Cookie Policy
Last updated: April 10, 2026
1. What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device (computer, mobile phone, tablet) when you visit websites. Cookies allow the website to recognize your device and remember information about your visit, such as your preferences, language, user session, and other data that improve your browsing experience.
In addition to traditional cookies, Museum App also uses similar technologies such as:
- LocalStorage and SessionStorage: Local storage in your browser that persists between sessions (localStorage) or only during the current session (sessionStorage)
- Mobile device identifiers: Unique IDs generated by your iOS or Android device, used in our mobile applications for analytics and advertising
- Web beacons and tracking pixels: Small invisible images embedded in web pages or emails that allow us to know if you have opened an email or visited a page
In this Cookie Policy, when we refer to "cookies", we also include these similar technologies, unless otherwise stated.
2. Why do we use cookies?
We use first-party cookies (served directly by Museum App) and third-party cookies (served by partners such as Google) for the following purposes:
- Essential website functionality: Authentication, security, navigation, remembering your language, theme, currency preferences, etc.
- Analysis and service improvement: Understanding how you use Museum App, which features are most popular, detecting technical errors, optimizing performance
- Content personalization: Recommending relevant collectibles, users, categories based on your interests
- Advertising and marketing: Showing relevant ads based on your browsing, measuring advertising campaign effectiveness, limiting ad frequency
- Consent management: Remembering your cookie and privacy preferences so we don't ask you again every time you visit the site
The use of cookies allows us to offer a personalized, secure, and efficient experience, as well as finance the service through targeted advertising in a manner respectful of your privacy.
3. Types of cookies we use
Below are the categories of cookies used by Museum App, their purpose, and whether they require your prior consent.
3.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies
Purpose: These cookies are essential for the website to function correctly. Without them, you would not be able to navigate Museum App or use its basic functionalities.
Legal basis: These cookies are technically essential for providing the service. They do not require your consent under GDPR (legitimate interest, Art. 6.1.f) and ePrivacy Directive (Article 5(3), exception for strictly necessary cookies).
Status in cookie banner: ALWAYS ACTIVE (cannot be disabled)
| Cookie | Domain | Description | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| authjs.csrf-token | museum.app | Prevents CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) attacks during login | Session |
| authjs.callback-url | museum.app | Stores the redirect URL after login | Session |
| authjs.session-token | museum.app | Identifies your active user session (encrypted JWT) | 1 year |
| __Secure-authjs.session-token | museum.app | Secure version of the session cookie (HTTPS only) | 1 year |
| cc_cookie | museum.app | Stores your cookie and consent preferences | 6 months |
Note: NextAuth (our authentication library) automatically generates cookie names. The "authjs." prefixes may vary depending on the environment configuration.
3.2 Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics)
Purpose: They help us understand how users interact with Museum App through aggregated and anonymous data. We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to measure web traffic, analyze usage patterns, identify popular pages, detect technical errors, and improve user experience.
Legal basis:
- EU/EEA/UK: Your explicit consent (GDPR Art. 6.1.a; ePrivacy Directive Art. 5.3). Disabled by default until you accept.
- Rest of the world: Legitimate interest (service improvement), with opt-out possibility.
Status in cookie banner: DISABLED BY DEFAULT (require opt-in in EU/EEA/UK)
| Cookie | Domain | Description | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | .museum.app | Identifies unique users anonymously | 2 years |
| _ga_<container-id> | .museum.app | Persists Google Analytics 4 session state | 2 years |
| _gid | .museum.app | Google Analytics session identifier | 24 hours |
| _gat | .museum.app | Limits the rate of requests to Google Analytics | 1 minute |
More information: Google Analytics Cookies and User Identification
3.3 Advertising Cookies (Google Ads and AdSense)
Purpose: We use Google AdSense (web) and Google AdMob (mobile apps) to display advertising that finances our free service. These cookies allow:
- Showing relevant ads based on your interests and browsing (personalized ads)
- Preventing you from seeing the same ad repeatedly (frequency capping)
- Measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns (conversions, clicks, impressions)
- Personalizing advertising based on your geographic location, language, device, etc.
Legal basis:
- EU/EEA/UK: Your explicit consent (GDPR Art. 6.1.a; ePrivacy Directive Art. 5.3). Disabled by default until you accept.
- United States: Legitimate interest, with recognition of opt-out signals (GPC/GPP) and compliance with state laws (CCPA/CPRA, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas).
