Cookies, what they are and why we use them.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. Cookies help sites remember things: your login session, your preferences, which pages you visited. They're widely used and generally harmless.

The one cookie we set

This site sets one cookie, called ssi_csrf. It is set when you start using one of the site's forms (the contact, newsletter, job application or event registration form), as soon as you first click into it or open it, because the form needs it. Reading pages does not set it. It holds a random code that proves a form was submitted from this site and not from somewhere else. It lasts one hour, scripts on the page cannot read it, and we use it for nothing else: it holds no information about you, and it is not used for analytics or advertising. Without it, those forms cannot work.

Analytics, without cookies

We measure how the site is used with two tools. PostHog, whose servers are in the United States, counts page views and a few specific actions: contact and newsletter submissions, clicks on product links, and project views. Cloudflare Web Analytics measures how fast pages load for real visitors. Both are sent through our own domain, so your browser only talks to simulatedsphere.com, and neither stores anything on your device: no cookie and no saved identifier. Each visit is counted on its own. PostHog is set not to store your IP address. We have turned off click recording and session replay. We don't use Google Analytics, and we don't track you across other sites.

Error reports

If something breaks in your browser, a report of what failed and on which page is sent to Sentry. For about one visit in ten we also send a page-speed report. These reports include the page address, your browser and device type, and your language and time zone. Sentry is set not to store your IP address. We don't record your session or what you type.

Other providers

• Cloudflare Turnstile checks that a person is filling in the contact form. It loads when you first click into the form.
• Razorpay's checkout loads when you start registering for a paid event.
• A few articles embed a video or design file from YouTube (in its privacy-enhanced mode), Vimeo, Loom, Figma or CodePen.

These providers run their own code and may set their own cookies under their own policies. We don't control them.

Sphere Academy and Sphere Training Platform

Those products are in development and will have their own sign-in. We'll update this page when they launch.

What we don't do

• We don't use advertising or tracking cookies
• We don't sell cookie data to data brokers
• We don't embed third-party ad scripts
• We don't fingerprint your browser

Managing cookies

You can block or delete the ssi_csrf cookie in your browser settings (usually under Settings → Privacy). The forms won't work until you allow it again. Everything we run ourselves, including analytics, stores nothing else on your device. You can also clear all cookies at any time; nothing on our servers is affected.

Questions

Reach us at privacy@simulatedsphere.com or via the contact page. How we handle the data behind those cookies is covered by our Privacy Policy.