The short version. canvasscout.com asks before using Google Analytics, Google Ads or the Meta Pixel (for our Facebook and Instagram ads), and sets their cookies only if you click Accept. The app at app.canvasscout.com isn't tracked and has no advertising tags: it sets one cookie to keep you signed in, plus a second one only if you ask it to trust your device for two-step sign-in. If you arrive through a Canvas Scout partner's link, one more cookie remembers which partner sent you, for 60 days.
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files a website asks your browser to store. Some are needed for a site to work, like remembering that you're signed in. Others measure visits (analytics) or track you across sites for advertising. We use the first kind everywhere. Analytics and advertising cookies are used on the marketing site only, and only with your permission.
Every cookie we use
| Cookie | Where | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
cs_trust | app.canvasscout.com (sign-in pages only) | Only if you tick “Trust this device” when entering a two-step sign-in code: lets this browser skip the code. Holds a random code; scripts can't read it. | 30 days. Removed when you choose “ask for a code on every device” in your account. |
_ga | canvasscout.com, only if you accept analytics | Google Analytics: a random ID that tells repeat visits apart, so we can count visitors and see which pages lead to sign-ups. | 2 years |
_ga_<ID> | canvasscout.com, only if you accept analytics | Google Analytics: keeps track of the current visit (session). | 2 years |
_gcl_au | canvasscout.com, only if you accept | Google Ads: a random ID used to measure whether our ads led to visits and sign-ups. | 90 days |
_gcl_aw | canvasscout.com, only if you accept and arrived from one of our ads | Google Ads: remembers which ad you clicked, so a sign-up can be credited to it. | 90 days |
_fbp | canvasscout.com, only if you accept | Meta Pixel: a random ID used to measure whether our Facebook and Instagram ads led to visits and sign-ups, and to show our ads to people who have visited. | 90 days |
_fbc | canvasscout.com, only if you accept and arrived from one of our Facebook or Instagram ads | Meta Pixel: remembers which ad you clicked, so a sign-up can be credited to it. | 90 days |
cs_p | canvasscout.com and app.canvasscout.com, only after you open a Canvas Scout partner's link | A functional first-party cookie that remembers which partner sent you: the partner's link code and the time you clicked, nothing about you. If you create an account on canvasscout.com within 60 days, the sign-up form sends it with your sign-up so that partner is credited. Scripts on our site can read it (the sign-up form does). It isn't used for analytics or ads, and it never changes your price. | 60 days |
cs_session | app.canvasscout.com | Keeps you signed in. It holds a random code, not your name or email, and scripts on the page can't read it. | 30 days, renewed while you use the app. Deleted when you log out. |
The two app cookies are strictly necessary or set at your request: without cs_session you'd have to sign in on every page, and cs_trust only exists if you ask for it, so the app doesn't ask. cs_p is a functional first-party cookie: it only remembers which partner sent you, and only when you open a partner's link (a canvasscout.com/p/ link, or a canvasscout.com address with a partner's code after ?p=). It holds only that code and the click time, doesn't track your browsing and isn't shared with anyone, so the site sets it without asking. The Google Analytics, Google Ads and Meta Pixel cookies aren't necessary, so canvasscout.com asks first and sets nothing until you click Accept.
Other things stored in your browser
- The app's map may keep recently viewed map images in your browser's cache so it loads faster. They contain no personal information.
- The app keeps a copy of your map settings (light or dark mode, map type, filters) and where you last left the map in your browser's local storage, so the map opens the way you left it. This isn't a cookie, isn't sent to anyone, and holds no personal information. Signing out clears where you left the map.
- The app can be added to your phone’s home screen. To open quickly and show a “No signal right now” page when you’re offline, it keeps a copy of its own files (code, styles, fonts and icons) in your browser. That copy holds no business data and no personal information, and is replaced with each update. It also remembers whether you’ve installed the app, said “Not now” to the install note, or closed or tapped the note about the iPhone app.
