What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and provide information to website owners about how users interact with their sites.
Cookies contain information that is transferred to your device’s hard drive. They help us recognize you when you return to our website and allow us to provide you with a more personalized experience.
How We Use Cookies
Recipes Marketplace uses cookies to:
- Remember your preferences and settings
- Keep you signed in to your account
- Analyze how our website is used and perform analytics
- Provide personalized recipe recommendations
- Display relevant advertisements
- Improve website security and prevent fraud
- Enable social media features and integrations
Types of Cookies We Use
1. Essential Cookies (Strictly Necessary)
These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly and cannot be disabled in our systems.
Purpose:
- Enable core website functionality
- Maintain user sessions and login status
- Remember items in your recipe collection
- Provide security features
- Load balancing and performance optimization
Examples:
- Session identifiers
- Authentication tokens
- CSRF protection tokens
- Load balancer cookies
Duration: These cookies are typically session cookies that expire when you close your browser, or persistent cookies that last up to 1 year.
Legal Basis: These cookies are essential for providing the service you requested and do not require consent.
2. Functional Cookies (Preferences)
These cookies allow us to remember choices you make and provide enhanced, more personal features.
Purpose:
- Remember your username and login preferences
- Store your recipe search preferences and filters
- Remember dietary restrictions and preferences
- Save your preferred language and region settings
- Customize your recipe recommendations
- Remember your privacy and cookie preferences
Examples:
- User preference cookies
- Language selection cookies
- Recipe filter settings
- Personalization cookies
Duration: These cookies typically last from 30 days to 2 years.
Control: You can control these cookies through your browser settings or our cookie preference center.
3. Analytics and Performance Cookies
These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
Purpose:
- Count visits and traffic sources
- Measure website performance and loading times
- Understand which recipes and content are most popular
- Identify technical issues and areas for improvement
- Track user journeys through the website
- Measure the effectiveness of our content
Third-Party Services:
- Google Analytics: Tracks website usage and user behavior
- Hotjar or Similar: Heat mapping and user session recording
- Performance Monitoring Tools: Website speed and uptime monitoring
Duration: These cookies typically last from 30 minutes to 2 years.
Opt-Out: You can opt out of analytics cookies through our cookie settings or directly through the service providers.
4. Marketing and Advertising Cookies
These cookies are used to deliver advertisements relevant to you and your interests.
Purpose:
- Show you relevant recipe and cooking-related advertisements
- Measure advertising campaign effectiveness
- Prevent the same ad from continuously reappearing
- Build advertising profiles based on your interests
- Enable remarketing to previous website visitors
- Facilitate social media advertising
Third-Party Advertising Partners:
- Google Ads: Display targeted advertisements
- Facebook Pixel: Social media advertising and remarketing
- Amazon Associates: Affiliate marketing for cooking products
- Other Ad Networks: Various advertising platforms
Duration: These cookies typically last from 30 days to 2 years.
Control: You can opt out of advertising cookies through our cookie settings, your browser settings, or industry opt-out tools.
5. Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by social media services that we’ve added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks.
Purpose:
- Enable sharing of recipes on social media platforms
- Display social media feeds or widgets
- Allow social media login options
- Track social media interactions with our content
Social Media Platforms:
- Facebook: Sharing, login, and advertising pixels
- Instagram: Content sharing and embedding
- Pinterest: Recipe pinning and sharing
- Twitter: Content sharing and embedding
- YouTube: Video embedding (if applicable)
Duration: These cookies are controlled by the respective social media platforms and their privacy policies apply.
Cookie Details Table
| Cookie Name | Type | Purpose | Duration | Third Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| session_id | Essential | User session management | Session | No |
| auth_token | Essential | User authentication | 30 days | No |
| csrf_token | Essential | Security protection | Session | No |
| user_prefs | Functional | User preferences | 1 year | No |
| recipe_filters | Functional | Search preferences | 6 months | No |
| _ga | Analytics | Google Analytics | 2 years | |
| _gid | Analytics | Google Analytics | 24 hours | |
| _fbp | Marketing | Facebook Pixel | 3 months | |
| _pinterest_ct | Marketing | Pinterest tracking | 1 year |
Note: This is a sample table. Actual cookie names and details may vary.
How to Control Cookies
Cookie Preference Center
We provide a cookie preference center where you can:
- View all cookies used on our website
- Enable or disable specific cookie categories
- Update your preferences at any time
- Access detailed information about each cookie
[Access Cookie Preferences] (This would link to your cookie consent tool)
Browser Controls
You can control cookies through your browser settings:
Chrome:
- Click the three dots menu → Settings
- Advanced → Privacy and security → Site Settings
- Cookies and site data
Firefox:
- Click the menu button → Options
- Privacy & Security panel
- Cookies and Site Data section
Safari:
- Safari menu → Preferences
- Privacy tab
- Manage Website Data
Edge:
- Click the three dots menu → Settings
- Site permissions → Cookies and site data
Mobile Browsers
On mobile devices, cookie settings are typically found in the browser’s privacy or security settings menu.
Third-Party Opt-Outs
You can opt out of certain third-party cookies directly:
- Google Analytics: Google Analytics Opt-out
- Google Ads: Google Ads Settings
- Facebook: Facebook Ad Preferences
- Industry Opt-Out: Network Advertising Initiative
Impact of Disabling Cookies
Essential Cookies
Disabling essential cookies will prevent core website functionality:
- You cannot log in to your account
- Your recipe collections won’t be saved
- Security features may not work properly
- Website performance may be affected
Functional Cookies
Disabling functional cookies will affect your user experience:
- Your preferences won’t be remembered
- You’ll need to reset filters and settings each visit
- Personalized features won’t work
- Language and region settings won’t persist
Analytics Cookies
Disabling analytics cookies:
- Doesn’t affect your browsing experience
- Prevents us from understanding how to improve our website
- May affect our ability to fix technical issues
Marketing Cookies
Disabling marketing cookies:
- You’ll still see advertisements, but they may be less relevant
- Prevents tracking across websites for advertising purposes
- May still show ads based on the current page content
Cookie Consent
EU Users (GDPR)
If you’re visiting from the European Union, we’ll ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies. You can:
- Accept all cookies
- Reject non-essential cookies
- Customize your cookie preferences
- Withdraw consent at any time
Other Jurisdictions
We respect privacy laws in all jurisdictions and provide cookie controls regardless of your location.
Children’s Privacy
Our website is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children through cookies. If you believe a child has provided information through our cookies, please contact us.
Updates to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect:
- Changes in our cookie usage
- New features or services
- Legal or regulatory requirements
- Changes in third-party services
When we make significant changes:
- We’ll update the “Last Updated” date
- We may notify you through our website or email
- We may ask for renewed consent where required
International Data Transfers
Some of our cookie-related services may transfer data to countries outside your region. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers in compliance with applicable privacy laws.