What Are Cookies Anyway?

Cookies are small text files that websites place on your computer or phone. Think of them as digital sticky notes—they remember things about your visit so the site works better next time. Some cookies disappear when you close your browser. Others stick around for months or years.

We also use similar technologies like web beacons (tiny invisible images) and local storage (a more sophisticated version of cookies). They all serve the same basic purpose: making our site work properly and understanding how people use it.

Types of Tracking We Use

Not all tracking serves the same purpose. Here's how we categorize what happens on xaliverontia.com:

Specific Cookies We Deploy

Here's a detailed breakdown of what actually gets stored when you visit xaliverontia.com. This table shows the cookie name, what it does, and how long it lasts:

Some of these cookies come from third-party services we use (like analytics providers). We don't control how those companies handle their own tracking, but we only work with vendors who meet privacy standards.

How Tracking Improves Your Experience

This isn't just data collection for its own sake. Here's what we actually do with the information:

Security and Fraud Prevention

Essential cookies help us spot suspicious activity. If someone tries to access your account from a new device, we can ask for additional verification. Session tokens prevent attackers from hijacking your login.

Performance Optimization

Analytics show us which pages load slowly or cause errors. When we see patterns—like everyone abandoning a particular form halfway through—we know something needs fixing. Last year, this data helped us identify and resolve twelve significant usability issues.

Content Personalization

If you consistently visit certain sections of our site, functional cookies help us surface that content more prominently. We're not trying to manipulate you—just making it easier to find what you came for.

Communication Preferences

Marketing cookies let us show you information about services you've actually looked at rather than bombarding you with irrelevant ads. You might see this as creepy or convenient depending on your perspective, which is why you can turn it off.

Managing Your Cookie Preferences

Third-Party Opt-Outs

For advertising cookies from other companies, you can opt out through industry tools like the Digital Advertising Alliance's consumer choice page or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page. These won't stop ads—they'll just make them less targeted.

Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers send "Do Not Track" signals to websites. There's no standard for how sites should respond to these signals, and we currently don't change our behavior based on them. If regulations require us to honor these requests in the future, we'll update this policy.

Data Retention and Deletion

We don't keep this data forever. Here's our retention schedule:

You can request deletion of all tracking data associated with your visits by contacting us directly. We'll process these requests within 30 days and confirm when the data has been removed from our active systems.

Changes to This Policy

We update this policy when we change how we use tracking technologies or when regulations require it. The "Last Updated" date at the top shows when we made the most recent changes.

Significant changes—like adding new types of tracking or extending retention periods—will be announced through email to registered users and a notice on our homepage. Minor clarifications or formatting updates happen without notification.

Legal Basis for Processing

Under Australian privacy law and international regulations like GDPR (which affects how we handle data from European visitors), we need legitimate reasons to process your data:

Essential cookies: We process these based on contractual necessity. They're required to deliver the service you're requesting when you use our site.

Functional and analytics cookies: We process these based on legitimate interests. We have a reasonable business need to understand site performance and remember your preferences, balanced against minimal privacy impact.

Marketing cookies: We process these based on consent. That's why we ask permission before deploying them, and you can withdraw consent at any time through browser settings.