CHAT4U LEGAL
Cookie and Browser Storage Policy
Last updated: November 4, 2026
1. Scope
This policy explains cookies, local and session storage, identifiers and similar device-access technologies used for the Chat4U website, dashboard, demos and embedded assistants. Read it with the Privacy Policy. A cookie is a small browser-held value; similar technologies can operate without a conventional cookie. Whether permission is needed depends on the actual purpose and operation, not the technology's name or whether a request uses our domain.
2. Purposes and environments
| Environment or function | Technology and purpose | Choice and duration |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication and account security | Identity-provider session cookies and related state authenticate users and protect account access. | Necessary for the requested signed-in function. Session and persistent credentials follow the identity provider's applicable expiry and revocation controls; logging out or expiry ends the relevant session. |
| Preferences and consent | Stored choices record the visitor's consent and appropriate functional preferences. | Retained for the choice's valid lifetime or until changed/cleared. A materially changed purpose is not authorized by an old choice. |
| Marketing-site chat | Functional permission controls loading of the Chat4U marketing-site widget. | The widget waits for that permission. Withdrawal stops the consent-dependent function; necessary records already created are handled separately. |
| Marketing-site measurement | PostHog receives allowed usage events and a pseudonymous device reference; a first-party cookie can associate permitted website/dashboard visits. Requests may use a Chat4U-domain proxy. | Optional analytics waits for valid permission. Withdrawal stops collection and removes the relevant browser identifier. A first-party route does not change the recipient or the need for permission. |
| Authenticated dashboard measurement | Limited product events can use an internal account reference and permitted contextual data. Automatic input capture and session recording are not used. | The account measurement preference provides an opt-out. Processing without prior consent is limited to uses for which both data-protection and device-access requirements permit it; consent-dependent collection waits for consent. |
| Error and security monitoring | Necessary fault/security events and bounded trace or session identifiers help diagnose incidents. Some monitoring can use temporary session storage. | Session storage ends with the browser session/tab as applicable. Necessary processing is separated from optional measurement; trace identifiers are not assumed anonymous. |
| Embedded chat continuity | Scoped visitor/session and tab state supports requested messages, continuity, recovery and permitted browser actions. A limited nudge-dismissal preference can be stored before a message. | Opening the widget alone does not create a conversation or its visitor/chat-session identifiers. Those are created when a message is sent, or required tab state when a supported browser action needs it. Browser clearing or closing the relevant tab can lose continuity; it does not erase server records. |
| Native commerce | The merchant's store cookies and short-lived opaque context support requested cart assistance, authentication and verification. | Subject to their necessary purpose and the merchant's notices. They are not general analytics permission. Native platform cookie lifetimes follow that platform and merchant configuration. |
| Optional WooCommerce purchase measurement | Consented correlation references connect eligible assistant activity with native paid/refund events. | Off by default; requires the merchant's setting, a supported active consent manager and explicit recorded Allow for the relevant category. The selected attribution window is one to thirty days; withdrawal stops attribution and removes associated evidence. |
| Payment provider | Paddle or Shopify may use technologies in their hosted payment, billing or fraud-prevention flows. | Their own notices and applicable choices govern those flows. Chat4U does not receive full payment-card details. |
Material browser technologies
The following inventory describes the Chat4U configuration. A name ending in * includes a provider- or project-specific suffix. Cookie expiry, local-storage cleanup, permission to use a value and server-side retention are different. Browsers may remove data earlier, and session restoration can preserve some session state.
