Cookie Policy
Effective date: 18 May 2026
This page describes the cookies and similar technologies used on fipster.com and any related sub-domains (the “Service”). It is a companion to our Privacy Policy and explains the specific files set on your device, who sets them, and how long they last. You can change your consent at any time from the control in our footer, or directly from this page.
1. How we ask for consent
For visitors in the United Kingdom, European Economic Area, and Switzerland we show a consent banner on your first visit. The banner is served by Google Funding Choices, a Consent Management Platform (CMP) registered with the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF v2.2). Funding Choices records your choice as an encoded “TC string” together with the timestamp of your decision and stores it in your browser for up to 13 months. After that period the banner reappears so you can confirm or change your choice.
Outside the UK, EEA, and Switzerland we do not display the consent banner, in line with local rules. You can still revoke any non-essential cookies through the “Manage consent” link in our footer.
2. Cookie categories
We group cookies into four categories:
- Strictly necessary — required for the Service to function. Used for session management, sign-in, theme preference, and CSRF protection. These do not require consent.
- Analytics — Google Analytics 4 and PostHog, used to understand how visitors use the site and to find and fix bugs. Loaded only with your consent in regions where consent is required.
- Advertising — Google AdSense and the partners on the TCF v2.2 vendor list, used to serve relevant ads and measure their performance. When you grant consent we serve personalised ads; when you reject we fall back to non-personalised ads instead of leaving the slot empty.
- Payment processing — Stripe sets strictly necessary cookies on its checkout page when you buy chat credits. They are set on Stripe’s domain and only when you initiate a purchase.
3. Consent-related cookies set on this site
| Cookie / Storage key | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
cmp_consent | fipster.com | Stores the consent decision so the banner does not re-prompt on every page. | 13 months |
cmp_consent_v1 (localStorage) | fipster.com | Mirror of the consent cookie for faster reads. | 13 months |
__gpi_optout, __gpi | google.com (Funding Choices) | IAB TCF v2.2 TC-string storage and Google Publisher Privacy choices. | 13 months |
FCNEC, FCCDCF | google.com (Funding Choices) | CMP state for the consent dialog. | 13 months |
Names and lifetimes are accurate at the effective date above. Google may change them as Funding Choices is updated; the binding source of truth is the TCF v2.2 specification and Google’s own documentation.
4. The IAB TCF v2.2 vendor list
Through Funding Choices the consent banner gives you control over the list of advertising vendors registered with IAB Europe under the Transparency & Consent Framework v2.2. You can review the current list directly from the banner’s “Manage options” control; the canonical, up-to-date list is maintained by IAB Europe and published at iabeurope.eu/tcf-2-2/.
5. Analytics cookies
- Google Analytics 4 — sets
_ga,_ga_*, and related identifiers when you grant Analytics consent. Initialised in Google Consent Mode v2 default-deny; nothing is written to your device until consent is granted. Retention is 26 months for analytics records held by Google. - PostHog — sets a small number of identifiers under
ph_*after you grant Analytics consent. Hosted in the EU. Session replay is disabled.
6. Advertising cookies
AdSense sets advertising cookies only when you have granted consent or when you are outside a jurisdiction that requires it. Where you have rejected consent in the UK, EEA, or Switzerland we still serve ads, but in non-personalised mode (the data-npa="1" attribute is forwarded to AdSense). Cookie names include __gads, __gpi, and the AdSense measurement cookies set on googlesyndication.com.
7. Managing your choices
To change your consent at any time:
- Use the “Manage consent” control:
- Block third-party cookies in your browser’s settings. (This will also stop advertising and analytics cookies set by other sites you visit.)
- Visit youradchoices.com (in the EU, youronlinechoices.eu) to opt out of personalised advertising across participating ad networks.
8. Contact
Questions about this Cookie Policy or any of the cookies listed above can be sent via the Contact page. You can also read the full Privacy Policy for more on how we handle personal data.