Cookie Policy

This page explains the cookies and similar technologies (localStorage, sessionStorage) that Pistaclub uses. It complements our Privacy Policy, which covers personal data more broadly.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files a website stores on your device. We also use similar browser storage APIs (localStorage, sessionStorage) that behave the same way from a privacy standpoint. For simplicity, we call all of them "cookies" here.

The four categories we use

1. Strictly necessary

These cookies are required for the site to work. You cannot turn them off. We rely on GDPR Article 6(1)(b) — contractual necessity — so they don't need your consent. They include:

• Authentication token — keeps you signed in between page loads.
• CSRF token — protects your account from cross-site request forgery.
• Consent state itself — remembers your cookie choices so we don't ask again on every page.
• Session-level UI state — the current onboarding step, the initial-app-load flag.

2. Functional

These cookies remember preferences you've expressed so the site is more useful to you. They are not essential — the site works without them. We ask for your consent before we store them.

• Language preference for guests (logged-in users store this in their profile).
• Currency preference for guests.
• Region picker for the events browse page.
• Sidebar collapsed state on desktop.
• Guest home city for distance-sort on the events list.

3. Analytics

First-party product analytics we use to understand which features are working and where the app is slow or broken. All analytics data stays inside our own backend — we do NOT share it with third-party analytics providers.

• Impression logging — anonymous counts of which cards / listings are seen.
• Web Vitals — page-load performance metrics (LCP, INP, CLS).
• Search query beacon — what people searched for, without linking to your account.

4. Marketing

Third-party advertising and remarketing cookies. Pistaclub does NOTcurrently use any marketing cookies. The category is kept in the banner so that if we ever add one (e.g. a Google Ads pixel) you already have the switch to say no.

How long consent lasts

Your choice is remembered for up to 12 months. After that, we ask you again — this matches European Data Protection Board guidance. You can also change your mind at any time via the "Manage cookie preferences" button above.

Audit trail

For each consent decision (accept, reject, change, withdraw) we store an immutable log entry so we can prove — to you or to a regulator — what you agreed to and when. The log contains the choice, the timestamp, an anonymous per-browser identifier, the policy version you saw, and the language the banner was shown in. It does not contain your IP address or a device fingerprint.

Third-party services

Some parts of the site rely on third-party services that may set their own cookies. Where they do, we describe the purpose next to the feature:

• Stripe (payments) — sets its own cookies during checkout only. See Stripe's cookie settings.
• YouTube / embedded video — when you play an embedded video, YouTube may set cookies. We use their privacy-enhanced player where available.

Do Not Track

Because "Do Not Track" is not consistently interpreted across browsers and is not a legally recognized consent signal under the GDPR, we do not treat DNT as a substitute for the banner. We honor the choice you make in our banner instead.

Questions

Email privacy@pistaclub.app for anything cookie- or tracking-related.