Cookie Policy
1. What this policy covers
This policy explains the cookies and similar technologies Housal uses, what each one is for, who sets it, and how you can refuse or remove them.
It sits alongside the Housal Privacy Policy, which explains everything else we do with personal information. Where the two overlap, read them together.
2. What a cookie is
A cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to store, so the site can recognise your browser the next time it sees it. Related technologies do much the same job by different means:
- Local storage keeps information in your browser until it is cleared. Housal uses it more than it uses cookies.
- Pixels and tags are tiny pieces of code on a page that record that the page was opened.
- Session identifiers let us tell one visit apart from another without knowing who you are.
Throughout this policy, "cookies" means all of these.
3. What Housal sets
A sign-in cookie. When you sign in, we store a token that keeps you signed in as you move between pages. Without it you would have to sign in again on every page. It is removed when you sign out.
Information kept in your browser, not on our servers. Housal stores the following in your browser's local storage:
| What | Why it exists |
|---|---|
| Your sign-in tokens | Keeps you signed in and lets your session be renewed |
| A session identifier | Lets us count a visit as one visit rather than many |
| Your preferences | Remembers your settings so the site behaves the way you left it |
| Your recent searches | Shows them again so you do not retype them |
| Contact details you entered in an inquiry form | Saves you retyping them the next time you inquire |
| Whether you installed the Housal app | Stops us asking you to install it again |
| Where to send you after signing in | Returns you to the page you were on |
This information stays on your own device. Clearing your browser data removes all of it, and you can do that at any time without losing your account.
4. What third parties set
Three external services run on Housal. Each sets its own cookies or storage under its own name.
| Service | What it is for | What it collects |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | Counting visits and understanding which pages people use, so we know what to improve | Pages viewed, approximate location from your IP address, device and browser, how you arrived at the site |
| Microsoft Clarity | Seeing how pages are actually used — where people scroll, where they get stuck | Interactions with the page, and a recording of the session in which what you type is masked |
| PostHog | Product analytics — which features are used, and where people abandon a task | Pages and actions within the site, linked to an identifier that is not your name |
We do not run advertising pixels on Housal. There is no Facebook or Meta pixel, no advertising remarketing tag and no Google Tag Manager container on the site. If that changes, this policy will be updated before the change goes live.
Our hosting and security provider, Cloudflare, may also set cookies of its own to keep the site available, block automated abuse and route traffic. These are necessary for the site to work safely.
5. The categories, plainly
Strictly necessary. The sign-in cookie, the tokens that keep your session alive, and Cloudflare's security cookies. The site cannot work without these. They cannot be switched off from within Housal, but you can block or clear them in your browser — you will simply be signed out.
Functional. Your preferences, recent searches and saved contact details. Refusing these costs you convenience, not access.
Analytics. Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and PostHog. Nothing on Housal depends on these — refusing them does not change what you can see or do.
Advertising. None. See section 4.
6. How to refuse them
Housal does not currently show a cookie banner. Analytics runs unless you block it in your browser. A way to refuse analytics from within Housal is being added.
Until then, you can refuse or remove cookies in these ways.
In your browser. Every major browser lets you block cookies, block third-party cookies only, delete cookies already stored, and clear local storage. Look for Privacy or Cookies in your browser's settings. Blocking all cookies will sign you out of Housal and keep you signed out.
Opting out of each service directly:
- Google Analytics — Google publishes a browser add-on that opts you out of Google Analytics on every site:
tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout - Microsoft Clarity — Clarity honours the Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control settings in browsers that send them. Turning that on stops Clarity recording your session.
- PostHog — blocked by most tracker-blocking browser extensions, and by blocking third-party cookies and storage.
On your phone. Both iOS and Android let you limit tracking across apps and browsers in their own privacy settings.
7. How long they last
The sign-in cookie lasts for your session and is removed when you sign out. Information in local storage stays until you clear your browser data. Third-party analytics cookies last for the period each provider sets — typically up to two years for Google Analytics and shorter for the others. Each provider's own policy states its current periods.
8. Cookies on other sites
Housal links to websites we do not control, and some pages embed content from other services. Those sites set their own cookies under their own policies. This policy does not cover them.
9. Changes, updates, and your responsibility to stay informed
Housal may at any time update, amend, modify, replace, supplement or otherwise change this document, the Housal services, subscription plans, features, prices, requirements, policies and procedures, and any other terms applicable to your use of Housal.
Housal may make a change for any reason — including changes to its business, its services, technology, security, operations, legal or regulatory requirements, pricing, subscription plans, features, or the way Housal operates.
The current version of this document is always available on Housal.
You are responsible for keeping yourself informed of the current version of Housal's documents, policies, services, subscription plans and requirements. Review them from time to time, and before you continue using a service, renew a subscription, or enter into a new transaction with Housal.
Each document carries a version number and effective date. Housal keeps previous versions for its records.
Where applicable law requires notice of a change, or requires your acceptance of it, Housal will give that notice or obtain that acceptance. Except where the law requires otherwise, Housal is not required to obtain a fresh individual acceptance every time a document is updated.
Your continued use of Housal after the effective date of an updated document constitutes your acceptance of it, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
If you do not agree with an updated document, you are responsible for discontinuing the relevant use of Housal, or cancelling the relevant service or subscription where a cancellation method is available.
A new tracking technology will be listed here before it is switched on, not after.
10. Contact
To ask about this policy or how we use cookies, use Contact Housal.