Legal

Cookie Policy

Last updated: April 1, 2025

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that websites store on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit them. They serve various functions: some are essential for the website to operate correctly, while others help us understand how visitors use our site and allow us to improve their experience.

Cookies are widely used across the internet. They are generally harmless and do not contain executable code or viruses. The information stored in a cookie is typically either a small piece of data you provided (such as a language preference) or a session identifier that links your browser to information stored on our servers.

In addition to cookies, we may use similar technologies including: web beacons (small transparent images embedded in pages or emails that register when your browser accesses them), local storage (a browser-side data store similar to cookies but with larger capacity), and session storage (temporary data stored only for the duration of your browser session).

This Cookie Policy covers cookies and similar technologies used on gridkernx.com. It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy, which describes how we handle personal information more broadly.

2. How We Use Cookies

GridKern uses cookies for the following purposes:

  • To enable core website functionality: Some cookies are necessary for the website to work as intended. Without them, you would not be able to navigate between pages correctly, log in to your account, or use secure features of the platform.
  • To remember your preferences: We use cookies to remember choices you make, such as your cookie consent decision, so that you don't have to repeat them on future visits.
  • To analyze website usage: We use analytics cookies to understand how visitors interact with gridkernx.com — which pages they visit, how long they stay, and where they come from. This helps us improve the site and make it more useful to our visitors.
  • To support account authentication: When you log in to the GridKern platform, cookies are used to maintain your authenticated session securely.
  • For marketing analysis: We may use cookies to understand how visitors arrived at our website and which of our marketing efforts are effective, enabling us to allocate marketing resources more efficiently.

3. Types of Cookies We Use

3.1 Essential Cookies

Essential cookies are required for the basic operation of gridkernx.com and cannot be disabled without preventing core functionality from working. These cookies do not store personal information and are not used for marketing purposes. They include:

  • Session cookies: Temporary cookies that expire when you close your browser. Used to maintain your browsing session across page loads, remember items in forms, and manage the secure authentication state of logged-in platform users.
  • Security cookies: Used to implement security features, including CSRF (cross-site request forgery) protection tokens that prevent malicious form submissions.
  • Load balancing cookies: Short-lived cookies used by our hosting infrastructure to route your requests consistently to the same server during a session, ensuring stable page delivery.
  • Cookie consent cookie: Stores your cookie preference choice (accept/decline) so that the cookie banner does not reappear on every page visit. Expires after 365 days.

Because essential cookies are strictly necessary for the website to function, they are activated regardless of your consent choice.

3.2 Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with gridkernx.com. The data collected is aggregated and does not directly identify individual visitors. We use this information to: identify the most popular content and pages; understand visitor navigation paths; detect technical errors and usability issues; and measure the effectiveness of website improvements.

Analytics cookies we use include:

  • Traffic analysis: Cookies that record page views, session duration, referral sources, and browser/device type. Data is processed in aggregate form to produce traffic reports.
  • Performance monitoring: Cookies that record page load times and technical errors to help us diagnose and fix performance issues.

Analytics cookies are only activated if you accept optional cookies through the cookie banner. You can withdraw this consent at any time.

3.3 Marketing and Attribution Cookies

Marketing cookies are used to understand whether visitors arrived at gridkernx.com through specific marketing channels (search advertising, referral links, email campaigns) and to measure campaign effectiveness. We use this data internally for marketing planning; we do not use it to retarget individual visitors with advertising on other websites.

Marketing cookies include:

  • Campaign attribution cookies: Record the source of your visit (e.g., a specific search ad or email campaign) so we can understand which channels generate qualified visitors. This data is used in aggregate for marketing budget decisions.
  • Conversion tracking: Cookies that record when a visitor completes a desired action (submitting a contact form or demo request) so we can measure the conversion rate from different traffic sources.

Marketing cookies are only activated if you accept optional cookies through the cookie banner.