- The Canvas Scout app for Android doesn't use the cookies above. It keeps the same kind of sign-in code (and the “trust this phone” code, if you choose it) in the phone's secure storage, and your map settings in the app's own storage on the phone. Neither is shared with anyone.
- The marketing site remembers your answer to the cookie bar (Accept or Decline) in your browser's local storage, so it doesn't ask on every page. It holds only that answer.
- The marketing site keeps a note of how your visit arrived in your browser's session storage (
cs.source): the tracking tags on the ad or link you came from (for example the campaign and ad names, and the click ID Google or Meta adds to an ad's link), the first page you landed on, the name of the site that sent you (not the page) and the time. It isn't a cookie, isn't sent to anyone while you browse and is deleted when you close the tab. If you sign up, the sign-up form sends it to us and we keep it with your account, so we can see which ads and links bring people who sign up (see our Privacy Policy).
Third parties
- Fonts and scripts on canvasscout.com are served from our own servers, not from Google or other CDNs. The exceptions are Google's tag for Analytics and Ads and Meta's pixel, which load from Google and Meta only after you click Accept; until then, loading a page doesn't tell anyone else you visited.
- Google Analytics (Google LLC) measures visits to canvasscout.com if you accept. If you then sign up and later start a trial or pay, we tell Google Analytics the plan, amount and invoice number under the same random ID, so we can see which visits led to paying customers (see our Privacy Policy).
- Google Ads (Google LLC), if you accept: tells us which of our ads led to a visit or a sign-up, and lets Google show our ads to people who have visited canvasscout.com when they use Google or other sites that show Google ads. For this, Google receives the pages you view here, the ad you clicked, your IP address and its cookie IDs, and may use its own advertising cookies on its own domains (such as doubleclick.net). You can turn off personalized ads from Google in My Ad Center. The app at app.canvasscout.com has no analytics or advertising tags.
- Meta Pixel (Meta Platforms, Inc.), if you accept: tells us which of our Facebook and Instagram ads led to a visit or a sign-up (and, if you then start a trial or pay, the plan, amount and invoice number under the same random IDs), and lets Meta show our ads to people who have visited canvasscout.com. For this, Meta receives the pages you view here, that a sign-up happened (never your name, email or what you typed), your IP address, browser details and its cookie IDs, and may use its own cookies on facebook.com. You can control ads from Meta in your Facebook or Instagram ad preferences. If you arrive from one of our Facebook or Instagram ads and make no choice in the cookie bar, the pixel doesn't load and no Meta cookie is set, but our server tells Meta when your visit leads to a sign-up, trial or payment, using only the click ID from the ad's link (never your name, email or IP address). Clicking Decline stops that (see our Privacy Policy).
- Map tiles in the app come from OpenFreeMap, and the topographic and satellite map types come from the U.S. Geological Survey. Your browser requests them directly, which shares your IP address with them. They don't set cookies.
- Payments happen on Stripe's secure pages (checkout and billing). Stripe sets its own cookies there to prevent fraud, under Stripe's cookie policy.
Your choices
Change your cookie settings anytime (also at the bottom of every page). Declining after you'd accepted stops Google Analytics, Google Ads and the Meta Pixel and removes their cookies from this site. Declining also stops us telling Meta, from our server, that a visit from one of its ads led to a sign-up. You can also delete or block cookies in your browser settings. If you block cs_session, you won't be able to stay signed in to the app. If you delete or block cs_p, nothing changes for you, but the partner who sent you may not be credited if you sign up. We honor the Global Privacy Control signal: a browser that sends it never loads Google Analytics, Google Ads or the Meta Pixel, and we never tell Meta about its sign-up. See our Privacy Policy.
If this changes
If we add other analytics or advertising cookies, we'll update this page first and ask for your permission before setting them.
Contact
Questions? Email hello@canvasscout.com.