Cookie Policy
Effective Date: January 15, 2025
At SharpBrainy, we believe in being upfront about how we track and store information on your device. This policy breaks down what tracking technologies we use, why we use them, and how you can control them.
We've written this in plain English because legal jargon helps nobody. If something's unclear, reach out to us directly.
What Are Cookies Anyway?
Think of cookies as tiny notes that websites leave on your computer. They help the site remember who you are when you come back, what you were doing, and how you prefer things set up.
Some cookies disappear when you close your browser. Others stick around for weeks or months. The technical term for the temporary ones is "session cookies," while the persistent ones are called, well, "persistent cookies."
Beyond cookies, we might use similar technologies like pixel tags, web beacons, or local storage. They all serve basically the same purpose: helping the website work better and remember your preferences.
How SharpBrainy Uses Tracking
We use these technologies for a few specific reasons. None of them involve selling your data to sketchy third parties or tracking you across the internet like some kind of digital detective.
Essential Cookies
These keep the site functional. They remember if you're logged in, what's in your budgeting session, and basic security features. Without these, the site simply wouldn't work. You can't turn these off without breaking everything.
Functional Cookies
These remember your preferences. Things like which currency you prefer to view, whether you want the dark theme enabled, or how you've customized your financial dashboard. They make your experience smoother but aren't strictly necessary.
Analytics Cookies
We use these to understand how people use the site. Which features get ignored? Where do people get stuck? What pages load too slowly? This helps us improve things over time. The data is aggregated, so we see trends rather than individual behavior.
Marketing Cookies
These track whether our ads are working and help us show relevant content. If you've visited our forecasting tools page, we might show you content about budget planning. They also prevent you from seeing the same ad 47 times in one day.
Control Your Cookie Settings
You're in charge here. We've made it simple to reject non-essential tracking if that's what you prefer.
Manage Your Preferences
Current Status: Cookies Accepted
Clicking this button will remove all tracking, analytics, and marketing cookies. Essential cookies will remain active to keep the site functional.
About Essential Cookies: These can't be disabled because they're required for basic site operation. They handle things like remembering you're logged in, maintaining your session security, and storing form data you're actively working with.
Essential cookies on SharpBrainy include authentication tokens, session identifiers, security features, and temporary calculation storage for your financial forecasting work.
Browser-Level Cookie Management
Every modern browser lets you control cookies directly. You can block them entirely, delete existing ones, or set rules about which sites can use them.
Fair warning though: blocking all cookies will break most websites to some degree. Banking sites, email platforms, and online shopping all rely on cookies to function properly.
Browser-Specific Instructions
Each browser handles cookies differently. Here's where to find the controls in the most common ones:
Third-Party Tracking
Sometimes we use services from other companies that set their own cookies. For example, if we embed a YouTube video on our help pages, YouTube might drop a cookie. Or if we use Google Analytics to measure site traffic, Google sets tracking cookies.
We're selective about which third parties we work with, but we can't control their cookies directly. Each one has its own privacy policy explaining what they collect and why.
Common third-party services on SharpBrainy might include Google Analytics for traffic measurement, payment processors for handling transactions, and occasionally embedded content from financial news sources or educational platforms.
How Long Do Cookies Last?
It varies. Session cookies vanish when you close your browser. They're the ones handling temporary tasks like keeping you logged in during a single visit.
Persistent cookies stick around longer. Some last for days, others for months or even years. We set expiration dates based on what makes sense for each cookie's purpose.
For example, a cookie remembering your currency preference might last six months. One tracking whether you've dismissed a notification might last a year. Authentication cookies typically expire after two weeks of inactivity.
Updates to This Policy
Technology changes. Regulations evolve. Sometimes we add new features that require different tracking approaches.
When we make significant changes to how we use cookies, we'll update the effective date at the top of this page and notify active users through email or an on-site banner.
We recommend checking back occasionally, especially if you're particular about privacy settings. The date at the top tells you when we last revised things.
Questions or Concerns?
If something about our cookie usage bothers you or seems unclear, we'd rather hear about it than have you quietly frustrated.
Email us at support@sharpbrainy.com or call +61 407 174 616.
You can also write to us at 174 Pulteney St, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia if you prefer postal communication.