Cookie Policy

Last updated: 6 May 2026

Summary

We're honest about what cookies we drop. There are three categories on transcribecat.com:

Strictly necessary— sign-in (Clerk) and payment (Stripe). Loaded for everyone; the service won't work without them.
Cookieless analytics — Plausible. Loaded for everyone; sets no cookies and collects no personal data.
Opt-in analytics + advertising— Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads. Loaded only after you accept them in the cookie banner. You can accept all, reject all, or accept just the surface you're comfortable with.

Until July 2026 we used Plausible alone and didn't need a banner — see the timeline note at the bottom of this page if you're wondering why that changed.

Want to change your choice? — same banner, current state pre-filled.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. Some are essential for the site to work (e.g. keeping you signed in). Others measure how visitors use the site, or track which advertising sent them. The EU ePrivacy Directive and GDPR require us to ask before setting any cookies that aren't strictly necessary.

Cookies we use

Essential — Authentication (Clerk)

Session and CSRF cookies set by Clerk so you stay signed in and we can reject forged requests. The service can't function without them, so the consent banner doesn't apply here — this is what GDPR calls "strictly necessary."

Essential — Payments (Stripe)

Stripe sets fraud-prevention cookies during checkout. Strictly necessary to process your payment.

Analytics — Plausible (no cookies)

Plausible is privacy-friendly website analytics that sets no cookies at all. It identifies sessions via a hashed, rotating, in-memory key — the data never persists on your device and never crosses sites. Loaded for everyone; no consent required.

Analytics — Google Analytics 4 (opt-in)

Loaded only if you accept analytics cookies in the banner. Helps us see which pages convert and where users drop off — used to improve content, not to retarget ads. Cookies set:

_ga — distinguishes users; expires 2 years from set/update.
_ga_<property-id> — session state; expires 2 years from set/update.

IP anonymisation is enabled. Data is processed by Google in the US under Google's SCCs (see /trust).

Advertising — Google Ads (opt-in)

Loaded only if you accept advertising cookies in the banner. Lets us measure which Google Ads campaigns send paying customers, so we don't burn ad budget on the ones that don't. Cookies set:

_gcl_au — Google's conversion linker; expires 90 days from set.
Additional Google Ads cookies set on google.com / doubleclick.netdomains, governed by Google's own cookie policy — they're what enable conversion measurement after you click through from an ad.

You can decline this surface independently of analytics. If you do, Google Ads scripts don't load and no conversion event fires when you check out.

What we don't use

No Facebook Pixel, X (Twitter) Pixel, or LinkedIn Insight Tag
No demographic / interest-based personalised advertising that we infer ourselves
No sale of cookie-derived data to data brokers
No cross-context behavioural advertising (CCPA/CPRA terminology)

Managing your choice

The banner appears on first visit. Your choice is stored on your device for up to 12 months — after that we ask again, in line with EDPB guidance on periodic re-confirmation.

To change your mind any time: — re-opens the banner with your current choice pre-filled.

You can also clear cookies via your browser settings. Note that clearing essential cookies will sign you out and may interrupt an in-progress payment; you can sign back in or restart the checkout afterwards.

Why this changed in 2026

For most of the product's history we ran only Plausible (no cookies, no consent required) and the cookie banner we briefly showed was cosmetic. We removed it for that reason — see issue #229. In May 2026 we wired up Google Ads so we could spend ad budget on what actually converts (issue #301), and Google Ads — unlike Plausible — does drop cookies. So a real, consent-gating banner is back. We'd rather over-disclose than be sneaky about it.

Contact

Questions about cookies? Message us via your in-app inbox or the contact page.