Cookie Policy

Last updated: December 2024

1. What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile) when you visit our website. They contain information that is transferred to your device's hard drive and help us provide you with a better experience by remembering your preferences and understanding how you use our platform.

Cookies can be "persistent" (stored on your device until they expire or you delete them) or "session" cookies (deleted when you close your browser). They can also be "first-party" cookies (set by us) or "third-party" cookies (set by other services we use).

2. How We Use Cookies

EarlyHunt uses cookies and similar tracking technologies for essential platform functionality and to improve user experience. We use cookies for the following purposes:

• Authentication and Session Management: Keep you securely signed in to your account, manage your session, and remember your login status across page visits
• Security: Protect against fraud, unauthorized access, and maintain platform security
• Platform Functionality: Enable core features like voting, project submissions, commenting, and dashboard access
• Preferences and Settings: Remember your display preferences, theme settings, and user interface customizations
• Performance and Analytics: Monitor platform performance, understand usage patterns, and identify technical issues (via Vercel Analytics)
• User Experience: Improve navigation, reduce loading times, and enhance overall platform usability

Important: EarlyHunt prioritizes privacy and does not use cookies for advertising, retargeting, or marketing purposes. We do not sell user data or use cookies to track you across other websites.

3. Types of Cookies We Use

4. Third-Party Cookies

We may use third-party services that set their own cookies on our Platform. These include:

4.1 Authentication Services (NextAuth.js)

We use NextAuth.js for authentication, which sets session cookies to keep you logged in:

• NextAuth Session Cookies: Essential cookies that maintain your authentication session. These cookies are set when you sign in via email magic links, Google OAuth, or GitHub OAuth
• Session Token Cookies: Secure, encrypted tokens that verify your identity and allow you to access authenticated features (dashboard, submissions, voting)
• CSRF Protection Cookies: Security cookies that protect against cross-site request forgery attacks
• OAuth Provider Cookies: When using Google or GitHub OAuth, those providers may set their own cookies for authentication flow (subject to their privacy policies)

These cookies are essential for platform functionality and cannot be disabled if you want to use authenticated features.

4.2 Payment Processing (Polar)

When you make a Premium launch payment, Polar (our payment processor) may set cookies:

• Polar Checkout Cookies: Cookies used during the payment process to maintain checkout session state and security
• Payment Security Cookies: Security cookies that protect payment transactions and prevent fraud
• Session Management: Cookies that maintain your payment session during the checkout process

These cookies are set when you're redirected to Polar's checkout page. Polar's use of cookies is subject to their privacy policy. We don't control these cookies, but they're necessary for payment processing.

4.3 Analytics and Performance (Vercel Analytics)

We use Vercel Analytics for privacy-friendly website analytics:

• Vercel Analytics: Privacy-focused analytics service that provides anonymized usage statistics
• Performance Monitoring: Tracks page load times, Core Web Vitals, and website performance metrics
• Error Tracking: Identifies technical issues and errors for debugging and improvement
• Usage Statistics: Aggregated, anonymized data about page views, navigation patterns, and feature usage

Vercel Analytics is designed to be privacy-friendly. It doesn't use cookies to track individual users across sessions and collects only anonymized, aggregated data. No personal information is collected or stored.

4.4 Hosting and Infrastructure (Vercel)

Our platform is hosted on Vercel, which may set cookies for:

• Load Balancing: Cookies that help distribute traffic across servers
• CDN Optimization: Cookies that optimize content delivery
• Performance: Cookies that help improve page load times and reliability

These are technical cookies essential for platform performance and reliability.

4.5 Other Third-Party Services

We use other services that may set cookies or use similar technologies:

• UploadThing: File upload service may use cookies for file upload sessions and security
• Email Services (Resend): Email delivery service doesn't typically set cookies on our platform, but email tracking pixels may be used in emails we send

5. Vercel Analytics - Privacy-Friendly Analytics

EarlyHunt uses Vercel Analytics, a privacy-focused analytics service that helps us understand platform usage and performance without compromising user privacy.

5.1 How Vercel Analytics Works

Vercel Analytics is designed to be privacy-friendly:

• No Personal Tracking: Does not track individual users across sessions or websites
• Anonymized Data: All data is aggregated and anonymized - no personal identifiers are collected
• Cookie-Free: Uses first-party data collection methods that don't rely on persistent cookies for user tracking
• GDPR/CCPA Compliant: Fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations
• Server-Side Processing: Analytics processing happens server-side, not through invasive client-side tracking

5.2 Data Collected by Vercel Analytics

Vercel Analytics collects anonymous, aggregated information including:

• Page views and navigation patterns (aggregated, not individual)
• Referrer information (which websites bring visitors to EarlyHunt)
• Browser type, device type, and operating system (for compatibility and optimization)
• General geographic location (country/region level only, not precise location)
• Performance metrics (page load times, Core Web Vitals, error rates)
• Feature usage statistics (which features are used most)

What Vercel Analytics Does NOT Collect:

• Personal information (names, emails, IP addresses in detail)
• Individual user browsing behavior
• Cross-site tracking data
• Advertising identifiers
• Individual session recordings

Privacy Impact: Since Vercel Analytics doesn't use cookies for individual user tracking and collects only anonymized, aggregated data, it has minimal privacy impact. The data helps us improve the platform without compromising your privacy.

