Cookie Policy
Effective Date: August 18, 2026 • Last Reviewed: August 2026
VanHeartbeat does not use invasive advertising cookies or cross-site behavioral tracking networks. We primarily rely on your browser's lightweight Local Storage to save your pinned tools, preferred color scheme, and alert dismissals entirely on your own device.
1. What Are Cookies and Web Storage?
Cookies are small text files placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Web Storage (including localStorage and sessionStorage) is a modern web standard that allows websites to store key-value data directly within your web browser without transmitting it back and forth to servers on every network request.
2. How VanHeartbeat Uses Storage & Cookies
These storage items are strictly necessary to remember your customization choices across page reloads and browser sessions without requiring account creation:
| Key | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| vanutils_pinned_* | Stores IDs of pinned beaches, ferry routes, or mountains for your dashboard card | Persistent (until cleared) |
| theme | Saves your preferred UI appearance ('light' or 'dark') | Persistent |
| vanutils_dismissed_alert_* | Prevents dismissed breaking emergency alert banners from reappearing | Persistent |
We may utilize analytics services like Cloudflare Analytics to understand aggregate platform traffic, discover which telemetry feeds are most heavily utilized by Metro Vancouver residents, and troubleshoot edge rendering performance.
3. Zero Commercial Advertising Cookies
VanHeartbeat has a strict zero-ad policy. We do not place advertising cookies, conversion tracking pixels, retargeting beacons, or data broker scripts on our platform.
4. How to Control or Delete Cookies & Storage
You have full control over your cookies and local storage. You can configure your browser to block cookies, notify you when cookies are set, or clear all stored site data at any time:
- Google Chrome: Settings ➔ Privacy and Security ➔ Cookies and other site data.
- Apple Safari (macOS & iOS): Preferences / Settings ➔ Privacy ➔ Manage Website Data.
- Mozilla Firefox: Settings ➔ Privacy & Security ➔ Cookies and Site Data.
- Microsoft Edge: Settings ➔ Cookies and site permissions ➔ Manage and delete cookies.
Please note that if you clear your browser's local storage, your pinned tool favorites and dark mode selection will revert to defaults.
5. Updates to This Policy
Any adjustments to our storage or analytics practices will be reflected on this page. For any questions, please consult our Privacy Policy or reach out through our Contact page.