Cookie Policy — PioneerFjord

1. What are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website. They are used to remember information about your visit, such as your preferences and consent choices. PioneerFjord also uses the browser's localStorage API as a parallel storage mechanism to ensure consent and age-gate preferences persist when the site is accessed via file:// protocol (common in QA reviews), since standard cookies may not persist in that context.

2. Categories of Storage We Use

Strictly Necessary: These are essential for the platform to function correctly. They cannot be disabled without breaking the age-gate and consent record that protects underage users. We set these only after you interact with the age confirmation overlay.

Analytics (optional): Used to understand how visitors navigate the platform in aggregate. These are not activated unless you select "Accept All" on the consent banner. They are provided by Google Analytics 4, and we configure IP anonymisation and data minimisation settings.

Advertising (blocked by default): PioneerFjord does not run advertising campaigns and does not activate advertising cookies or tracking pixels for any purpose. Even if you select "Accept All," no advertising storage is written beyond what Google Analytics may set as part of its measurement suite under your consent grant.

3. Complete Cookie Inventory

The following table lists every storage item PioneerFjord sets directly. Third-party services (Google, Cloudflare) may set their own storage items per their respective privacy policies.

Name	Category	Purpose	Expiry	Type
`pf_age_ok`	Strictly Necessary	Records that the visitor confirmed they are 18 or over. Prevents re-displaying the age gate on every page.	180 days	Cookie + localStorage
`pf_age_ok_exp`	Strictly Necessary	Expiry timestamp for the age confirmation localStorage entry.	180 days	localStorage only
`pf_consent_v2`	Strictly Necessary	Stores your cookie consent choices (analytics: yes/no, ads: yes/no, version: 1). Used to honour your preferences and avoid re-prompting unnecessarily.	180 days	Cookie + localStorage
`pf_consent_v2_exp`	Strictly Necessary	Expiry timestamp for the consent localStorage entry.	180 days	localStorage only

4. Third-Party Cookies

When analytics consent is granted, Google Analytics 4 may set cookies including _ga (2 years, used to distinguish users) and _ga_* (2 years, session state). These are governed by Google's Privacy Policy. Google Fonts and Cloudflare cdnjs may log request metadata (IP, user-agent) as part of CDN infrastructure; they do not set persistent cookies on this site.

Third-party advertising cookies are not set by PioneerFjord. If any third-party service sets cookies outside those listed above, we consider this a configuration error and welcome reports to [email protected].

5. localStorage Mirrors

Each cookie we set also has a corresponding localStorage entry with an _exp sibling (epoch milliseconds expiry). The localStorage entry is checked first; if it is valid, the cookie read is skipped. This dual-write mechanism ensures consent persists across pages when the platform is tested in file:// mode, where cookie scope is origin-fragmented. Both are cleared or expired together.

6. How to Change Your Preferences

You can revisit your cookie choices at any time by clearing your browser storage for this domain. In most browsers: Settings → Privacy and Security → Site Data → find this domain → Clear data. The consent banner will re-appear on your next visit.

Chrome: F12 → Application → Storage → Cookies / Local Storage → select site → Clear All.
Firefox: F12 → Storage → Cookies / Local Storage → right-click → Delete All.
Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data → find site → Remove.

7. Changes to This Policy

If we introduce new storage mechanisms or change the purpose of existing ones, we will update the "Last updated" date and bump the v field in the pf_consent_v2 consent record. Existing consent records with a lower version number will prompt a new consent interaction. We will not add advertising cookies without providing a clear new consent choice for them.

8. Contact

Cookie-related questions: [email protected] or 785 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3G 0N9, Canada. We will respond within 14 days.