Cookie Policy
Last updated: February 20, 2026
1. What Are Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better user experience, and give site owners useful information about how their site is being used.
FriendRE also uses similar technologies such as local storage and session storage (collectively referred to as "cookies" in this policy) to store preferences and session data in your browser.
2. How We Use Cookies
We use cookies for the following purposes:
Essential Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary for the site to function. They cannot be disabled.
- Authentication session — Managed by Clerk to keep you signed in securely across pages and sessions.
- CSRF protection — Origin-based tokens that protect against cross-site request forgery attacks on form submissions and API calls.
- Cookie consent — Remembers whether you have accepted or dismissed the cookie consent banner.
Functional Cookies
These cookies remember your preferences and choices to enhance your experience.
- Theme preference — Stores your light/dark mode selection so it persists across visits.
- Accessibility settings — Remembers your reading mode, font size, contrast, motion, and keyboard navigation preferences.
- Display settings — Stores preferences such as the live activity stats overlay toggle.
- PWA install prompt — Tracks whether you've dismissed the install prompt so it doesn't reappear.
Analytics Cookies
These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our site. They are only active when explicitly configured.
- PostHog — Product analytics that track page views, feature usage, and user flows. Only active when you consent to analytics cookies.
- Sentry — Error monitoring that captures JavaScript errors and performance data to help us fix bugs. Only active when you consent to analytics cookies.
3. Third-Party Cookies
Some features on FriendRE involve third-party services that may set their own cookies:
- Clerk — Authentication provider. Sets session cookies to manage secure sign-in. See Clerk's Privacy Policy.
- Stripe — Payment processor. Sets cookies during the checkout flow for fraud detection. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
- Cloudflare — Security challenge cookies used by Clerk's bot protection (Turnstile).
- Embedded video platforms — When you watch embedded videos, platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X may set cookies through their embed iframes.
4. Local Storage and Session Storage
In addition to cookies, we use browser local storage and session storage for:
- Theme and accessibility preferences (persisted across browser sessions)
- Display settings such as the live stats overlay visibility
- Cookie consent acknowledgment
- Service worker cache for offline Progressive Web App functionality
5. Managing Your Cookie Preferences
You can control cookies through several methods:
- Browser settings — Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through their settings. Note that blocking essential cookies will prevent you from signing in.
- In-app settings — You can manage your display and accessibility preferences from your profile settings page.
- Cookie consent banner — When you first visit FriendRE, a banner lets you acknowledge our use of cookies.
Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the site. Essential cookies cannot be disabled as they are required for the site to operate.
6. Updates to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. We will post the updated policy on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.