1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work, improve user experience, and provide information to the site owner. Cookies can be "session cookies" (deleted when you close your browser) or "persistent cookies" (stored for a set period).

Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, and pixel tags. References to "cookies" in this policy include all such similar technologies.

2. How We Use Cookies

Surveyz uses cookies to:

• Keep you signed in to your account across page navigations
• Remember your theme preference (light or dark mode)
• Maintain your session state during OAuth sign-in flows
• Understand how the platform is used in aggregate so we can improve it
• Measure the effectiveness of our advertising and, where you consent, show you relevant ads on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram)
• Prevent fraudulent activity and improve security

Advertising cookies are optional and load only after you accept them via our consent banner. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

3. Types of Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies Required

These cookies are strictly necessary for the platform to function. They cannot be disabled. Without them, features like signing in, maintaining your session, and security mechanisms will not work.

Functional Cookies Convenience

These cookies remember your preferences and settings (such as your chosen theme) to provide a personalised experience. You can disable these, but some personalisation features will stop working.

Analytics Cookies Optional

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how the platform is used — for example, which features are most popular. This data is aggregated and anonymised. GA4 only loads after you explicitly accept cookies via the consent banner. You can change your preference at any time in section 6 below.

Advertising Cookies Optional

We use the Meta Pixel and Google Ads to measure the performance of our advertising on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) and Google, and to show our ads to people who have visited our website. This may involve matching activity on our site to your Meta or Google account. These tags only load after you explicitly accept cookies via the consent banner, and never load on our staging environment. You can change your preference at any time in section 6 below. If you decline, no advertising cookies are set.

4. Cookie & Storage List

Name	Type	Duration	Purpose
.AspNetCore.Antiforgery.*	Essential	Session	CSRF protection on form submissions
.AspNetCore.Cookies	Essential	Session / 14 days	Authentication session — keeps you signed in
.AspNetCore.ExternalCookie	Essential	15 minutes	Temporary state during OAuth sign-in flow (Google / Microsoft / LinkedIn)
.AspNetCore.Correlation.*	Essential	15 minutes	OAuth CSRF protection — ties the callback to the initiating request
sr_theme (localStorage)	Functional	Persistent	Stores your light/dark mode preference
sr_lang* (sessionStorage)	Functional	Browser session	Remembers your chosen survey language for the current tab
sr_jwt (localStorage)	Essential	30 days	JWT authentication token — keeps you signed in
sr_cookie_consent (localStorage)	Functional	Persistent	Records your analytics & advertising cookie preference (accepted / declined)
_fbp, _fbc	Advertising	Up to 90 days	Set by the Meta Pixel to measure ad performance and match your visit to your Meta account. Only set after you accept advertising cookies.
_gcl_au	Advertising	Up to 90 days	Set by Google Ads to measure ad conversions and link your visit to an ad click. Only set after you accept advertising cookies.
sr_draft_* (localStorage)	Functional	Until submitted or cleared	Temporarily saves in-progress survey responses to prevent data loss on page reload (respondents only)
sr_session_id (sessionStorage)	Functional	Browser session	Tracks a single browsing session for deduplication of survey events (respondents only)

5. Third-Party Cookies

Some third-party services we use may set their own cookies or transmit data to their servers:

• Google Analytics 4 — optional, loaded only with your consent. Sets _ga, _ga_* cookies. Data is sent to Google LLC (USA). Where personal information is transferred to the USA, we rely on POPIA §72 safeguards including Google's binding corporate rules and standard contractual commitments. Governed by Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out via the preferences panel below or Google's opt-out tool.
• Meta Pixel — optional, loaded only with your consent and never on our staging environment. Sets _fbp / _fbc cookies to measure our advertising and show relevant ads on Facebook and Instagram. Data is sent to Meta Platforms Ireland Limited and may be processed by Meta Platforms, Inc. (USA); where personal information is transferred to the USA we rely on POPIA §72 safeguards including Meta's standard contractual commitments. Governed by Meta's Privacy Policy. You can opt out via the preferences panel below or in your Facebook Ad Preferences.
• Google Ads — optional, loaded only with your consent and never on our staging environment. Sets the _gcl_au cookie to measure ad conversions and remarketing. Data is sent to Google LLC (USA); where personal information is transferred to the USA, we rely on POPIA §72 safeguards including Google's standard contractual commitments. Governed by Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out via the preferences panel below or Google Ads Settings.
• Google reCAPTCHA v3 — loaded only when you open the sign-in / sign-up modal, to protect against bots. Transmits browser behavioural signals to Google LLC (USA) subject to POPIA §72 safeguards. Governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
• PayFast — sets cookies on payment pages to process transactions securely. PayFast is a South African service provider; no cross-border transfer occurs. Governed by PayFast's Privacy Policy.
• Google / Microsoft / LinkedIn OAuth — when you choose to sign in via a social provider, that provider may set cookies and transfer data to servers outside South Africa. Such transfers are subject to POPIA §72 safeguards and the respective provider's privacy policy.

Our advertising cookies (the Meta Pixel) are strictly optional, load only after you accept them, and can be withdrawn at any time in section 6. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

6. Managing Your Cookies

Manage Your Cookie Preference

You can change your analytics & advertising cookie preference at any time:

Browser Cookie Controls

You can also control cookies directly through your browser settings:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge
• Apple Safari

Please note that disabling essential cookies will prevent you from signing in and using core platform features.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or a notice on the platform. For changes that require fresh consent under POPIA, we will ask you to actively re-confirm your preferences.

8. Contact Us