Cookie Policy for Salish Sea Indigenous Archive (SalishHeritageArchive.com)
Last Updated: [Date of Last Update]
This Cookie Policy explains how the Salish Sea Indigenous Archive ("we", "us", or "our") uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website, SalishHeritageArchive.com (the "Site"). This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, smartphone, or other device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and to provide information to the site owners. Cookies are not programs and cannot contain viruses or malware.
We also use similar tracking technologies, such as web beacons (also known as pixel tags), local storage, and scripts (collectively, "Cookies" for the purposes of this policy). These technologies help us understand how you interact with our Site, improve your browsing experience, remember your preferences, and analyze Site traffic.
2. How We Use Cookies
We use Cookies for the following purposes, which are essential for the operation, preservation, and respectful sharing of the cultural heritage materials in our archive:
- Essential/Strictly Necessary Cookies: These are required for the Site to function and cannot be switched off. They are usually only set in response to actions you take, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the Site will not then work.
- Preference Cookies: Also known as "Functionality Cookies," these allow the Site to remember choices you make (such as your preferred language, text size, or accessibility settings) and provide enhanced, more personal features.
- Analytical/Performance Cookies: These allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our Site. They help us know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the Site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our Site and will not be able to monitor its performance.
- Targeting/Advertising Cookies: Important: The Salish Sea Indigenous Archive does not use cookies for third-party advertising or behavioral profiling. We do not sell your data. Any cookies in this category would be strictly limited to supporting specific, non-commercial functionality, such as social media sharing buttons that are embedded on the Site, and their use is governed by the respective third-party policies.
3. Types of Cookies We Use
The table below details the specific cookies we use on SalishHeritageArchive.com.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Type & Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| ssia_session | SalishHeritageArchive.com | Essential session cookie to maintain your navigation state and login session (if applicable) as you move between pages. This is crucial for accessing certain archived materials and user accounts. | Essential / Session |
| cookie_consent | SalishHeritageArchive.com | Stores your consent preferences for cookie categories. This cookie itself is strictly necessary to remember your choice. | Preference / 1 year |
| preferred_language | SalishHeritageArchive.com | Remembers your selected language preference for viewing the Site's interface. | Preference / 1 year |
| _ga, _gid, _gat | Google Analytics | These are analytical cookies used to distinguish unique users, sessions, and throttle request rates. We use this anonymized data to understand how our cultural and educational resources are accessed. | Analytical / 2 years (_ga), 24 hours (_gid), 1 minute (_gat) |
| _fbp | Meta (Facebook) | Used by our social sharing features to deliver, measure, and improve the relevancy of ads on Meta platforms. We do not use this for profiling on our Site. | Targeting / 3 months |
This list is subject to change as we update our services. We will endeavor to keep this table current.
4. Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies are placed by third-party services that appear on our pages. We do not control the dissemination of these third-party cookies. These may include:
- Social Media Platforms: Our Site may include embedded content from or sharing buttons for platforms like YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram. These services may set their own cookies if you are logged into their services or interact with the embedded content. We encourage you to review the respective cookie policies of these third-party providers.
- Analytics Providers: As noted, we use Google Analytics to help us analyze Site use. Google's ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.
5. Your Choices and Consent Management
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your preferences through the following methods:
5.1. Cookie Consent Banner
Upon your first visit to our Site, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner. This allows you to accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or customize your preferences by category (Essential, Analytical, etc.). Essential cookies cannot be disabled as they are required for the Site to operate.
5.2. Browser Controls
You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. The method for doing so varies from browser to browser. Please visit your browser's help menu for instructions. Please be aware that if you disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain features and functionalities of our Site, and some parts may not work as intended.
Links to guidance for common browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge.
5.3. Analytics Opt-Out
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, you can download and install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
6. Data Protection and Your Rights
Our use of cookies may involve the processing of personal data, such as your IP address and online identifiers. We are committed to protecting this data in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable.
Under the GDPR and similar laws, you have rights regarding your personal data, including:
- The right to access information we hold about you.
- The right to rectification of inaccurate data.
- The right to erasure (in certain circumstances).
- The right to restrict or object to processing.
- The right to data portability.
- The right to withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent).
To exercise these rights concerning data collected via cookies, or if you have any questions about our cookie practices, please contact us using the details in Section 9. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable law.
Legal Basis for Processing: For essential cookies, the legal basis is our legitimate interest in providing a functional website. For preference and analytical cookies, we rely on your consent, which you can manage via the cookie banner.
7. Data Retention
Cookie data is retained for different periods depending on the cookie type:
- Session Cookies: Expire and are deleted when you close your browser.
- Persistent Cookies: Remain on your device for the period specified in the table above or until you delete them manually.
Aggregated analytical data derived from cookies may be retained for longer periods for archival and statistical purposes, but it is anonymized and cannot be used to identify you.
8. Policy Updates
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, legislation, or our data practices. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies.
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies, please contact our Data Protection contact point:
Salish Sea Indigenous Archive
[Mailing Address, if applicable]
Email: privacy@salishheritagearchive.com
[Phone Number, if applicable]