Cookie Policy
Big White Spot uses cookies and browser local storage to provide you with a useful and reliable experience and to help us improve our service. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device. Local storage works similarly but allows us to store data that never leaves your device.
This policy explains what cookies and local storage we use and how you can control them.
1. How to change your cookie settings
You may deactivate or restrict the transmission of cookies by changing the settings of your web browser. Cookies that are already stored may be deleted at any time. To find out more about cookies and how to manage or delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org.uk.
Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
If you choose to disable cookies, some features of the service may not function correctly (in particular, guest badge profiles rely on local storage).
2. Cookies and Local Storage Used by Big White Spot
We use a minimal set of cookies and local storage items, all of which are essential to the functioning of the service.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
session |
Cookie | Secure session identifier for logged-in account holders. | End of session |
bws_badge |
Local Storage | Stores your guest badge profile (name, photo, bio) on your device. Never sent to our servers. | Until cleared by user |
bws_room |
Local Storage | Remembers the room you are currently in for reconnection purposes. | End of session |
locale |
Cookie | Remembers your language preference (English or German). | 1 year |
3. Third-Party Cookies
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous information about how visitors use our website. This helps us understand which pages are most popular and how people find us. Google Analytics stores information about what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here, and what you click on. This analytics data is not tied to personally identifiable information (e.g. your name or address).
Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
| Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
_ga |
Used to distinguish users. | 2 years |
_gid |
Used to distinguish users. | 24 hours |
_gat |
Used to throttle request rate. | 1 minute |
You can find more detailed information about Google Analytics cookies here. Learn about Google's position on data privacy here.
Other Third-Party Services
We may use third-party plugins or integrate with other services (for example: Stripe for payment processing). These services may set their own cookies. We do not control these cookies and you should refer to their respective privacy policies for further information.
