Cookie Policy

Last updated: 14 April 2026

1. What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently, to remember your preferences, and to provide information to site owners.

In addition to traditional cookies, we and our service providers may use similar technologies such as local storage, session storage, and device identifiers that perform comparable functions.

2. How we use cookies and local storage

Strictly necessary

These are essential for the website and app to function. They include session management, authentication tokens, and security features. You cannot opt out of these as the Service cannot function without them.

Preference and functionality storage

We store your search preferences (locations, bedroom counts, price ranges, sort order) and notification settings locally and/or in your account to personalise your experience across sessions. We also store your cookie consent choice in your browser's local storage under the key housenote-cookie-consent so we know whether to show the consent banner on future visits.

Analytics and performance (if applicable)

We may use analytics tools to understand how visitors use the website and app — for example, which pages are visited most frequently, where users drop off, and how the platform performs across different devices. Any analytics data we collect is used in aggregated or pseudonymised form to improve the Service. If we introduce third-party analytics cookies (such as Google Analytics), we will update this policy and request your consent via the cookie banner before setting them.

3. The consent banner

When you first visit our website, a cookie consent banner will appear at the bottom of your screen. You can choose to Accept or Declinenon-essential cookies and tracking. Your choice is saved in your browser's local storage under the key housenote-cookie-consent.

Declining will prevent non-essential analytics cookies from being set. Strictly necessary storage required for the Service to function will remain active regardless of your choice.

4. Managing and withdrawing consent

You can manage cookies and similar technologies in several ways:

Reset the consent banner — clear the housenote-cookie-consent entry from your browser's local storage (via your browser's developer tools or privacy settings) and reload the page. The banner will reappear and you can make a new choice.
Browser settings — most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through their settings. Note that blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the Service from working correctly.
Opt-out tools — for analytics providers we may use in the future, we will provide relevant opt-out links here.

5. Third-party cookies

Our infrastructure provider (Google Firebase) may set cookies or use local storage as part of authentication and real-time database functionality. These are operational and fall under Google's privacy practices. We do not control these cookies directly, but we only use Firebase in ways necessary to deliver the Service.

We do not currently embed third-party advertising or social-media tracking cookies. If this changes, we will update this policy and request fresh consent as required.

6. Changes to this policy

We may update this Cookie Policy as our practices evolve. Material changes will be communicated via the consent banner or by updating the “Last updated” date above.

7. Contact

Questions about our use of cookies? Email us at louis@housenoteapp.com.