For more information about Vercel Analytics' privacy practices, visit Vercel Analytics documentation.

6. Cookie Retention Periods

Different cookies used by EarlyHunt have different retention periods:

• NextAuth Session Cookies: Typically expire after 30 days of inactivity or when you explicitly sign out. Session cookies are also deleted when you close your browser
• Authentication Tokens: Expire after a set period (usually 30 days) or when you sign out
• CSRF Protection Cookies: Session-based, deleted when you close your browser
• Preference Cookies: Typically retained for up to 1 year, then expire automatically
• Cookie Consent Preferences: Stored for 1 year to remember your cookie choices
• Payment Session Cookies (Polar): Short-lived, expire after payment completion or checkout abandonment (usually within 24 hours)
• Analytics Data: Vercel Analytics doesn't use persistent cookies, but aggregated analytics data may be retained for platform improvement purposes

Automatic Expiration: Most cookies automatically expire after their retention period. You can also manually delete cookies through your browser settings at any time.

7. Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You have control over cookies used on EarlyHunt. Here are the ways you can manage your cookie preferences:

7.1 Cookie Consent and Preferences

When you first visit EarlyHunt, you may see information about our cookie usage. You can:

• Accept essential cookies (required for platform functionality)
• Manage preferences for analytics cookies (optional)
• Learn more about our cookie usage through this Cookie Policy
• Change your preferences at any time through browser settings

Important: Essential cookies (authentication, security, platform functionality) cannot be disabled if you want to use EarlyHunt's features. Analytics cookies are optional and can be disabled.

7.2 Browser Settings

You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to:

• Block all cookies
• Block third-party cookies only
• Delete existing cookies
• Set preferences for specific websites
• Receive notifications when cookies are set

7.3 Browser-Specific Instructions

• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data
• Firefox: Options → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
• Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data
• Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Cookies and site data

8. Impact of Disabling Cookies

Please note that disabling certain cookies may impact your experience on our Platform:

• Essential/Necessary Cookies:
  • You will not be able to log in or stay logged in
  • Voting, submissions, and dashboard features will not work
  • Platform security features may be compromised
  • Core platform functionality will be broken
• Functional Cookies:
  • Your preferences and settings will not be remembered
  • You'll need to reconfigure settings on each visit
  • Form data may be lost if you navigate away
• Analytics Cookies:
  • We'll have less data to improve the platform
  • Performance monitoring may be limited
  • No impact on your ability to use the platform

Recommendation: We recommend keeping essential cookies enabled for the best experience. You can safely disable analytics cookies if you prefer, but this limits our ability to improve the platform.

8. Local Storage and Similar Technologies

In addition to cookies, EarlyHunt may use similar technologies such as:

• Local Storage: Browser storage that persists data on your device (used for preferences, temporary data)
• Session Storage: Temporary storage that lasts only for your browser session (used for form data, navigation state)
• IndexedDB: Browser database for storing larger amounts of structured data (may be used for offline functionality)

These technologies serve similar purposes to cookies and can be managed through your browser settings alongside cookies. They're typically used for platform functionality, preferences, and improving user experience.

9. Your Rights Regarding Cookies

Depending on your location (especially if you're in the EU under GDPR, California under CCPA, or other jurisdictions with data protection laws), you have certain rights regarding cookies:

• Right to Information: Know what cookies we use, why we use them, and how long they're stored (provided in this Cookie Policy)
• Right to Consent: Give or withdraw consent for non-essential cookies (analytics cookies can be managed through browser settings)
• Right to Access: Request information about cookies stored on your device (you can view these in your browser settings)
• Right to Deletion: Delete cookies at any time through your browser settings
• Right to Object: Object to processing via cookies (you can disable non-essential cookies)

Exercising Your Rights: You can exercise most cookie-related rights directly through your browser settings. For questions or assistance, contact us at hi@earlyhunt.com. Essential cookies cannot be disabled as they're necessary for platform functionality.

10. Updates to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our cookie usage, legal requirements, or platform features. When we make changes:

• We'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this policy
• For material changes, we'll notify you via email or through a prominent notice on the platform
• We'll post the updated Cookie Policy on this page before changes take effect
• Your continued use of EarlyHunt after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy

We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies. If you have questions about updates, contact us at hi@earlyhunt.com.

11. Cookie Policy and Related Policies

This Cookie Policy should be read in conjunction with our other policies:

• Privacy Policy - Details about how we collect, use, and protect your personal information
• Terms of Service - Legal terms governing your use of EarlyHunt

Cookies are one aspect of our overall data practices. For complete information about data collection, usage, and your privacy rights, please review our Privacy Policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, please contact us:

• Through our contact page
• By email at hi@earlyhunt.com (include "Cookie Question" in subject line for faster response)
• Follow us on X/Twitter for platform updates