3.4 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies enhance your experience on gridkernx.com by remembering choices and settings beyond the current session. Examples include remembering your preferred language or regional settings. GridKern currently does not use extensive functional cookies beyond session management, but reserves the right to introduce them with notice and appropriate consent.

4. Specific Cookies in Use

The following table describes the primary cookies set by gridkernx.com:

Cookie Name Type Purpose Expiry
gk_session Essential Maintains authenticated platform session Session
gk_csrf Essential CSRF protection token for form submissions Session
gk_cookie_consent Essential Stores your cookie consent preference 365 days
_ga Analytics Distinguishes unique site visitors (Google Analytics) 2 years
_ga_[ID] Analytics Persists Google Analytics session state 2 years
_utm* Marketing Campaign attribution and traffic source tracking 6 months

This list is representative and may not be exhaustive. The specific cookies present on any given page may vary. We update this list when we add or remove cookies from our website.

5. Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You have several options for controlling cookies on gridkernx.com:

5.1 Cookie Banner

When you first visit gridkernx.com, a cookie banner will appear asking for your consent to optional (analytics and marketing) cookies. You can accept or decline optional cookies using this banner. Your choice is stored in the gk_cookie_consent cookie for 365 days.

If you declined optional cookies and later wish to change your preference, you can reset your consent by clearing your browser cookies and revisiting the site, which will display the consent banner again.

5.2 Browser Settings

Most web browsers provide settings that allow you to control cookies. You can typically:

  • View cookies stored by websites you have visited
  • Delete individual cookies or all cookies from a specific site
  • Block cookies from specific websites or all websites
  • Set your browser to notify you when a website tries to set a cookie

To manage cookies in your browser, refer to your browser's documentation:

  • Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Cookies and other site data
  • Firefox: Options → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
  • Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Cookies and website data
  • Edge: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Cookies

Please note that disabling essential cookies will prevent some features of gridkernx.com from functioning correctly. Blocking all cookies from all websites will affect functionality across many sites you visit.

5.3 Analytics Opt-Out

If you wish to opt out of Google Analytics specifically without blocking all cookies, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. This prevents Google Analytics from collecting data about your visits across all websites that use it.

6. Third-Party Cookies

Some cookies on gridkernx.com are set by third-party services that we use to provide functionality or analyze usage. These third parties may also collect information about your use of other websites as part of their services. GridKern does not control these third-party cookies and is not responsible for the privacy practices of the third parties that set them.

Third-party services we use that may set cookies include:

  • Google Analytics: Website traffic analysis. Google's privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy.
  • Payment processors: Our payment processor may set functional cookies during the checkout or account management process. These cookies are essential for payment security.

We do not use third-party advertising networks or allow third-party retargeting on gridkernx.com.

7. Cookies and Our Platform

The GridKern platform (accessed via app.gridkernx.com or equivalent subdomain) uses additional cookies necessary for authenticated user sessions, application state management, and API security. These are all essential cookies required for the platform to function. Platform cookies are not subject to the analytics/marketing opt-out because they are strictly necessary for delivering the contracted service. Details about platform cookies are provided in the GridKern Customer Agreement.

8. Data Retention and Deletion

Cookie data collected through analytics cookies is retained in our analytics platform for a maximum of 26 months, after which it is automatically deleted. Essential session cookies expire at session end or as indicated in the cookie table above. You can delete cookies at any time through your browser settings.

Information collected through cookies may be linked to other information we hold about you (such as account registration data) if you are a registered user. In that case, your rights under our Privacy Policy — including the right to access, correct, and delete your data — apply to the combined dataset.

9. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make material changes, we will post the revised policy on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. If we add new categories of optional cookies, we will present the consent banner again to allow you to update your preferences.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, contact us at:

GridKern, Inc.
Attn: Privacy
11501 Domain Dr
Austin, TX 78758
Email: info@gridkernx.com
Phone: +1 (512) 384-6129

You can also find more information about our data handling practices in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.