Legal
Cookie Policy
Last updated: 29 September 2026
This page tells you exactly which cookies and similar technologies vatnode uses, what they do, how long they live, and how to change your consent at any time.
Your current consent
Strictly necessary
Sign-in and CSRF protection. Required for the site to work.
Always onAnalytics
Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity.
OffMarketing
Google Ads conversion measurement and our own record of which link brought you here.
Off
Your choice is stored in this browser only. If you use vatnode from another browser or device you will be asked again there.
What cookies are
A cookie is a small piece of data a website asks your browser to store and send back on subsequent visits. Some are strictly necessary for the site to function – they are why a page can know you are logged in. Others are optional and used for analytics; you control whether those run.
vatnode stores your consent choice in a first-party cookie (cc_cookie) so we can respect it on every visit. It is listed in the essential-cookies table below.
Essential cookies (always on)
These are required for vatnode to work. We do not ask for consent because the site cannot function without them and they are exempt under Article 5(3) of the EU ePrivacy Directive (strictly necessary purpose). Legal basis: legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
| Name | Purpose | Duration | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| better-auth.session_token (or __Secure-better-auth.session_token in production) | Keeps you signed in to your vatnode account. Without this cookie you would need to log in on every page load. | 400 days; the expiry is extended when you use vatnode (at most once a day) | .vatnode.dev |
| better-auth.session_data | Holds a short-lived, signed copy of your session details so the site does not have to look up your session on every request. | 5 minutes | .vatnode.dev |
| cc_cookie | Stores your cookie consent choice — which optional categories you allowed — so we do not show the banner again and respect your decision on every visit. | 6 months | vatnode.dev |
| __cf_bm | Set by Cloudflare, which sits in front of all vatnode traffic, to tell humans and automated bots apart and protect the site against abuse. No consent required — strictly necessary for security. | 30 minutes | .vatnode.dev |
In addition we use Umami, a self-hosted analytics tool that runs on our own server in the EU and does not set any cookies or cross-site identifiers. It records the pages you view, the site or campaign (utm_ parameters) that sent you, and interactions such as a submitted search, with VAT numbers and other identifiers removed from page addresses before anything is sent. No third party receives this data. Umami runs regardless of your choice in the cookie banner; you can switch it off for this browser here:
Umami in this browser: …
Optional analytics cookies (consent required)
These help us understand which pages and features are useful so we can improve them. Until you enable Analytics, Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity are not loaded at all: nothing is sent to Google or Microsoft and nothing is stored on your device. vatnode passes your choice to them through Google's Consent Mode v2and Clarity's consent API.
Legal basis: your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). Cookies in this category are only set after you enable Analytics in the banner or in Section 1 above. If you previously enabled it and then turn it off, the providers are told immediately, without a page reload, and the cookies they already set are deleted from your browser. Providers may retain anonymised aggregate data they already collected; to request deletion of historical data, write to [email protected].
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga, _ga_12W4HLQ182 | Google Analytics 4 | Distinguishes unique visitors and groups pageviews into sessions for aggregate usage analysis. | 2 years |
| _clck, _clsk | Microsoft Clarity | Records anonymised session recordings and heatmaps so we can see where the UI is confusing. | _clck: 1 year. _clsk: 1 day. |
| MUID | Microsoft Clarity (via clarity.ms) | Identifies unique web browsers across Microsoft properties; used by Clarity for session continuity. | 13 months |
Both Google and Microsoft transfer data to the United States. Where this happens we rely on the EU Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (Module 2) as the transfer safeguard. See the Privacy Policy for the full legal basis assessment.
Optional advertising cookies (consent required)
vatnode runs Google Ads campaigns and uses the Google Ads tag to measure which campaigns lead to sign-ups and paid upgrades. Until you enable Analytics or Marketing, no Google tag is loaded, and until you enable Marketing, no advertising cookies are written and no remarketing identifiers are stored. With Marketing enabled, vatnode also remembers in your browser which link or campaign brought you here (see the table below); if you then create an account, that value is saved to your account as its sign-up source. Legal basis: your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au, _gcl_aw, _gcl_dc | Google Ads | Attribute conversions (sign-ups, upgrades) to the Google Ads campaign that brought you here, and measure campaign performance. | 90 days |
| IDE, test_cookie | Google Ads (doubleclick.net) | Used by Google for remarketing — showing you vatnode ads on other sites you visit after leaving us. | IDE: 13 months. test_cookie: 15 minutes. |
| vn_first_touch, vn_src_reported (local storage) | vatnode (first-party) | vn_first_touch remembers which link or campaign brought you to vatnode (the ref or utm_source value in the URL you arrived on), so that a later sign-up can be attributed to it; vn_src_reported records that the value has already been sent. If you create an account, the value is saved to your account as its sign-up source. Written, read and sent only while Marketing is enabled, and removed from your browser when you withdraw it. If your consent choice expires (after 6 months), the stored value is kept but is not read or sent until you enable Marketing again. | Until you withdraw Marketing consent or clear site data |
If you accepted and want to opt out specifically of personalised Google ads, you can also do so at adssettings.google.com.
Changing your mind
Your consent is never permanent. The Change preferences control in Section 1 above lets you turn Analytics and Marketing on or off independently at any time. Changes take effect immediately – no page reload – and we clear the cookies and local-storage entries for any category you turn off from your browser.
You can also clear all of vatnode's cookies and your consent choice by clearing site data in your browser settings; the banner will appear again on your next visit.
Contact
Questions about cookies or this policy: