Cookie Policy | The Way Policy Group
Legal · Document 04

Cookie Policy

How we use cookies and similar technologies, and the choices available to you.

Effective Date: February 18, 2025
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. This Cookie Policy explains which cookies we use, what each cookie does, how long it lasts, who provides it, and how you can control or remove them at any time. Read together with our Privacy Policy, it gives you a full picture of how we handle the data generated by your visit to twpolicygroup.com.

01What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your browser or device when you visit. They allow the website to remember your actions and preferences over time, such as your login status, preferred language, currency, or which pages you have already viewed, so that you do not have to re-enter them every time you return or move between pages.

Cookies are widely used across the internet for two main reasons: to make websites work efficiently, and to provide information to the website owners about how their visitors use the site.

For convenience, this Cookie Policy uses the word "cookies" to refer not only to traditional HTTP cookies but also to several related technologies that perform similar functions:

  • Local storage and session storage: browser-based storage that can hold larger amounts of data than cookies and persists either across sessions (local storage) or only for the duration of a single browser session (session storage).
  • Pixel tags (web beacons): tiny transparent images embedded in pages or emails that signal when content is loaded.
  • SDKs (software development kits): code libraries embedded in mobile applications that perform analytics or attribution functions analogous to cookies.
  • Fingerprinting signals: non-cookie identifiers derived from browser and device characteristics. We do not use device fingerprinting for tracking; our payment processor Stripe may use limited fingerprinting signals strictly for fraud prevention.

03Why We Use Cookies

We use cookies to:

  • Keep you signed in to your member account between visits.
  • Remember your preferences and personalize your experience.
  • Secure our services against fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access.
  • Measure how visitors find and use our website so we can improve content and performance.
  • Provide and process payments through Stripe and detect suspicious transactions.
  • Deliver and measure the effectiveness of our newsletters and outreach (only with your consent).

04Cookie Categories

We classify the cookies we use into four categories, in line with industry practice and the requirements of the EU ePrivacy Directive and GDPR.

4.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for the website to function. They enable core capabilities such as authentication, secure session management, load balancing, and remembering items in a shopping cart or form. Without them, the Services cannot operate properly. You cannot opt out of strictly necessary cookies, but you can configure your browser to block them at the cost of breaking parts of the website.

4.2 Functional Cookies

These cookies help us remember choices you make to provide a more personalized experience. Examples include remembering your preferred language, currency, accessibility settings, or which sections of a dashboard you have expanded. Functional cookies do not track your activity on other websites.

4.3 Analytics and Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our website. They tell us which pages are the most and least popular and how visitors move around the site. The information collected is aggregated and pseudonymized where possible.

4.4 Marketing Cookies

These cookies are used to deliver content that is relevant to your interests and to measure the effectiveness of our outreach. They are set sparingly and only with your explicit consent.

05Detailed Cookie Inventory

The table below lists the cookies and similar technologies currently active on twpolicygroup.com, the provider of each, its specific purpose, how long it remains on your device, and the category to which it belongs.

Cookie / Identifier Provider Purpose Duration Category
_ms-mid Memberstack Maintains your authenticated member session across pages. 1 year Essential
_ms-mem Memberstack Stores your member ID for plan-based access control. Session Essential
__stripe_mid Stripe Fraud prevention for payments, persistent identifier. 1 year Essential
__stripe_sid Stripe Session-level fraud prevention during checkout. 30 minutes Essential
wp-settings, wordpress_logged_in twpolicygroup.com WordPress session and administrator authentication. Session to 1 year Essential
cookie_consent twpolicygroup.com Remembers your cookie preferences across visits. 1 year Functional
language_pref twpolicygroup.com Stores your preferred language for the interface. 1 year Functional
dashboard_state twpolicygroup.com Remembers expanded sections, selected filters, and chart views in our dashboards. 30 days Functional
__hstc HubSpot Tracks visitor sessions for analytics: first visit, previous visit, current visit. 13 months Analytics
hubspotutk HubSpot Recognizes returning visitors and links activity to a contact record. 13 months Analytics
__hssc HubSpot Tracks current session activity. 30 minutes Analytics
__hssrc HubSpot Detects whether the user restarted the browser, for session tracking. Session Analytics
_ga Google Analytics Distinguishes unique users by assigning a randomly generated identifier. 2 years Analytics
_ga_* Google Analytics Persists session state for the relevant GA4 property. 2 years Analytics
_gid Google Analytics Aggregates user behavior over a 24-hour window. 24 hours Analytics
_gat Google Analytics Throttles the request rate to limit data collected on high-traffic sites. 1 minute Analytics
__hs_marketable HubSpot Identifies marketing-qualified contacts based on engagement signals. 13 months Marketing
__hs_opt_out HubSpot Records that you have opted out of optional HubSpot tracking. 13 months Marketing
Living Document

