Cookie Policy
Last updated: 10 September 2026
1. What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They let a site remember things about your visit, such as items in your basket, whether you are logged in, and how you found the site, and they help us understand how the site is used so we can improve it.
Cookies may be session cookies, which are deleted when you close your browser, or persistent cookies, which remain until they expire or you delete them. They may also be first-party cookies, set directly by polistas.world, or third-party cookies, set by services we use, such as Google.
2. The cookies we use
We keep this to three categories. Polistas currently runs a deliberately light setup: our e-commerce platform, Shopify, Google for analytics and advertising, and Contentsquare for session-recording analytics. Nothing else is currently switched on.
2.1 Necessary cookies
These are required for the site to function and cannot be switched off. They are set by Shopify, the platform polistas.world runs on, and by our payment providers.
- Shopping cart contents (Shopify, persistent)
- Checkout session and order processing (Shopify, session)
- Customer login and account access (Shopify, persistent)
- Fraud and bot prevention during checkout (Shopify's built-in tools, session)
- Load balancing and site security (Shopify, session)
- Payment processing (Shopify Payments and PayPal, when you pay by card or PayPal, session)
- Remembering your cookie and privacy choices (Shopify, persistent)
These cookies do not require your consent under UK PECR or EU ePrivacy rules because they are strictly necessary to provide the service you have asked for: browsing, basket and checkout.
2.2 Analytics cookies
Google Analytics measures site traffic and how visitors use the site, so we can improve it. This requires your consent.
Contentsquare (which includes the Hotjar product) records individual visitor sessions and generates heatmaps, so we can see how people actually use the site and fix usability issues. This requires your consent.
2.3 Advertising and marketing cookies
- Google Ads measures the performance of our ad campaigns and shows relevant ads. Active, requires consent.
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram) would measure ad performance and allow ad targeting on Meta platforms. Connected but not currently sending data; would require consent if activated.
- Pinterest would measure and target Pinterest ad campaigns. Not currently connected.
- TikTok would measure and target TikTok ad campaigns. Not currently connected.
We list Meta, Pinterest and TikTok here for transparency because the integrations exist in our store setup, even though they are not currently collecting data. We will update this page before any of them go live.
2.4 What we do not currently use
For comparison with other retailers, some sites also run dedicated third-party fraud-scoring services, or affiliate and retargeting ad networks. Polistas does not currently use any of these. Fraud prevention is handled by Shopify's own built-in tools, listed under necessary cookies above.
3. How long is data kept?
- Necessary cookies: for the length of your session, or up to two years for persistence features like cart and login. Exact durations are set by Shopify and may change.
- Google Analytics and Ads: typically up to 13 months, per Google's own retention settings.
- Contentsquare (Hotjar): session recordings are kept for 1 month by default; aggregated analytics data for up to 13 months, per Contentsquare's retention settings.
4. Your choices
A cookie preference banner is shown to visitors in the United Kingdom, where you can accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can also:
- Block or delete cookies through your browser settings.
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for targeted advertising, where applicable under US state privacy laws, on our Your Privacy Choices page.
- Contact us with any question about this policy at hello@polistas.world.
Turning off non-essential cookies will not stop the site working, but may make some features less convenient, and means we will not be able to measure or improve the site as effectively.
5. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our tools or legal requirements change. Material changes will be reflected here with an updated "last updated" date.
6. Contact
Polistas Worldwide
Email: hello@polistas.world