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    Last updated October 3, 2026

    Cookie Policy

    What Backrow stores on your device, why, and how to switch any of it off.

    Introduction

    Manage your cookie preferences

    Control every optional category. Takes effect immediately.

    This Cookie Policy explains how Backrow ("we," "our," or "us") uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our platform. It should be read together with our Privacy Policy.

    Using Backrow is not by itself consent to optional cookies. Functional, analytics, performance, and advertising storage all stay off until you switch them on in the consent banner, and you can change your mind at any time with the button above or in your browser settings. Only the strictly necessary items in category 1 run without your consent, because the site cannot work without them.

    Every switch is real. Turning a category off stops the storage in that category from being written and deletes what it has already written — we do not show you a control that does nothing. Your answer is remembered for 12 months; after that we stop relying on it and ask again, so an answer you gave a year ago cannot keep tracking alive indefinitely.

    Cookies on Backrow keep you signed in, remember your settings, help us understand how the platform is used so we can improve it, and — only if you allow the advertising category — let us show you Backrow ads on other platforms.

    What Are Cookies?

    Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and to provide information to website owners.

    Similar technologies we use

    • Local Storage: stores data in your browser for offline functionality
    • Session Storage: temporary storage that expires when you close your browser
    • IndexedDB: stores larger structured data (notes, recordings)
    • Web Beacons: tiny graphics used in emails to track opens and clicks

    Most of what Backrow keeps in your browser is local storage, not cookies. We list it here anyway, because the law cares about what is stored on your device, not what it is called.

    Categories We Use

    1. Essential (Required)

    Cannot be disabled — the platform cannot work without these

    Necessary for Backrow to function. Without them, core features like authentication and session management will not work.

    What we actually store:

    • sb-<project>-auth-token — your sign-in session. Without it you are signed out on every page load.
    • backrow_consent — your answer to the banner, so we do not ask again and so tracking stays off if you said no.
    • __cf_bm, cf_clearance — set by Cloudflare to tell real visitors from bots and absorb attacks.
    • referral_code, promo_code, selectedPlan — the specific discount, referral, or plan you clicked, held only so we can honour the thing you just asked for at checkout.
    • Work you authored: *_draft tool drafts, custom_vocabularies, transcript_user_corrections, quiz-results, onboarding_progress — your own content, kept on your device so an accidental refresh does not destroy it. We treat this as necessary because deleting your work to honour a cookie preference would be the worse outcome; clear your site data to remove it.

    Duration: the sign-in session lasts until you sign out or it expires; the consent record lasts 12 months; drafts and checkout selections persist until used or until you clear site data; Cloudflare's are short lived (30 minutes to a few days).

    What is no longer in this category: backrow_utm_first_touch, which records the campaign link that first brought you here, used to be listed here as non-rejectable. Campaign attribution is marketing measurement, not a strict necessity — Backrow works identically without it — so it now sits in Analytics below and is only written if you allow it.

    2. Functional Storage (Optional)

    Remembers how you like the app set up

    These entries remember your preferences and settings. They stay on your device, are never used to track you, and are not shared with anyone. You control this category with its own switch. Turning it off deletes the entries below and stops new ones being written. Backrow keeps working — it simply starts from defaults each visit instead of remembering your choices.

    What we actually store:

    • backrow-theme, admin-theme — dark/light mode preference
    • backrow-language — your language choice
    • accessibility-font-size, accessibility-high-contrast, accessibility-reduced-motion — accessibility settings
    • backrow_audio_playback_speed, study-music-preferences — playback and study-music preferences
    • has-seen-onboarding, dismissedPrompts, setup-progress — so we do not re-show tips and tours you have already dismissed
    • pipWindowPosition, toolWindowPosition — where you last dragged floating windows

    Duration: until you turn this category off or clear this site's data.

    3. Analytics (Optional)

    Helps us improve Backrow

    These collect information about how you use Backrow, helping us understand behaviour and improve the platform.

    • Google Analytics: page views, session duration, user flow — _ga, _gid, _gat
    • PostHog: privacy-friendly analytics, feature usage and session replay (a recording of how the app is used, with anything you type masked) — ph_*, posthog_*
    • Campaign attribution: which link first brought you to Backrow, so we can tell which posts and referrals actually work — backrow_utm_first_touch, signup_source, backrow_analytics_user

    Duration: up to 2 years.

    4. Performance & Error Monitoring (Optional)

    Finds bugs and keeps the platform fast

    These help us identify technical issues and monitor performance.

