Cookie Policy
Last updated: 27 July 2026
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files that websites store on your device. They are used to remember preferences, support functionality, and – on some sites – measure usage or deliver advertising.
Not all cookies are the same. Some are necessary for the site to work. Others are optional and should only be set with your consent.
How Halo uses cookies
By default, Halo sets only essential cookies. We do not use advertising cookies or behavioural retargeting cookies.
Our analytics tool, PostHog, starts in cookieless mode. Unless you accept analytics cookies, it sets no cookies and writes nothing to your browser’s storage: it uses in-memory identifiers that do not survive a page load. If you do accept analytics cookies, PostHog switches to cookie and local storage persistence and session recording is enabled.
The cookie consent banner appears across haloesim.com, including the homepage, destination pages, help articles, blog, checkout, and the order portal and challenge links.
Cookies in use
The table below lists the cookies Halo sets directly on haloesim.com. Cookies set by Stripe during payment are described under Stripe checkout cookies, and the cookies PostHog sets if you accept analytics are described under PostHog analytics.
| Cookie name | Purpose | Category | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__cf_bm |
Bot management – helps distinguish humans from automated traffic and protects the site from abuse | Essential | 30 minutes | Cloudflare |
Stripe checkout cookies
Payment is handled by Stripe, and Stripe sets its own cookies to process the payment securely and detect fraud. Where those cookies are set depends on what you are buying.
For a plan purchase, Stripe’s checkout is embedded in a panel on haloesim.com. You are not redirected, so Stripe’s scripts run on our domain and set their cookies there. For a data top-up bought from your order portal, you are redirected to checkout.stripe.com and the cookies are set on Stripe’s domain instead.
In both cases the cookies are set by Stripe, not by Halo, and are governed by Stripe’s privacy policy. They are strictly necessary to take your payment and to detect fraud, so under PECR Regulation 6(4)(b) they do not require consent.
PostHog analytics
Unless you accept analytics cookies, PostHog is configured with persistence: 'memory'. In that state it sets no cookies, uses no local storage, and writes nothing persistent to your device. It collects aggregated usage data (pages viewed, referrer, country, browser type) using short-lived in-memory identifiers that cannot follow you between sessions or across websites. Because it does not access or store information on your device, it falls outside PECR Regulation 6 and does not require consent.
If you accept analytics cookies, PostHog switches to persistence: 'localStorage+cookie' and session recording is enabled. It then stores an identifier on your device and can link your activity across sessions. This happens only after you accept. Session recording never runs on our checkout pages or on any page of your order portal, even if you have accepted analytics cookies – those two areas are excluded outright.
Local storage and session storage
Halo also uses your browser’s local storage and session storage. These are not cookies, but the same rules apply to them, so they are listed here.
- Game data – preferences such as sound settings and cosmetic selections, progression, and your leaderboard entry and email opt-in state if you submit your email through the game. Set on the game page only.
motion– whether you have turned reduced motion on or off.halo_recent_destinations– destinations you have recently viewed, stored as country codes and timestamps, so we can show them to you again.halo_cookie_consent– the cookie choices you made and when you made them, kept for 12 months. Written only when you use the consent banner.halo_visitor_id– a random identifier held in local storage, not a cookie, created when you first open the support chat, used to keep a chat conversation together across page loads. This one does leave your device: it is sent to our support service with your chat messages, and it identifies those messages in our product analytics.halo_chat_state– your current chat conversation, held in session storage and discarded when you close the tab.
Apart from halo_visitor_id, none of this leaves your device. You can clear all of it at any time through your browser settings.
Managing your preferences
The consent banner offers Accept all, Reject, and Manage preferences, which opens a panel with separate controls for analytics and marketing cookies. Essential cookies cannot be turned off: they are permitted without consent under PECR Regulation 6(4)(b) because they are strictly necessary for the site to function. Marketing cookies are listed in that panel but are not in use.
Once you have made a choice, the banner does not reappear for 12 months. To change or withdraw that choice before then, clear the site’s stored data through your browser settings; the banner will then be shown again.
If you want to block all cookies, including essential ones, you can do so through your browser settings:
- Safari: Settings > Privacy > Block All Cookies
- Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and other site data
- Firefox: Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and Site Data
- Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies
Blocking essential cookies may prevent checkout and other site functionality from working correctly.
Third-party services
Halo uses a small number of third-party services that may process data in connection with your visit:
- Cloudflare (hosting, CDN, security) – sets the
__cf_bmessential cookie described above. Cloudflare privacy policy. - Stripe (payment processing) – sets cookies during payment, on haloesim.com for plan purchases and on checkout.stripe.com for top-ups. Stripe privacy policy.
- PostHog (product analytics) – hosted on PostHog’s EU Cloud. Cookieless, in-memory persistence unless you accept analytics cookies. PostHog privacy policy.
None of these services places advertising or retargeting cookies on haloesim.com.
Updates to this policy
If we introduce further non-essential cookies – for example a marketing pixel – we will update this policy and make sure they are not set without your explicit consent.
Material changes will be announced on the site. The current version is always displayed at the bottom of this page.
Contact
For questions about cookies, email legal@haloesim.com.
For broader data protection questions, see our Privacy Policy.