Cookie Policy
Last updated: January 18, 2026 • Effective immediately
Quick Summary: We use cookies to help you discover AI tools, improve your experience, and understand how our community uses the platform. You control which cookies we use—just update your preferences anytime.
What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help websites remember information about you. Think of them as digital sticky notes that make your browsing experience smoother. They don't contain viruses or track you around the internet by themselves they only work within the websites that set them.
Our Approach to Cookies
We believe in transparency and control. Unless a cookie is essential for the website to work, we ask for your permission first. You can change your preferences at any time using the cookie banner that appears at the bottom of your screen.
Types of Cookies We Use
🔒 Essential (Always Required)
These cookies are strictly necessary to make our website work. Without them, features break—like staying logged in or completing a search. We don't need your permission to use these.
What we store:
- Session ID: Remembers you're logged in across pages
- Cookie Preferences: Your consent choices (so we don't keep asking)
- CSRF Protection: Prevents malicious form submissions
- Language/Theme: Your display preferences (dark mode, etc.)
Expiry: Varies (most clear when you close your browser)
📊 Analytics (Help Us Improve)
We use analytics to understand how you interact with our AI tools directory. This helps us discover which tools are most useful, identify broken links, and build features you actually want. No personal data is sold.
What we learn:
- Which AI tools you search for or click on
- How long you spend on each tool's page
- Common search queries (to improve rankings)
- Device type and browser (desktop vs. mobile?)
- Rough location (country level only, never your address)
Services: Google Analytics 4, Vercel Analytics
Expiry: 13 months (then we delete it)
📢 Marketing (Show Relevant Ads)
Marketing cookies let us show you ads about tools we think you'll find useful on other websites. They also help us measure if our promotions work. You can opt out anytime. we won't be offended!
What we track:
- AI tools you've viewed (so we can remind you later)
- Your interests in different AI categories
- Whether you clicked our ads on other platforms
Services: Facebook Pixel, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads
Expiry: 180 days or until you clear cookies
🤝 Affiliate Tracking (Commission Attribution)
When you click an affiliate link to purchase an AI tool subscription, this cookie tracks that you came from our site. It ensures the tool provider credits us with the referral (and we earn a small commission to keep the site running).
What we track:
- When you clicked a referral link
- Which tool you were interested in
- Whether the purchase completed
Services: Tool provider affiliate networks (e.g., ChatGPT affiliate program, RunwayML, Midjourney)
Expiry: 30-90 days (varies by partner)
⚡ Performance (Speed & Stability)
These cookies help us keep our website fast and reliable. They track error rates, page load times, and which features might be lagging. Think of it as our website's health monitor.
What we monitor:
- Page load speed (which AI tools page loads slowly?)
- JavaScript errors (broken search filters?)
- Browser crash reports
- API response times
Services: Sentry (error tracking), Vercel Analytics
Expiry: 30 days
Third-Party Services & Data Sharing
We partner with trusted services to run the site better. Here's who gets access to what:
| Service | Purpose | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 | Understand user behavior | Anonymous page views, clicks, search queries |
| Vercel Analytics | Monitor performance | Page load times, Core Web Vitals |
| Facebook Pixel | Retarget ads on Facebook/Instagram | Pages viewed, tools searched (anonymized) |
| Google Ads | Retarget ads on Google | Site visit confirmation, browsing behavior |
| Affiliate Networks | Track referral commissions | Tool clicked, purchase completed (yes/no) |
| Sentry | Track errors & crashes | Error messages, browser info (no personal data) |
ℹ️ Important: All third-party services are GDPR and CCPA compliant. They don't sell your data to advertisers. They only help us run better ads and understand how people find us.
How You Control Cookies
Option 1: Cookie Banner (Easiest)
See the cookie notice at the bottom of your screen? Click the settings button to:
- Turn categories on or off
- Accept all cookies
- Reject all (except essential)
- Your choices are saved for 1 year
Option 2: Browser Settings
Your browser can manage cookies too. You can:
- Chrome: Settings → Privacy → Cookies and other site data
- Firefox: Preferences → Privacy → Cookies
- Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Cookies and website data
- Edge: Settings → Privacy → Cookies and other site data
⚠️ Heads up: Blocking essential cookies might break some features (like logging in).
Option 3: Opt-Out of Tracking
- Opt out of Google Analytics: Download the Google Analytics Opt-Out extension
- Opt out of Facebook Ads: Facebook Ads Preferences → click "Why you're seeing this"
- Global opt-out: Visit aboutads.info to opt out of targeted ads across websites
Privacy Regulations We Follow
🇪🇺 GDPR (Europe)
If you're in Europe, GDPR gives you the right to know what data we collect, correct it, delete it, or port it to another service. We collect your explicit consent before non-essential cookies. You can request access or deletion anytime just email us.
🇮🇳 DPDP (India)
Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, we only collect data you give us permission for. You can withdraw consent anytime. We keep data only as long as needed (usually under 2 years).
🇨🇦 PIPEDA (Canada)
We follow Canada's privacy laws and get your consent before collecting personal information. You can access or delete your info anytime.
🇺🇸 CCPA (California)
California residents have the right to know what data we collect, delete it, and opt out of "sales" (sharing with ads partners). We don't sell personal data. We only use it to show relevant ads.
How Long We Keep Cookies
We don't keep data longer than we need. Here's the timeline:
- Essential cookies: Clear when you log out or close browser
- Analytics: Deleted after 13 months automatically
- Marketing: Deleted after 180 days
- Affiliate: Deleted after 90 days
- Your consent choice: Remembered for 1 year, then we ask again
Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you have rights including:
- Right to Access: Know what data we have about you
- Right to Correct: Fix any wrong information
- Right to Delete: Ask us to erase your data
- Right to Withdraw Consent: Change your mind anytime
- Right to Portability: Get your data in a readable format
- Right to Object: Opt out of tracking and targeted ads
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@toolsherd.com with your request and proof of identity. We'll respond within 30 days (or as required by law).
Do Not Track (DNT)
Some browsers let you send a "Do Not Track" signal. We respect this signal and will disable non-essential analytics and marketing cookies if you enable it. Check your browser settings to turn it on.
Cookies for AI Tool Automation & Agents
If you're using an AI agent or automation tool to scrape or interact with our site:
- Respect robots.txt: We've defined what can be crawled
- Rate limiting: Don't hammer our API (max 10 requests/sec)
- User-Agent identification: Tell us you're an automation tool
- Consent applies: Even bots need to follow our cookie rules
- Commercial use: If you're selling data from our site, contact us first (you might need a license)
Updates to This Policy
We might update this policy as technology and laws change. If we make big changes, we'll notify you here and via email (if you're logged in). Keep checking back!
Questions?
We're here to help. If you have questions about cookies or privacy:
- Email: karthikpiinasi@gmail.com
- Data Protection Officer: privacy@toolsherd.in
- See our full Privacy Policy for more details
📋 Summary: We use cookies to help you find great AI tools, keep you logged in, understand what works, and show you relevant ads. You control which cookies we use. No data is sold. Questions? We're transparent and happy to explain.