Cookie Policy

An HTTP cookie (also called a web cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie, or simply cookie) is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user's computer by the user's web browser while the user is browsing. They were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember stateful information, which allows your device to maintain a consistent, cohesive experience while you visit multiple pages of that website or return at a later date.

While visiting Ozzu, the cookies set by us are called first-party cookies and are generally used to make your experience at our website better. These cookies are accessible only to Ozzu. This includes, but is not limited to, assisting you in navigation, showing you threads or posts that you have read or not read, allowing you to authenticate with our website and remain logged in while visiting numerous pages, and optionally remaining logged in if you visit us again at a later date. These cookies may also be utilized for analytics and measurement to help distinguish visitors from one another.

We no longer set third-party cookies when you visit our website. Third party cookies are cookies that are set by a domain other than that of the website being visited by the user. For example previously, if we use a Google service that sets a cookie from a Google related domain, that would be a third-party cookie. However, we have made changes to eliminate the setting of third-party cookies directly from our site.

Please note that if you have previously set cookies from other domains, such as YouTube, these may still be accessed when their content (like an image or video) loads on our pages. This situation is outside of our control, as these cookies were not set by visiting Ozzu. Despite this, our efforts to minimize third-party cookies significantly enhance your privacy and security while ensuring your experience on Ozzu remains seamless and enjoyable.

We have categorized our use of cookies into 4 main types: required cookies, preference cookies, analytical cookies, and marketing cookies. You can also opt-out of each cookie category below (except required cookies) by clicking on the cookie settings button below. Please note, if you are in a country affected by GDPR then you will be opted out by default, other than required cookies:

Cookie Settings

Our cookie policy was last updated on: June 29, 2024

Required Cookies

These cookies are necessary for our website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. Some of these may be set to maintain a persistent session on our website which allows you set personal preferences, fill out forms on our website, login to your account, or purchase products or services. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of our website may not work correctly then. Cookies that are set under this type:

  • Cookie Consent — This cookie keeps track of your preferences related to what types of cookies we are allowed to set on your browser. This cookie uses the name: cookie_consent.
  • Session — This cookie stores a session ID that is referenced in our database and which allows you to persist state information between page requests on our website. This cookie uses the name ozzu_session. The ID stored in the cookie is used to retrieve existing session data that can be used for numerous things including but not limited to:
    • Assisting you in filling out forms on our website.
    • Providing information, alerts, or error messages on subsequent page loads.
    • Allowing you to login to your account and to remain logged in on subsequent page loads.
    • Pre-filling form fields with information on your account, or data you recently entered into a form.
    • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) prevention by utilizing tokens stored in the session and comparing to tokens passed through form requests on our website.
    • Assisting in keeping track when your communication preferences were last checked.
    • Allowing you to return to pages you recently visited.
  • Web Socket Session — Allows two-way interactive communication between your web browser and our website. This allows messages to be pushed to the browser instead of the browser having to poll the server to check if there are updates. This can be used for real time notifications on the website and updating content without having to refresh the page. One such example is when browsing threads, if someone posts something new you will immediately see the new content without having to reload the website. Another example is for real time chat with staff or other members of the website. This cookie uses the name io and stores the web socket session ID.

A list of all required cookies in an easy to read table format:

Cookie Name Description Domain Type Expiration
cookie_consent Contains information related to what cookies you have consented to. ozzu.com 1st Party 1 year
ozzu_session Contains a unique identifier linking you to a session in our database. ozzu.com 1st Party 30 minutes
io Contains a unique identifier linking you to web socket session. ozzu.com 1st Party Session

Preference Cookies

These cookies make it possible to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks.

  • Remember Me — When logging in to our website you can check a box to be automatically logged in each time you visit our website. This will set a cookie that will allow you to stay authenticated indefinitely or until you manually logout. This cookie uses the name with the variant remember_web_*random_characters*.
  • A/B Testing — We may run tests on our website where content that is displayed to the user varies depending on what group they are randomly placed into. This allows us to improve the experience for our visitors by comparing two or more versions of a webpage against each other to determine which one performs better. This cookie uses the name with the variant abtest_*random_characters*.

A list of all preference cookies in an easy to read table format:

Cookie Name Description Domain Type Expiration
remember_web_*random_characters* Contains unique identifier to login automatically. ozzu.com 1st Party 400 days
abtest_*random_characters* Contains information related to AB testing group user is in. ozzu.com 1st Party 400 days

Analytical Cookies

These first-party cookies play a crucial role in helping us understand and enhance the performance of our website. They allow us to count visits and track traffic sources, providing insights into how users interact with our site. With this information, we can measure and improve overall performance by identifying areas for enhancement and making data-driven decisions to enhance the user experience. They help us determine which pages are the most and least popular, allowing us to focus on optimizing high-traffic pages and improving those that are less visited. Understanding how visitors navigate through our site enables us to identify common paths and potential bottlenecks, which helps streamline the user journey.

By tracking the sources that bring visitors to our site, we can evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and partnerships, optimizing our marketing strategies. Additionally, these cookies allow us to observe trends and changes in traffic patterns over time, helping us anticipate shifts in user behavior and adjust our content and strategies accordingly.

Analyzing where visitors are dropping off or encountering difficulties helps us identify and resolve issues that may hinder the user experience, such as broken links, slow-loading pages, or confusing navigation. Understanding when and why visitors switch devices provides insights into their behavior and preferences, enabling us to create a more seamless and consistent experience across different platforms.

  • PostHog - We use PostHog to gather information that helps us better understand visitor interactions with our website, enabling us to improve the services and products we offer. This includes analyzing trends, identifying traffic sources, measuring the duration of visits to various pages, and tracking the effectiveness of different advertising campaigns. PostHog, an open-source analytics platform, is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of user behavior. It offers a suite of tools for tracking user interactions, analyzing data, and gaining insights to enhance user experience and improve website performance. To distinguish users and track their activity across multiple sessions, we set a first-party cookie. This cookie helps ensure accurate user counts by preventing different page views from the same user from being counted as multiple users. The first party cookie expires 400 days after the last time the device visited the website and uses the name: ozzu_mid.

A list of all analytical cookies in an easy to read table format:

Cookie Name Description Domain Type Expiration
ozzu_mid Contains a unique device identifier to distinguish visitors. ozzu.com 1st Party 400 days

Marketing Cookies

We set marketing cookies on our website to help track conversions from our advertising campaigns and to provide credit to our affiliates. Our marketing cookies are first-party cookies and include those set by our advertising partners, such as Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads. Our goal is to implement cookieless tracking methods wherever possible, but when necessary, we may use first-party cookies.

Some of these cookies may be used to help build a profile of your interests, show you relevant ads on other websites, and determine the effectiveness of an advertising or marketing campaign. They work by uniquely identifying your browser and device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will not experience our targeted advertising across different websites, and affiliates will be unable to attribute any actions you take on Ozzu to conversions.

  • Google Ads — This program allows advertisers to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings, and video content within the Google ad network. We place a Google tag or pixel on key areas of Ozzu to track conversions from users who have visited our website from one of our ads so that we can attribute the effectiveness of any advertising campaigns.
  • Bing Ads — Run by Microsoft, this program provides pay-per-click advertising on both Bing and Yahoo! search engines. We use a Bing tag or pixel on key areas of Ozzu to track conversions and the overall effectiveness of any advertising campaigns.
  • Facebook Ads — Facebook enables businesses to create and target ads based on demographics, behaviors, or contact information. We use the Facebook Ads Pixel to measure conversions, optimize delivery to people likely to take action, and retarget users through a custom audience on the Facebook platform.
  • Affiliates — When one of our affiliates refers a visitor to Ozzu, they use a unique link containing their affiliate ID. When the visitor clicks this link and arrives at our website, the affiliate ID is stored in a cookie within the visitor's browser. If the visitor creates an account on Ozzu, the affiliate receives credit for the referral. Additionally, any purchases made by the visitor within the first year may earn the affiliate a commission on the sale. Affiliates who refer users to Ozzu may have their tracking beacons placed on key areas of our site to measure campaign effectiveness, such as when a user creates an account or makes a purchase. Prior to visiting Ozzu, affiliates may have set first- or third-party cookies on your browser. When their beacon loads on our site, they might access these previously set cookies to link you to other information they have collected. Please refer to the affiliate’s privacy and cookie policies for details on how they manage your data. The first party affiliate tracking cookie expires 90 days after the link was clicked and uses the name: ozzu_aid.

A list of known marketing cookies in an easy to read table format:

Cookie Name Description Domain Type Expiration
ozzu_aid Contains unique affiliate ID to provide credit for referral. ozzu.com 1st Party 90 days

Blocking or Deleting Cookies

The majority of web browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera, etc) will also allow you to block or delete selected cookies (or all cookies) currently set on your device. Depending on your browser, further information can be obtained from the following links:

Please be aware that deleting cookies, or restricting the use of cookies may impact the functionality or usability of our website.