The cookies and similar technologies we use may change over time as we adopt new tools, retire existing ones, or revise integrations. This inventory is reviewed quarterly and updated whenever a material change occurs. The "Effective Date" at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision.

06First-Party vs Third-Party

Cookies fall into two broad groups based on who places them on your device:

  • First-party cookies are set by twpolicygroup.com itself. They are visible only to our website and are typically used for essential functions such as authentication and preferences.
  • Third-party cookies are set by external services we have integrated with, such as Stripe, Memberstack, HubSpot, and Google Analytics. These cookies are governed by both this Policy and the privacy policy of the relevant third party.

07Third-Party Cookies

The following third-party services may place cookies through our website. Each provider has its own privacy and cookie policy, which we encourage you to review:

We carefully select third-party providers and contract with them to apply security and privacy safeguards consistent with our own standards.

When you visit twpolicygroup.com for the first time, you will see a cookie consent banner that allows you to accept or reject each category of non-essential cookies. Strictly necessary cookies are set automatically because the website cannot operate without them; for all other categories, we will not set cookies on your device until you have given consent.

You can change your preferences at any time by clicking "Cookie Settings" in the footer of any page on our website. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing that occurred before withdrawal.

09Your Choices & Controls

You have several layers of control over the cookies set on your device:

  1. Our consent banner: the simplest and most granular way to control which categories of cookies we set.
  2. Your browser settings: control cookies at the device level, including blocking all cookies, blocking third-party cookies, or deleting existing cookies.
  3. Vendor opt-outs: dedicated tools provided by analytics or marketing vendors, listed in Section 11.
  4. Privacy modes: incognito or private-browsing modes in most browsers prevent cookies from being saved beyond the current session.

10Browser Settings

Most modern browsers allow you to view, manage, delete, and block cookies. The relevant settings are usually located under "Privacy", "Security", or "Cookies" in the browser preferences. Direct links to the instructions for the most common browsers:

11Opt-Out Tools

Several vendors provide dedicated opt-out tools that work independently of our consent banner:

12Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature that, when activated, sends a header indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Because there is no industry consensus on how to interpret DNT signals and no common standard for honoring them, we do not currently respond to DNT signals. However, we fully respect the cookie preferences you set through our consent banner, which we consider the most reliable expression of your wishes.

13Mobile Devices

On mobile devices, cookies in mobile browsers behave as on desktop. If we ever publish a mobile application, that application will rely on advertising identifiers (such as IDFA on iOS or AAID on Android) rather than cookies. Mobile operating systems provide settings to limit ad tracking and reset these identifiers; please consult your device's privacy settings for details.

14Consequences of Disabling Cookies

Disabling cookies will affect your experience of our website to varying degrees depending on the categories you disable:

  • Disabling strictly necessary cookies will likely prevent you from signing in, completing purchases, or accessing member content.
  • Disabling functional cookies will cause the website to forget your preferences and re-prompt you for choices on each visit.
  • Disabling analytics cookies will limit our ability to understand and improve how the website is used, but will not affect your individual experience.
  • Disabling marketing cookies will not affect your individual experience but will reduce the relevance of any future communications we send you.

15Updates to Our Cookie Inventory

We review our cookie inventory at least once per calendar quarter. When a new integration is added or an existing one is changed, we update this Policy and, where required by law, present the updated consent options to existing visitors through our consent banner.

16Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, regulation, or our practices. The "Effective Date" at the top of this page indicates when the latest version took effect. Material changes will be communicated through our consent banner or by email where appropriate. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of any update constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

17Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or about how a specific cookie works, please contact us:

  • Email: [email protected]
  • General contact form: available at twpolicygroup.com/contact
  • Postal mail: attention "Privacy Office" at the address listed on our contact page

Questions About Cookies?

We are happy to explain how any specific cookie works.

[email protected]