Cookies & Device Storage
Everything Azate stores on your device, in one table. There are no advertising cookies and no tracking companies — most of what is here just keeps you signed in and remembers how you like things to look.
In effect from 19 August 2026(version 2026-08-19.cookies.1)
What this page covers
“Cookies” is the usual word, but the law covers anything stored on or read from your device — cookies, local storage, session storage and browser databases. This page lists all of it, not just the cookies, because that is what actually gets used.
It sits alongside our Privacy Notice, which covers everything else we do with your information.
Why you are, and are not, asked
The short version
Most of what Azate stores does not need your permission, because it is either required to make the site work or just remembers how you like it to look. We ask about the rest.
Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations we need your consent before storing things on your device, unless one of a small number of exceptions applies. Three do here:
- Strictly necessary — without it, something you asked for cannot happen. Staying signed in is the obvious one.
- Appearance — remembering how you like the site to look. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 added this exception in February 2026. You can still switch it off.
- Statistics — counting how the site is used, to improve it. We do not do this today.
There is no advertising or tracking on Azate. No ad networks, no marketing pixels, no cross-site tracking, no profiles built about you, and nothing sold to anyone. If that ever changed we would ask you first, and this page would say so.
The one thing that genuinely needs your permission is embedded videos. If you put a YouTube video in a note, playing it lets YouTube store things on your device and see that you watched. So it stays off until you say yes.
We do not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, because no agreed standard for them exists. There is nothing here for such a signal to switch off anyway.
The four categories
The choices you make below apply in these groups. Your choices are remembered for 182 days, after which we ask again.
Essential — always on
Keeps you signed in, keeps your work safe while you are using it, and keeps the site secure. Without these Azate cannot work, so they cannot be switched off.
Appearance — on unless you switch it off
Remembers how you like Azate to look — light or dark mode, and your colour choices — so it stays that way next time. You can switch this off; Azate will just forget your theme between visits.
Embedded videos — off until you say yes
Lets YouTube videos you have added to a note play inside the page. YouTube stores things on your device and can see that you watched, which is why this is off until you say yes. With it off, videos show as a link you can open in a new tab.
Usage statistics — off until you say yes
Would let us count which parts of Azate get used so we can improve them. We do not collect any of this today, and there are no advertising or tracking companies involved. The switch is here so it stays your choice if we ever do.
The full list
Every item Azate stores or reads on your device, checked against the code. Anything not on this list is not permitted in the product.
Essential
| Name | Type | Set by | What it is for | How long | Switching it off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| azate_beta | Cookie | Azate | Remembers that this browser has entered the closed-beta password. Holds a shared token, not anything about you. | 30 days | Cannot be switched off while Azate is in closed beta — without it the site cannot tell that you are allowed in. |
| firebase:authUser:… (firebaseLocalStorageDb) | IndexedDB | Google Firebase | Keeps you signed in between page loads. Holds your sign-in tokens, your account id and the email on the account. | Until you sign out | Sign out, or use the “Delete account” control in Settings. |
| firebase-heartbeat-database | IndexedDB | Google Firebase | Records the dates this browser used Google's Firebase software. Google receives these dates with requests our app makes. Firebase writes it automatically and we cannot switch it off separately from sign-in itself. | 30 days, rolling | Not separately controllable. Clearing site data removes it; it is written again on the next visit. |
| azate:timer:v2:{uid} | Local storage | Azate | Keeps your Pomodoro timer running if you reload or come back to the tab. | Until you sign out | Cleared when you sign out, and when you delete your account. |
| azate:streak:v1:{uid} | Local storage | Azate | Holds your confirmed study days and any activity not yet saved to your account, so a dropped connection does not lose a session. | Until you sign out | Cleared when you sign out, and when you delete your account. |
| azate:resume-chat:v1:{uid} | Local storage | Azate | Remembers which tutor conversation to reopen if you come back soon. | 15 minutes | Expires by itself; also cleared when you sign out. |
| azate:getting-started:v1:{uid} | Local storage | Azate | Remembers that you have closed the getting-started popup, so it is not shown to you again. | Until you sign out | Cleared when you sign out, and when you delete your account. |
| azate:quiz-attempt:v1:{uid} | Local storage | Azate | Keeps the quiz you are part-way through, so reloading the page or closing the tab by accident does not lose your answers. Holds which quiz, which options you picked and when you started — not the questions or the answer text. | 24 hours, then it is discarded | Finishing or leaving the quiz clears it; it also expires by itself, and is cleared when you sign out. |
| azate:pending-tutor-message:v1:{uid} | Session storage | Azate | Carries a question you typed on the home page across to the tutor page. | Until you close the tab | Disappears on its own when the tab closes. |
| azate:cookie-consent:v1 | Local storage | Azate | Remembers the choices you made about this page, so you are not asked again every visit. Holds only your choices and the date you made them. | 6 months, then we ask again | Cannot be switched off — without it we could not honour what you chose. |
Appearance
| Name | Type | Set by | What it is for | How long | Switching it off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| azate:notes-sidebar:v1:{uid} | Local storage | Azate | Remembers whether you collapsed the notes sidebar. | Until you sign out | Switch off “Appearance” below. |
| azate-theme | Local storage | Azate | Remembers light, dark or system mode. | Until you clear it | Switch off “Appearance” below. |
| azate-palette | Local storage | Azate | Remembers your accent colour. | Until you clear it | Switch off “Appearance” below. |
| azate-bg-palette | Local storage | Azate | Remembers your background colour. | Until you clear it | Switch off “Appearance” below. |
Embedded videos
| Name | Type | Set by | What it is for | How long | Switching it off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube cookies and storage (youtube-nocookie.com) | Cookie | Google / YouTube | Set by YouTube when a video embedded in one of your notes actually plays. We use the no-cookie player, which does not store anything until you press play. | Set by Google — see their policy | Switch off “Embedded videos” below. Videos then appear as a link that opens in a new tab. |
That is 15 items in total. None of them are used for advertising.
Other companies your browser contacts
These do not store anything on your device, but loading a page does make a request to them, and a request reveals your IP address.
- Google Fonts — The icon font used across the app is requested from fonts.googleapis.com when a page loads. Google receives your IP address as part of that request. No cookie is set.
- YouTube (youtube-nocookie.com) — Only when a video embedded in one of your notes is loaded, and only if you have turned on embedded videos.
Changing your mind
The short version
One button, any time. Turning something off is exactly as easy as turning it on.
The same button is in the footer of every page. When you switch a category off we delete what it stored, where it is ours to delete.
Doing it in your browser instead
You can also block or clear storage in your browser settings. Blocking everything will sign you out and stop Azate working properly, since sign-in itself depends on it.
- Chrome — Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies.
- Safari — Settings → Safari → Advanced → Website Data.
- Firefox — Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data.
- Edge — Settings → Cookies and site permissions.
Deleting your Azate account removes everything stored for it on the device as well as on our servers.
Changes to this policy
This is version 2026-08-19.cookies.1. If we add anything that needs your consent we will ask you again rather than assuming your last answer still applies.
Questions go to privacy@azate.com.
Azate is a study tool, not a school, an exam board or a substitute for advice from a person you trust.