, though technically they're not called cookies. They serve the same purposes: maintaining your session, storing preferences, and helping us improve the app experience.
You can manage mobile tracking through your device settings. iOS and Android both offer privacy controls that limit app tracking across your phone.
Updates to This Policy
We update this policy when we change how we use tracking technologies. Major changes are announced through email notifications to active users. Minor clarifications happen without notification, but we always update the revision date at the top.
Check back occasionally if you're concerned about tracking practices. We keep previous versions archived if you want to see what changed.
Questions About Cookies?
If you have concerns about how we track usage or want specific details about our data practices, reach out. We're happy to explain our approach or help you configure your privacy settings.