Cookie Policy
What Are Cookies
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They allow the site to recognise your browser across requests and sessions, remember your preferences, and collect usage information.
We also use related technologies — including localStorage, session storage, and pixel beacons — that serve similar purposes. This policy covers all of these collectively as "cookies".
Cookies can be first-party (set by screenshotfreeapi.com directly) or third-party (set by external services we embed). They can be session cookies (deleted when you close the browser) or persistent cookies (stored until they expire or you delete them).
Why We Use Cookies
We use cookies for four distinct purposes:
- Strictly necessary — to authenticate sessions, prevent cross-site request forgery, and enable core API dashboard features. These cannot be disabled without breaking the service.
- Analytics & performance — to understand how visitors use the marketing site and developer dashboard, identify errors, and measure feature adoption. Data is aggregated and anonymised where possible.
- Functional — to remember preferences such as your chosen theme, dismissed banners, and cookie consent choices.
- Marketing — for ad attribution and retargeting. We do not currently deploy any marketing cookies; this category is listed for completeness and future transparency.
Cookie Inventory
The following tables document every cookie and local-storage key set by screenshotfreeapi.com and its sub-processors as of the effective date.
Necessary cookies
| Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| __session | screenshotfreeapi.com | Authenticated session identifier. Verifies your login state on every request. | Session | Necessary |
| __csrf_token | screenshotfreeapi.com | Prevents cross-site request forgery attacks on dashboard POST requests. | Session | Necessary |
| __stripe_mid | .stripe.com | Stripe fraud prevention. Required to load the payment form. | 1 year | Necessary |
| __stripe_sid | .stripe.com | Stripe session identifier during checkout flow. | 30 min | Necessary |
| snapshot_cookie_consent | screenshotfreeapi.com | localStorage key storing your cookie preference choices and timestamp. | 1 year | Functional |
Analytics & performance cookies
| Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | .screenshotfreeapi.com | Google Analytics 4 client ID. Distinguishes unique visitors in aggregated reports. | 2 years | Analytics |
| _ga_XXXXXXXX | .screenshotfreeapi.com | GA4 session state and sequence counter. | 2 years | Analytics |
| sentry-sc | screenshotfreeapi.com | Sentry session ID for correlating frontend errors with backend traces. | Session | Analytics |
Marketing cookies
| Name | Domain | Purpose | Expiry | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No marketing cookies are currently active. | ||||
Third-Party Services
The third-party services below may set cookies independently, subject to their own privacy policies. We have no direct control over these cookies beyond the configuration options each service exposes.
| Provider | Service | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | Usage analytics (opt-in only) | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Sentry | Error monitoring and session replay | sentry.io/privacy |
| Stripe | Payment processing (checkout pages only) | stripe.com/privacy |
Google Analytics is loaded only when you consent to analytics cookies. If you decline, the GA script is not initialised and no GA cookies are set.
Managing Preferences
You have several options to control cookies:
Our preference panel
Use the cookie preference panel shown on your first visit to accept all, reject non-essential, or choose by category. You can reopen the panel at any time by clearing the snapshot_cookie_consent key from your browser's localStorage (Developer Tools → Application → Local Storage) and refreshing the page.
Browser settings
All major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies via settings. Note that blocking necessary cookies will prevent login and dashboard access.
| Browser | Cookie settings |
|---|---|
| Chrome | support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647 |
| Firefox | support.mozilla.org/kb/cookies |
| Safari | support.apple.com/safari/cookies |
| Edge | support.microsoft.com/edge/cookies |
Google Analytics opt-out
Google provides a browser add-on to opt out of Google Analytics across all sites: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Do Not Track
Some browsers support a "Do Not Track" (DNT) header signal. There is currently no agreed industry standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals, so we do not alter our behaviour based on DNT alone.
The most effective way to limit non-essential tracking on our site is to use our cookie preference panel or adjust your browser settings as described above.
Policy Updates
We review this Cookie Policy at least quarterly and update it whenever we add or remove cookies, change cookie purposes, or integrate new third-party services. The effective date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.
Material changes — such as adding new analytics providers or enabling marketing cookies — will be announced via a refreshed consent banner requiring new consent choices.
Contact
Questions about this Cookie Policy or how we use tracking technologies? Email us at privacy@screenshotfreeapi.com.