Status in cookie banner: DISABLED BY DEFAULT (require opt-in in EU/EEA/UK)
| Cookie | Domain | Description | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | .museum.app | Google Ads - Conversion tracking from ads | 90 days |
| _gcl_aw | .museum.app | Google Ads - AdWords conversions | 90 days |
| _gcl_dc | .museum.app | Google Ads - Display & Video 360 conversions | 90 days |
| test_cookie | .doubleclick.net | Checks if the browser accepts third-party cookies | 15 minutes |
| IDE | .doubleclick.net | Personalized advertising based on browsing | 13 months |
| NID | .google.com | Stores user preferences for Google Ads | 6 months |
More information: How Google uses cookies in advertising
⚠️ Important for EU/EEA/UK users: If you reject advertising cookies, Museum App will continue to show ads, but they will be non-personalized ads (contextual) that do not use your browsing history. This complies with Google's "Limited Ads" policies for users who do not provide consent.
4. Third-party cookies
In addition to cookies that Museum App installs directly (first-party cookies), we allow certain third parties to install cookies on your device when you visit our website or use our mobile applications. These third-party cookies are managed directly by external providers and are subject to their own privacy policies.
Third-party providers we use:
🔍 Google Analytics (Alphabet Inc.)
- Purpose: Web traffic analysis, usage metrics, user behavior
- Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Opt-out: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
📢 Google AdSense and AdMob (Alphabet Inc.)
- Purpose: Serve personalized and contextual advertising, measure ad performance
- Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Ad settings: My Ad Center (Google)
🔐 Google OAuth (Alphabet Inc.)
- Purpose: Authentication via Google login
- Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Permissions management: Google Account Permissions
🍎 Apple Sign-In (Apple Inc.)
- Purpose: Authentication via Apple ID login
- Privacy policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/
- Permissions management: Apple ID Account Management
💳 Stripe Inc.
- Purpose: Payment processing, fraud prevention
- Privacy policy: https://stripe.com/privacy
- Stripe cookies: Stripe Cookies Policy
Note: Museum App has no control over third-party cookies. We recommend that you review the privacy and cookie policies of each provider to understand how they collect and use your data.
5. How to manage and delete cookies
You have full control over the cookies that Museum App and third parties use on your device. You can manage your preferences in several ways:
5.1 Cookie banner (first visit)
The first time you visit Museum App from a device, we display a cookie banner at the bottom of the screen. You can choose from:
- "Accept all": Activates all cookies (necessary, analytics, advertising)
- "Essential only": Only activates technically essential cookies, rejects analytics and advertising
- "Manage": Opens a preferences panel where you can activate/deactivate categories individually
5.2 Cookie preferences (at any time)
You can change your cookie preferences at any time from:
- Your account settings: Go to Settings → Privacy → Cookie preferences
- Site footer: Click on the "Cookie settings" link available on all pages
5.3 Browser settings
Most browsers allow you to control cookies from their settings. You can:
- Block all cookies
- Accept only cookies from directly visited sites (block third-party cookies)
- Delete all cookies when closing the browser
- Delete specific cookies manually
Configuration guides by browser:
- Google Chrome: Manage cookies in Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox: Cookies and privacy in Firefox
- Safari (macOS/iOS): Manage cookies in Safari
- Microsoft Edge: Cookies in Microsoft Edge
⚠️ Consequences of blocking cookies:
If you block or delete cookies, some Museum App functionalities may stop working correctly, such as:
- You won't be able to stay logged in (you'll have to log in every time)
- Your language, theme, currency preferences will be reset
- The site won't remember your cookie consent and will ask you again
- Some functionalities may not be available or work incorrectly
5.4 Browser privacy signals (GPC/GPP)
Museum App automatically recognizes and respects browser privacy signals:
- Global Privacy Control (GPC): Signal indicating that you don't want your personal data to be sold or shared (recognized in certain U.S. states)
- Global Privacy Platform (GPP): IAB framework for managing multi-jurisdictional privacy signals
If your browser sends a GPC or GPP signal, we will automatically disable personalized advertising cookies and limit data sharing with third parties, complying with U.S. state privacy laws (CCPA, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas).
6. Changes to this Cookie Policy
Museum App may update this Cookie Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, cookie technologies, or legal requirements. When we make significant changes:
- We will update the "Last updated" date at the beginning of this Policy
- We will notify you through a prominent notice on the website or mobile app
- In certain cases (material changes), we may request your consent again through the cookie banner
We recommend that you periodically review this Policy to stay informed about how we use cookies and similar technologies.
7. More information and contact
If you have questions, comments, or concerns about this Cookie Policy or how Museum App uses cookies and similar technologies, please don't hesitate to contact us:
Museum App Inc.
5900 Balcones Drive Ste 100
Austin, TX 78731
United States
Contact email: [email protected]
Related documents:
- Full Privacy Policy - Detailed information on how we collect, use, and protect your personal data
- Terms and Conditions - Rules for using Museum App
We will do our best to respond to your inquiry within a reasonable timeframe (generally 5-10 business days for general inquiries).