Cookie Policy

🍪1. What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and to provide information to the website owners. MasterMarket uses cookies and similar technologies (such as localStorage) to improve your experience.

Why We Use Cookies

To keep you signed in to your account
To remember your preferences (such as dark mode)
To understand how you use our service
To improve our platform based on usage patterns

📋2. Cookies We Use

The following table describes the cookies and local storage items used by MasterMarket:

Name	Type	Purpose	Duration
token	Essential	Stores your authentication JWT token to keep you signed in	Session
user	Essential	Caches your profile data locally for faster page loads	Session
theme	Preference	Remembers your dark/light mode preference	Persistent
cookie-consent	Essential	Stores your cookie consent preferences	1 year
pendingReferralCode	Essential	Temporarily stores a referral code during registration	Until login
Google OAuth	Third-party	Set by Google during the Sign in with Google flow	Varies

Note: MasterMarket primarily uses browser localStorage rather than traditional HTTP cookies. localStorage data is stored only on your device and is never sent to our servers with each request.

🔒3. Essential Cookies

Essential cookies are necessary for the basic functioning of MasterMarket. Without these, core features like account login and navigation would not work. These cookies cannot be disabled.

Essential cookies include:

Authentication token — Keeps you signed in securely
User profile cache — Stores your basic profile for performance
Cookie consent record — Remembers your cookie preferences

⚙️4. Preference Cookies

Preference cookies allow MasterMarket to remember choices you make (such as your preferred colour scheme) and provide enhanced, personalised features.

Theme preference — Remembers whether you prefer light or dark mode
Terms acceptance record — Records that you have read and accepted the Terms of Service

Disabling preference cookies may result in a degraded experience where your settings are not remembered between visits.

📊5. Analytics Cookies

MasterMarket does not currently use analytics cookies or third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics). If we introduce analytics in the future, we will update this policy and request your consent before setting any analytics cookies.

Your privacy matters: We believe in collecting only the data we need. We do not track your browsing behaviour across other websites.

🔗6. Third-Party Cookies

Some features of MasterMarket involve third-party services that may set their own cookies:

Google Sign-In

If you use “Sign in with Google”, Google may set cookies on your device as part of the authentication process. These cookies are governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

Stripe Payments

If you subscribe to premium features, Stripe (our payment processor) may set cookies during the checkout process. These are governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy.

🛠️7. Managing Cookies

You can control and manage cookies in several ways:

Browser Settings

Most web browsers allow you to manage cookies through their settings. You can typically:

View and delete cookies stored on your device
Block cookies from specific or all websites
Set your browser to notify you when a cookie is set
Clear all cookies when you close your browser

LocalStorage

MasterMarket primarily uses localStorage. To clear localStorage data:

Open your browser's Developer Tools (usually F12)
Go to the “Application” or “Storage” tab
Find “Local Storage” and select the MasterMarket domain
Delete individual items or clear all storage

Please note: Blocking or deleting essential cookies/localStorage may prevent you from using MasterMarket. You will be logged out and your preferences will be reset.

✅8. Your Consent

When you first visit MasterMarket, you will be shown a cookie consent banner allowing you to:

Accept All — Enable all cookie categories
Reject Non-Essential — Only allow essential cookies needed for the site to function
Manage Preferences — Choose which categories of cookies to allow

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clearing your browser's localStorage for this site, which will cause the consent banner to appear again on your next visit.

GDPR Compliance: In accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018, we will never set non-essential cookies without your explicit consent. Essential cookies are exempt from consent requirements as they are strictly necessary for the service.

📝9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make changes, we will:

Update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page
Notify you of significant changes through the cookie consent banner
Re-request your consent if new cookie categories are introduced

📧10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us:

MasterMarket Data Protection

privacy@mastermarketapp.com

Dublin, Ireland