Cookie Policy
This Cookie Policy explains what cookies and similar client-side technologies are — or are not — used on the website of THE HAPPINESSWEB Private Stichting. It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy. Where the two documents overlap, the Privacy Policy governs.
1. What Are Cookies and Similar Technologies?
A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. Beyond cookies in the traditional sense, similar technologies include localStorage/sessionStorage, pixel tags and web beacons, and browser fingerprinting.
THE HAPPINESSWEB does not use pixel tags, web beacons, or browser fingerprinting on its Website.
2. Our Position: A Deliberately Minimal Cookie Architecture
THE HAPPINESSWEB has made a deliberate architectural choice to minimise the use of cookies. We do not use, and have not installed:
- analytics or audience measurement platforms (Google Analytics, Matomo, or equivalents);
- advertising, retargeting, or remarketing technologies;
- behavioural profiling or interest-based targeting tools;
- social media tracking widgets or sharing buttons;
- cross-site tracking pixels (Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, or equivalents);
- newsletter open- or click-tracking technologies;
- embedded third-party video players in their standard tracking configuration;
- live chat, support widget, or customer data platform scripts.
As a result, the vast majority of visitors to our Website will receive no cookies whatsoever from us directly. The only cookies that may be placed are strictly necessary infrastructure cookies set by our hosting and security provider.
3. Strictly Necessary Infrastructure Cookies
Our Website is hosted through infrastructure that relies in part on Cloudflare’s CDN, DDoS mitigation, and bot-management services. Cloudflare may automatically set the following strictly necessary cookies.
3.1 __cf_bm
- Provider: Cloudflare, Inc.
- Purpose: Bot detection and mitigation; security of the Website infrastructure
- Type: HTTP cookie — session
- Expiry: 30 minutes from last page load
- Data content: Encrypted bot-score value; no personally identifiable information in readable form
- Cross-site tracking: None. Scoped to this Website’s domain only.
3.2 cf_clearance (occasional)
- Provider: Cloudflare, Inc.
- Purpose: Security challenge verification
- Type: HTTP cookie — persistent
- Expiry: Typically 30 minutes to 24 hours depending on the security context
- Data content: Encrypted clearance token; does not identify you across websites
- Cross-site tracking: None.
3.3 Legal basis for strictly necessary cookies
Strictly necessary cookies of this type are exempt from the prior consent requirement under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC, as amended), as implemented in Belgian law by Article 129 of the Act of 13 June 2005. No consent mechanism, cookie banner, or opt-out is required for these cookies. We disclose them here because transparency is a core value of this organisation.
4. Administrator Session Technologies
Our Website includes a password-protected administrative back-end. Authentication is managed through Supabase Auth. When an administrator logs in, session tokens may be stored in the browser’s localStorage or sessionStorage. This is an authentication necessity, not a tracking technology. These tokens are confined to the authenticated administrator’s own device and are not set for ordinary public visitors.
5. Font Delivery and External Requests
Our Website self-hosts all typographic assets (fonts). Self-hosting prevents the incidental transmission of visitor IP addresses to third-party font services — a data transfer risk that has been the subject of regulatory attention in several EU member states (notably the Munich Regional Court, January 2022). No request is made to external services such as Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts, or Typekit in the course of serving our pages.
6. Cookie Summary Table
- __cf_bm — Strictly Necessary · Cloudflare · 30 min · Consent required: No
- cf_clearance (occasional) — Strictly Necessary · Cloudflare · 30 min–24 hrs · Consent required: No
- Admin session tokens (authenticated users only) — Strictly Necessary (Authentication) · Supabase Auth / Browser · Session · Consent required: No
No other cookies, trackers, pixels, or fingerprinting technologies are in use on this Website.
7. Managing Your Browser Settings
Given that only strictly necessary cookies may be set, no consent mechanism is provided. You retain the right to manage, block, or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may impair the functionality or accessibility of this Website.
8. Future Changes to this Cookie Policy
We reserve the right to amend this Cookie Policy. Any architectural addition (analytics, newsletter functionality, embedded video, live chat) would require a material revision of this Cookie Policy and, in most cases, the implementation of a prior consent mechanism. Any such change will be subject to our internal privacy-by-design review before deployment.
9. Contact
THE HAPPINESSWEB Private Stichting · Belgium
E-mail: privacy@thehappinessweb.com