Cookie Policy
Last updated: August 24, 2026
This policy explains the cookies and similar technologies (pixels, local storage) used on
healthstacker.com, what they do, and how you can control them. It supplements the
1. What Cookies Are
Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. "Session" cookies expire
when you close the browser; "persistent" cookies remain until their expiry date or until
you delete them. Pixels are tiny page elements that let a provider record that a page or
event occurred; local storage holds data in your browser the same way cookies do.
2. Categories We Use
2.1 Essential (always active)
Required for the Service to function — they cannot be disabled through our controls:
- Authentication/session cookies: keep you signed in to your account and dashboard.
- Checkout and payment cookies: set by us and by Stripe/PayPal during checkout to process payment securely and prevent fraud.
- Security cookies: help detect abuse and protect accounts.
Blocking these in your browser may break sign-in and checkout.
2.2 Analytics & Experimentation
Product analytics and A/B experiment assignment help us understand which pages work and
improve them. These record events such as page views, clicks, and experiment variants,
associated with a random identifier rather than your name. Retention of identifiable
analytics data is capped as described in the Privacy Policy.
2.3 Advertising Pixels (Campaign-Dependent)
Where enabled for a campaign, advertising providers — for example **Meta Pixel, Google,
or TikTok** — set cookies or receive events (page views, purchases) to measure ad
performance and build audiences. Under some US state laws this is "sharing" for
cross-context behavioral advertising; you can opt out as described below.
3. Your Controls
- Global Privacy Control (GPC): we honor the GPC browser signal as an opt-out of advertising "sharing".
- Consent banner: where a consent banner is shown in your region, you can accept, decline, or change non-essential categories at any time from the banner's settings link.
- Browser settings: every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, or prompt before setting them. Instructions live in your browser's help pages.
- Provider opt-outs: the advertising providers offer their own controls — for example Meta's ad preferences, Google's My Ad Center, and the industry pages at aboutads.info and youronlinechoices.eu.
4. Retention
Session cookies expire when you close the browser. Persistent cookies carry the expiry set
by their provider — typically between 24 hours and 13 months. Analytics identifiers are
retained no longer than 24 months in identifiable form.
5. Third Parties
Analytics and advertising providers set their cookies under their own privacy policies.
The Privacy Policy lists the categories of providers we use and what they
receive; we contractually limit service providers to processing on our behalf.
6. Changes
We update this page as our tooling changes and revise the "Last updated" date. Material
changes to how we use non-essential cookies will be reflected in the consent controls.
7. Contact
Health Stacker, a publication of Barker Publishing Network. Email: support@healthstacker.com.