    • Page load times and API response times
    • Error rates and crash reports
    • Feature performance (transcription speed, AI generation time)
    • Server health and uptime

    Tools: Sentry (error tracking and session replay, with on-screen text masked and media blocked from capture).

    5. Advertising (Optional)

    Cross context behavioural advertising

    If — and only if — you allow this category, we load advertising pixels that let us show Backrow ads to you on other platforms and measure whether those ads worked. This is the one category that involves sharing information about your visit with a company outside Backrow for advertising purposes, which is why it has its own switch and is never bundled with analytics.

    • Meta (Facebook / Instagram) Pixel: records that you visited Backrow and which key actions you took, so we can build a remarketing audience and measure ad performance — _fbp, _fbc, loads connect.facebook.net
    • TikTok Pixel: the same function for TikTok ads. Currently dormant — it only activates once a Backrow TikTok ad account exists — _ttp, _tt_enable_cookie

    Duration: up to 90 days (Meta) / 13 months (TikTok). Turning this category off deletes these cookies and revokes the vendors' consent grants immediately.

    Under California's CPRA this activity counts as "sharing" for cross context behavioural advertising. See the "Do Not Sell or Share" control on our Data Privacy page, which you can use without an account.

    Device Fingerprinting (Not a Cookie)

    Separately from the categories above, Backrow computes a device fingerprint — an identifier derived from characteristics your browser exposes (screen, timezone, fonts, rendering behaviour) using the FingerprintJS library. Nothing is written to your device for this; the identifier is calculated from signals your browser already reveals.

    What it is used for: detecting fraud and abuse, in particular the creation of duplicate accounts to farm free credits. It is not used for advertising, is never sold or shared for advertising, and is not used to build a profile of your interests.

    Legal basis: legitimate interests (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) in protecting the Service and other users against fraud. We disclose it here because ePrivacy Art. 5(3) covers gaining access to information stored in your terminal equipment regardless of whether a cookie is involved, and a technique we rely on should not be documented only in the Privacy Policy. You can object to this processing by writing to privacy@backrow.ai.

    Third Party Cookies

    Some cookies are set by third party services that appear on Backrow. We do not control these cookies. Please review their privacy policies:

    How to Manage Cookies

    1. Through Backrow

    You can manage your preferences directly in Backrow:

    This lets you enable or disable each optional category independently — functional, analytics, performance, and advertising. Saving takes effect immediately, without a page reload, and turning a category off also deletes what it had already stored.

    2. Through your browser

    All browsers let you manage cookies in their settings:

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

    Note: blocking all cookies will prevent you from using Backrow, because sign-in itself depends on them.

    3. Opt out of analytics and advertising

    4. Global Privacy Control (GPC) and Do Not Track

    We honour the Global Privacy Control signal (Sec-GPC: 1 / navigator.globalPrivacyControl) and the legacy Do Not Track setting (DNT: 1). When your browser sends either, Backrow treats it as a standing opt-out of the analytics, performance, and advertising categories, with no further action needed on your part.

    Concretely: the signal overrides anything stored. If you accepted analytics before you turned GPC on, the signal wins and those categories stay off. The switches for those categories are shown greyed out in the settings dialog with a note explaining why, rather than pretending they still decide the outcome. Functional storage is unaffected — GPC is a signal about tracking and sale/sharing, not about whether we may remember your theme.

    Most privacy focused browsers (Brave, DuckDuckGo) enable GPC by default; Firefox and Chrome offer it via settings or an extension.

    Impact of Disabling

    Essential disabled (browser-level block):

    • You will not be able to log in or stay logged in
    • Your session will not be maintained
    • Security features will not function

    Functional disabled:

    • Your preferences will not be saved (theme, language, accessibility settings)
    • You will need to reconfigure those settings each session
    • Tips and tours you dismissed may reappear
    • Every feature still works — your account, notes, and study tools are unaffected

    Analytics / performance disabled:

    • We will not be able to improve Backrow based on usage data
    • Performance issues may take longer to identify
    • Your experience will not be affected otherwise

    Advertising disabled:

    • No information about your visit is shared with Meta or TikTok
    • You may still see Backrow ads, but they will not be targeted based on your visit
    • Your experience on Backrow is not affected in any way

    Updates to This Policy

    We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal reasons. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when it was last revised. We encourage you to review it periodically.

    Questions?

    If you have questions about how we use cookies, please contact us:

    This Cookie Policy is effective as of October 3, 2026 and applies to all users of Backrow.