Cookie Policy

What Are Cookies and Local Storage?

Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used by website owners to make their websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.

Local Storage (such as HTML5 local web storage) is an industry-standard technology that allows a website or application to store information locally on your computer or mobile device. We use this primarily to ensure our platform loads quickly and remembers your session state as you navigate between pages.

How We Use These Technologies

We use first-party and third-party technologies for several reasons. Some are required for technical reasons in order for our platform to operate, while others help us understand how visitors use our site.

1. Essential Operations (Strictly Necessary)

We use local browser storage to manage your authentication state securely and prevent visual layout shifts when you navigate between pages. For example, we store a temporary auth_status flag on your device so the website knows whether to show you logged-in or logged-out navigation menus. This does not track you across other websites.

2. Analytics and Performance

We use third-party analytics services, specifically Google Analytics (GA4), to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behavior patterns. Google Analytics sets cookies to evaluate your use of the website and compile reports on platform activity. This helps us determine which scholarship categories and services are most popular so we can improve the platform.

Third-Party Cookies

While Scholarship Genie itself relies primarily on local storage for core operations, third parties like Google may set cookies through our website for analytics and performance purposes. We do not directly control these third-party cookies. For more information about Google's data practices, please review the Google Privacy Policy.

How Can You Control Cookies?

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website, though your access to some functionality and areas of our platform may be restricted or operate incorrectly.

To learn how to manage cookies on popular browsers, please visit the browser developer's official help pages:

• Google Chrome
• Apple Safari
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Changes to this Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Please revisit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.