1. What Are Cookies & Local Storage
AtlasKeys uses cookies and related browser storage mechanisms (such as localStorage and sessionStorage) to operate our platform, preserve your cart selections, secure your escrow account sessions, and analyze website traffic.
- HTTP Cookies: Small alphanumeric text files stored on your client device by your web browser at the request of websites you visit. Cookies help platforms recognize your session across page navigations.
- Local Storage (HTML5 Web Storage): Client-side key-value pairs stored in your browser without expiration dates, used for high-performance retrieval of UI settings and non-sensitive cache payloads.
- Session Storage: Ephemeral browser storage that automatically clears whenever you close your browser tab or window.
2. Legal Grounds & Consent Management
In accordance with the European Union ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC), the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
- Strictly Necessary Storage: Essential for core marketplace functionality (authentication, cart persistence, payment tokenization, and anti-fraud defense). Under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, strictly necessary cookies do not require prior consent because the service cannot function without them.
- Functional & Preference Storage: Deployed to remember your chosen display currency, locale language, and visual dark/light theme across visits.
- Analytics & Performance Cookies: Deployed only upon your affirmative consent via our cookie consent banner. These measure anonymized page visit velocities, referral channels, and user conversion journeys to help us optimize server performance.
3. Storage Keys & Cookie Inventory
The following table lists the primary cookies and local storage tokens utilized across the AtlasKeys web application:
| Identifier | Storage Type | Category | Lifespan | Operational Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ak_token |
Cookie / Storage | Strictly Necessary | 7 Days | Encrypted JWT bearer token authenticating your active user session and escrow permissions. |
ak_cart |
LocalStorage | Strictly Necessary | Persistent | Maintains product SKUs, seller keys, and quantity counts in your shopping cart across browser reloads. |
ak_currency |
LocalStorage | Functional | 1 Year | Remembers your preferred display currency (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP, MAD) and exchange rate multiplier. |
ak_lang |
LocalStorage | Functional | 1 Year | Stores your preferred interface language code for UI translation. |
ak_theme |
LocalStorage | Functional | Persistent | Preserves your chosen color mode preference (dark obsidian mode or light mode). |
ak_cookie_consent |
LocalStorage | Functional | 1 Year | Logs your accepted/rejected preference for analytics cookies so the banner is not redisplayed. |
__stripe_mid, __stripe_sid |
Cookie | Strictly Necessary | 1 Year / 30 Min | Set by Stripe to detect credit card fraud and protect buyer checkout against automated card testing bot attacks. |
_ga, _ga_* |
Cookie | Analytics (Optional) | 2 Years | Google Analytics 4 cookies used to calculate aggregated, privacy-anonymized visitor counts and traffic sources. |
4. Third-Party Integrations
Certain third-party service providers embedded in our infrastructure set their own cookies or device tokens:
- Payment Providers (Stripe & PayPal): Deploy specialized fraud-detection cookies during checkout to evaluate risk metrics and satisfy PCI-DSS payment compliance.
- Cloudflare & DDoS Protection: Security cookies (e.g.
__cf_bm) may be placed to distinguish human visitors from malicious bot traffic and prevent distributed denial-of-service disruptions. - Google Analytics 4: When enabled, IP addresses are automatically truncated and anonymized before transmission to Google servers in compliance with European regulatory guidance.
5. Managing & Disabling Cookies
You maintain complete control over how cookies are stored on your device:
- Platform Settings: You can reset your tracking preferences at any time by clearing your cookie preferences or selecting your choices from the footer Cookie Preferences toggle.
- Browser Controls: All modern desktop and mobile browsers permit you to inspect, block, or delete cookies via their security settings:
- Google Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies.
- Mozilla Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Enhanced Tracking Protection.
- Apple Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Block all cookies / Prevent cross-site tracking.
- Microsoft Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies.
Please note: If you choose to completely block or purge strictly necessary cookies (such as ak_token and ak_cart), essential marketplace capabilities—including account authentication, cart updates, and escrow checkout—will be rendered inoperable.
6. Contact & Questions
If you have any questions or require additional technical information regarding our use of cookies or client-side storage technologies, please reach out to our privacy compliance department:
AtlasKeys Privacy & Data Operations
Email: privacy@atlaskeys.com
Technical Support: AtlasKeys Help Center