Cookie Policy

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and provide information to website owners.

FlowMate uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, provide functionality, and improve our service.

2. Types of Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the service to function and cannot be disabled:

• Session Cookies: Keep you logged in while using FlowMate
• CSRF Tokens: Protect against cross-site request forgery attacks
• Security Cookies: Maintain secure connections and prevent unauthorized access

These cookies are essential for security and core functionality. Without them, you cannot use FlowMate.

Functional Cookies

These cookies enhance functionality and personalization:

• Preference Cookies: Remember your settings and preferences
• Language Cookies: Remember your language preference
• Onboarding Cookies: Track your onboarding progress

Analytics Cookies (Optional)

We may use analytics cookies to understand how users interact with FlowMate. These help us improve the service by analyzing usage patterns. You can opt out of analytics cookies through your browser settings.

3. Progressive Web App (PWA) Storage

FlowMate is a Progressive Web App that uses local storage for offline functionality:

• Service Worker Cache: Stores static assets (CSS, JS, images) for offline access
• IndexedDB/LocalStorage: May store app data locally on your device
• Push Notification Data: Stores notification preferences and subscription data

This data is stored locally on your device and is not transmitted to our servers except when you're online and actively using the service.

Important: We do not cache sensitive authenticated pages (dashboard, budgets, profile) to protect your privacy. Only public pages and static assets are cached.

4. Third-Party Cookies

We use the following third-party services that may set cookies:

• Stripe: Payment processing (see Stripe's Cookie Policy)

These services have their own cookie policies. We do not control these cookies.

5. How Long Do Cookies Last?

• Session Cookies: Deleted when you close your browser
• Persistent Cookies: Remain until they expire or you delete them
• PWA Cache: Remains until you clear your browser cache or uninstall the app

Most cookies expire within 30 days, but some may persist longer for functionality purposes.

6. How to Control Cookies

You have several options to control cookies:

Browser Settings

Most browsers allow you to:

• View and delete cookies
• Block cookies from specific sites
• Block all cookies
• Clear cookies when you close the browser

Note: Blocking essential cookies will prevent you from using FlowMate.

PWA Cache Management

To clear PWA cache:

• Chrome/Edge: Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data → Cached images and files
• Firefox: Settings → Privacy → Clear Data → Cache
• Safari: Develop → Empty Caches

You can also uninstall the PWA and reinstall it to clear all cached data.

Account Settings

You can manage notification preferences and push subscriptions through your account settings in FlowMate.

7. Do Not Track

Some browsers have a "Do Not Track" feature. Currently, we do not respond to Do Not Track signals, but we respect your privacy choices through cookie controls and account settings.

8. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the updated policy on this page.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about our use of cookies, please contact us:

• Email: privacy{{ parse_url(config('app.url'), PHP_URL_HOST) }}
• Through your account dashboard settings