Legal
Cookie Policy
How How's the Spot uses cookies and similar technologies — what each category does, and how to manage your preferences at any time.
Effective date: June 2026 · Last updated:
This Cookie Policy is provided for transparency. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice, and this policy should be reviewed by a qualified legal professional for your jurisdiction.
1. Introduction
Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better browsing experience, and supply information to the site owners. This policy covers both cookies and similar technologies, such as local storage.
How's the Spot (“we”, “us”, “our”) uses cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in securely, protect our forms from spam and abuse, remember your preferences, and — only with your consent — measure aggregated usage so we can improve the Service. We do not use cookies to follow you across other websites, and we do not use them for advertising.
This policy explains each category of cookie we use, how long each lasts, why we use it, and how you can control your preferences at any time.
2. How We Use Cookies
We group the cookies and similar technologies we use into the categories below. Some are strictly necessary and always active; others are optional and are only enabled if you consent. Each table lists the specific cookie, its purpose, how long it lasts, and its category.
| Cookie | Purpose | Duration | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication tokens | Keeps you signed in securely. HttpOnly, Secure, __Host-prefixed, SameSite cookies holding JWT access + refresh tokens. | ~30 min (access) / ~7 days (refresh, absolute session capped at ~24h) | Essential |
| CSRF token | Protects forms from cross-site request forgery (double-submit pattern). | Session | Essential |
| Proof-of-work (CAPTCHA) token | Spam + bot protection (Altcha proof-of-work; not Google reCAPTCHA). | Short-lived (~15 min) | Essential |
| Cookie consent preference | Remembers your cookie choices (Accept All / Reject All / Customised). | 1 year | Essential |
| Page-visit + session analytics | Aggregate, first-party server-side analytics. Identifiers (user-agent, session ID) are SHA-256 hashed and non-identifying. | Session | Analytics (opt-in) |
| Location preference | Remembers your selected or last-used spot/location. | ~1 year | Functional (opt-in) |
| UI preferences | Remembers display + interface choices (e.g. theme or preferences). | ~1 year | Functional (opt-in) |
We do not use marketing, advertising, or third-party tracking cookies, and we do not embed third-party advertising or tracking SDKs.
3. Managing Your Cookie Preferences
You are always in control of the optional cookies we use. You can change your choices at any time using any of the options below.
3.1 The cookie consent banner
When you first visit our Service, a cookie consent banner appears so you can Accept All, Reject All, or Customise your preferences. Rejecting or customising keeps all non-essential cookies off unless you choose to enable them. You can re-open the banner at any time to review or change your choices — your current preferences stay in effect until you decide again.
3.2 Your privacy preferences
You can view and update your cookie choices at any time on our Privacy Preferences page, where each non-essential category has its own toggle. Changes take effect immediately.
3.3 Your browser settings
Most web browsers also let you control or delete cookies through their settings. You can typically find these in the “Options”, “Preferences”, or “Settings” menu. The following links explain how to manage cookies in popular browsers:
- Google Chrome (opens in a new tab)
- Mozilla Firefox (opens in a new tab)
- Apple Safari (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft Edge (opens in a new tab)
3.4 What happens if you disable cookies
Strictly necessary (essential) cookies cannot be disabled — blocking them breaks core functionality such as signing in and submitting forms. Disabling analytics cookies simply means we no longer measure aggregated usage, and disabling functional cookies means your preferences (such as your preferred spot) will not be remembered between visits. No essential feature is lost by keeping optional cookies off.
4. First-Party and Third-Party Cookies
All of the cookies described above are first-party cookies — they are set by How's the Spot for the howsthespot.com website. We do not set any third-party tracking, analytics, or advertising cookies.
The only third-party interactions occur through secure providers we rely on to operate the Service:
- Google sign-in. If you use Google sign-in, Google sets its own cookies on Google's domains as part of the sign-in flow. How's the Spot has no control over those cookies; please refer to Google's cookie policy (opens in a new tab) for details.
- Our email provider. We use a third-party provider to deliver transactional messages (such as password-reset emails). We do not set or receive any advertising or tracking cookies through it.
In short, no third-party advertising or tracking cookies are set by How's the Spot.
5. Changes to This Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies and similar technologies we use, or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically.
6. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or similar technologies, please contact us at:
You can also manage your cookie preferences at any time via our Privacy Preferences page.