| Technology and responsible service | Where and why | Browser duration and reset rule |
|---|---|---|
c4u-cookie-consent — Chat4U local storage | Marketing website; records the selected functional and analytics choices and notice version. | No automatic browser expiry. Replaced when choices change and removed when site storage is cleared. An incompatible notice version is not treated as current permission; a stored record does not authorize use beyond the choice's lawful validity. |
ph_*_posthog — PostHog cookie and local storage | Consented marketing-site measurement; the cookie can be shared across Chat4U subdomains. | Cookie lifetime of 365 days from its latest setting or refresh. Local storage has no browser-enforced expiry and is cleared or reset through the relevant choice and browser controls. Withdrawal ends optional collection and breaks the prior measurement identity; server records follow the separate retention rules. |
ph_* session state and __ph_opt_in_out_* preference — PostHog | Measurement-session coordination and recording the relevant measurement choice. | Session state follows the tab/browser session. A locally stored opt-out preference has no automatic browser expiry; it remains until changed or cleared. An opt-out record does not authorize measurement. |
c4u-first-touch-attribution — Chat4U local storage | Consented marketing attribution, including limited campaign/referral and landing-path information. | A 90-day replacement interval, checked on a subsequent consented page view. The browser does not automatically erase the stored value on day 90. Withdrawal clears this attribution record. |
c4u-session-attribution — Chat4U session storage | Consented attribution within the current visit. | Tab/browser session; cleared on analytics withdrawal. |
__client, __client_uat* — Clerk cookies | Authentication service at clerk.chat4u.ai and relevant Chat4U domain state. | Persistent browser expiries of up to 400 days when set or refreshed. These expiries do not mean an account remains signed in for 400 days: session validity, revocation and the shorter-lived signed-in token are separate controls. |
__session* — Clerk session credential | Requested signed-in account access. | Short-lived session-token state, refreshed only under the applicable authentication/session controls; sign-out, revocation and account-session expiry can end authorization earlier than other browser state. |
__clerk_environment — Clerk local storage | Authentication configuration needed by the browser client. | No browser-enforced expiry; cleared with site storage or replaced by the authentication client. This is distinct from an authenticated session credential. |
__cf_bm, _cfuvid — Cloudflare through the authentication service | Bot protection and rate-limit handling on clerk.chat4u.ai. | __cf_bm: 30 minutes of inactivity, subject to refresh. _cfuvid: browser-session cookie. These are authentication-service security technologies, distinct from Chat4U's direct DNS service. |
c4u_visitor_id, c4u_session_id, c4u_tab_id and scoped pending-action state — Chat4U session storage | Embedded chat and supported browser-action continuity on the site hosting the assistant. | Relevant tab/browser session or earlier feature cleanup. Creation follows the necessary interaction described above; clearing this state does not delete a server-side conversation. |
c4u_nudge_hide_until:* — Chat4U local storage | Remembers dismissal of an assistant's attention prompt. | The configured dismissal period, seven days by default, runs from dismissal. An expired value is removed when next checked; browser storage itself has no timed expiry. |
Provider suffixes and necessary security technologies can vary with the requested authentication flow. Native store and payment-provider technologies are controlled by the relevant merchant or provider. These distinctions do not supply permission for unrelated tracking. Server records and provider copies follow the separate Retention Schedule.
3. WooCommerce verification and recovery cookie
The merchant-hosted chat4u_woo_csrf cookie protects supported verification and helps keep an uncertain cart request reviewable after sign-in or cart merging. It is restricted to that host, HttpOnly and SameSite Strict, uses Secure on HTTPS, and expires one day after its most recent use.
A connection-scoped recovery reference derived from it permits checking an earlier request without repeating the cart change. It does not authenticate a shopper for order access or authorize purchase measurement. Clearing the cookie removes that browser continuity. Verification grants and proofs have their own shorter expiry, described in the Retention Schedule.
4. Optional measurement and withdrawal
We distinguish essential requested functions from optional analytics. Useful performance or business measurement is not automatically necessary. Pseudonymous account-linked events can still identify a person. We do not use analytics to capture conversation content, form input contents or authentication secrets; events and error reports are minimized and scrubbed. Sanitized origin/path information may be retained where appropriate, and can itself contain personal information.
On the marketing website, use Cookie preferences to change or withdraw choices. In the authenticated dashboard, use the account's product-measurement preference. Withdrawal applies prospectively without invalidating earlier lawful processing, and we handle deletion or objection rights separately where applicable. Necessary security and billing records do not stop merely because optional analytics is off.
On a customer's website, the customer controls its consent mechanism and notices. Connecting the plugin or enabling optional measurement does not choose Allow for a visitor. Missing, denied, expired, default-true or unsupported consent is not sufficient for WooCommerce purchase measurement. Withdrawal blocks further attribution, removes associated evidence and invalidates old correlations; requested shopping assistance can continue without that measurement.
5. Browser controls and signals
Browser settings can block or clear cookies and other storage, but may interrupt login or a chat. Clearing the browser does not itself erase information already held by Chat4U, a merchant or another provider. Use Privacy Rights for a server-data request, including where the original chat is lost.
"Do Not Track", an account preference and a legally recognized opt-out signal are different mechanisms. We honor applicable legal requirements for relevant signals and processing; we do not treat a nonstandard signal as universal consent or as a substitute for the controls required for a particular purpose. Chat4U does not sell personal data or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
6. Customer and third-party responsibilities
Customers must disclose the actual technologies on their sites, obtain permission where required, and configure third-party analytics and integrations lawfully. Chat4U remains responsible for its own processing and supplied behavior. The merchant's native store, extensions, payment providers and channel platforms may use additional technologies governed by their notices. Neither a plugin privacy paragraph nor general Terms acceptance supplies every required visitor permission.
7. Contact and updates
Contact privacy@chat4u.ai about privacy choices or support@chat4u.ai for technical help. We update this policy when relevant practices change and obtain renewed permission where a changed purpose requires it. A version change alone does not manufacture consent, and a cosmetic correction does not authorize expanded collection.
English is the controlling language of this document. Version: 2026-11-consolidated-v1. Permanent link to this version. SHA-256: c9eaaf413febf53a3bd5191904c31275c05a59a48e8d7be709ea8a2287383397.