Cookie Policy
Last updated:
This policy explains how ModelCandidate uses cookies and similar storage on modelcandidate.com, and how you can control them.
2. How we use them
We group cookies and similar storage into three categories:
- Necessary storage keeps you signed in, protects sign-up and login from bots, remembers your cookie choices and saves your drafts. The site doesn't work without it, so it's always on.
- Page-view counts and load-speed timings from Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights are always on. They store nothing on your device, don't follow you across sites and only give us totals, so there's no setting for them.
- Analytics uses PostHog to see how pages and features are used. It doesn't follow you across other sites. If you're signed in, PostHog links this to your account ID so we can see how people use the site over time. In the EEA and Switzerland, or if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, analytics is off until you turn it on. Elsewhere it's on by default, and you can turn it off at any time. Once you've chosen to keep analytics on, PostHog also records how you move through pages, with all text and anything you type hidden, so we can find what's confusing. Outside India it doesn't record anyone who hasn't made a choice. In India, until 13 May 2027, it also records visitors who haven't chosen, unless they turn analytics off or their browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal.
- Marketing cookies from Google and Meta tell us whether our ads lead to sign-ups and purchases. In the US they're on unless you turn them off or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal. Everywhere else they're off until you opt in, and neither Google's nor Meta's code loads before then.
3. The cookies and storage we use
| Name | Set by | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
sb-<project>-auth-token | Supabase (for us) | Necessary | Keeps you signed in. May be split into numbered parts (.0, .1). | Until you sign out, up to about 1 year |
mc_consent | ModelCandidate | Necessary | Remembers your cookie choices. | 12 months |
mc_region | ModelCandidate | Necessary | Records whether you're browsing from the EEA or Switzerland, the US, India, or elsewhere (worked out from your IP address, which isn't stored), so we apply the right defaults for analytics and advertising. | 30 days |
| Cloudflare Turnstile (may set cf_* cookies) | Cloudflare | Necessary | Bot protection on sign-up, login and password reset. | Session to 1 year |
mc:draft:v1:* (local storage) | ModelCandidate | Necessary | Saves unsent answer drafts on your device, which you asked for by starting an answer. | Until you submit or clear the draft |
| Vercel Web Analytics | Vercel | Always on (stores nothing) | Aggregate page-view statistics. Nothing is stored on your device and there's no cross-site tracking. | No cookie is set |
| Vercel Speed Insights | Vercel | Always on (stores nothing) | Aggregate page load and responsiveness timings (Core Web Vitals). Nothing is stored on your device and there's no cross-site tracking. | No cookie is set |
ph_*_posthog, ph_*_posthog_cpm (cookies), ph_* (local and session storage) | PostHog | Analytics | Counts pages and clicks to show us how the site is used, and remembers the link or ad that first brought you here. Once you choose to keep analytics on (in India, unless you turn it off), also records masked sessions (text and anything you type are hidden). | 12 months; session storage until you close the tab |
mc_auth_event | ModelCandidate | Analytics | Tells PostHog that you've just signed up or logged in. Only set if analytics is on. | 5 minutes, or until the next page |
__ph_opt_in_out_* (local storage) | PostHog | Necessary | Remembers that you turned analytics off. | Until you clear it |
_gcl_au and Google domain cookies | Marketing | Measures sign-ups and purchases from Google Ads. | Up to 90 days (set by Google) | |
_fbp, _fbc | Meta | Marketing | Measures sign-ups and purchases from Meta ads. | 90 days |
_gcl_ls (local storage) | Marketing | Keeps the Google Ads click that brought you here, to measure sign-ups and purchases. | Until you withdraw marketing consent | |
lastExternalReferrer, lastExternalReferrerTime (local storage) | Meta | Marketing | Records the site that referred you, for Meta ad measurement. | Until you withdraw marketing consent |
mc_meta_registration | ModelCandidate | Marketing | Tells the Meta Pixel that you've just created an account. | 10 minutes, or until the next page |
google-ads-conversion:*, meta-pixel:* (local storage) | ModelCandidate | Marketing | Stops a sign-up or purchase being counted twice. | Until you withdraw marketing consent |
4. Changing your mind
Use the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page to change your choices at any time. If you turn marketing off, we tell Google and Meta to stop, and remove their cookies from our domain.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser. Blocking necessary cookies will stop you signing in. Your browser's help pages explain how:
5. Google and Meta
If you accept marketing cookies, Google and Meta process data about your visit under their own privacy policies:
6. Contact
Questions about cookies? Email hello@modelcandidate.com. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data more generally.