Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences and understand how visitors use the site. Some cookies are essential for the site to function, while others are optional.

The KudoKids website (kudokids.org) uses a minimal set of cookies. Which optional categories start active depends on where you are visiting from:

If we cannot determine your region, we use the "everywhere else" defaults (everything optional stays off). To decide which column applies, we look up your approximate region (country level) once per visit from your network address; only a coarse region bucket (US / Europe / other) is kept for your current tab session (kk_region below), and the country code is not stored with any data about you. We do not use cookies in the KudoKids mobile app.

Essential (Always Active)

These are required for the website to function and cannot be disabled. All of them are first-party values that stay in your browser.

Analytics — on by default in the US; opt-in everywhere else

These cookies are set while analytics consent is active for you: in the US it is active by default until you opt out; everywhere else it activates only if you grant it via the cookie banner.

Advertising — on by default in the US; opt-in everywhere else

These cookies are set while advertising consent is active for you: in the US it is active by default until you opt out; everywhere else it activates only if you grant it via the cookie banner. If you opt out of (or decline) Advertising consent, or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, no advertising cookies are set, no Meta Pixel scripts are loaded, and no server-side Conversions API (CAPI) event is sent to Meta. Both the in-browser pixel and the server-side share are suppressed by the same Advertising-consent choice.

California "Do Not Sell or Share": building advertising/retargeting audiences with Meta — via either the in-browser Meta Pixel or the server-side CAPI event described in Section 3 — is treated as a "sale" or "share" of personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.140(ad)–(ah)). For US visitors this sharing is on by default until you opt out. Opting out of Advertising consent, or sending a Global Privacy Control signal, is your "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" opt-out and stops both the pixel and the CAPI share.

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand aggregate website traffic patterns. Our analytics configuration includes:

• IP anonymization is enabled -- your full IP address is never stored
• No advertising features -- remarketing, demographic reporting, and interest categories are all disabled
• No cross-site tracking -- we do not link analytics data across different websites
• No child tracking -- website analytics do not track children; child data collection occurs only in the mobile app with parental consent

Session analytics (Microsoft Clarity)

We also use Microsoft Clarity for session analytics — heatmaps and session replays that show us how visitors scroll, click, and navigate the site. Text you type into forms is masked. We signal Microsoft to deny advertising storage for every visitor, so Clarity operates as an analytics tool only. Clarity never loads on child-reachable pages and does not track children.

Advertising cookies (Meta Pixel)

While advertising consent is active for you — your explicit choice, or the US default described in Section 2 unless you opt out — we use the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns. The pixel tracks page views, content views, waitlist signups, and purchases on our website. This data helps us understand which ads are reaching the right families and measure return on ad spend. Meta may use this data to show you relevant KudoKids ads on Facebook and Instagram, build retargeting audiences, and optimize ad delivery to similar audiences. When you submit a form or complete a purchase and Advertising consent is active for you, our server also sends a redundant conversion event to Meta's Conversions API (CAPI) with hashed personal data (email, name, phone, location) and your IP address for improved measurement accuracy. This server-side event is a "sale" or "share" of personal information under the CPRA and is sent only when Advertising consent is active; if you decline Advertising consent or send a Global Privacy Control signal, the CAPI event is not sent. No advertising data is collected from children -- advertising cookies and the CAPI share operate only on the KudoKids website, not in the mobile app.

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time:

• US visitors — first-visit notice: if you are visiting from the United States, analytics and advertising cookies start on by default and a notice appears on your first page view. Opt out in that notice switches both categories off in one click; Got it dismisses the notice without changing anything. Your opt-out never expires — once you switch a category off, we keep it off unless you yourself later switch it back on.
• Cookie banner (everywhere else): outside the US — or whenever we cannot determine your region — a banner on your first visit lets you independently accept or decline analytics cookies and advertising cookies before anything optional loads.
• Footer link: Click "Cookie Settings" in the website footer to change your preferences at any time, in any region.
• Browser settings: Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through their settings menu.
• Global Privacy Control: We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. If your browser sends a GPC signal, we will treat it as a request to opt out of both analytics and advertising cookies, in every region.

If you opt out of (or decline) analytics cookies, any existing Google Analytics cookies will be automatically cleared from your browser. If you opt out of (or decline) advertising cookies, any existing Meta Pixel cookies (_fbp, _fbc) will be automatically cleared from your browser.

Google Analytics is operated by Google LLC. When you accept analytics cookies, Google processes this data according to their Privacy Policy. You can also opt out of Google Analytics across all websites by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Meta Pixel is operated by Meta Platforms, Inc. When you accept advertising cookies, Meta processes event data according to their Data Policy. You can control how Meta uses your data through your Facebook Ad Preferences and by opting out of advertising cookies on our website.

International data transfers. Google LLC and Meta Platforms, Inc. are United States processors. When you accept analytics or advertising cookies, the associated data (and, for advertising, the server-side CAPI event described in Section 3) is transferred to and processed in the United States. These transfers rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK Extension and Swiss-US framework) and, where applicable, on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses together with the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.

Microsoft Clarity is operated by Microsoft Corporation. When you accept analytics cookies, Microsoft processes this data as an independent controller according to the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Microsoft is a United States processor; the international-transfer paragraph above applies to Clarity data as well.

Processor server-side retention. The per-cookie lifetimes in Section 2 govern what is stored in your browser. How long Google and Meta retain the corresponding server-side event data is governed by their own policies, linked above (Google Privacy Policy; Meta Data Policy; Microsoft Privacy Statement), not by this Cookie Policy.

If you have questions about our use of cookies, contact us at legal@kudokids.org, or call us at (910) 593-7070.

For complete details about our data practices, see our Privacy Policy.