What Are Cookies
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store and send back on later requests. Related technologies do the same job differently: local storage and session storage keep data in the browser without attaching it to every request. This policy covers all of them, because what matters is the data, not the mechanism.
Types of Cookies
Cookies are usually grouped by what they are for rather than by who set them: strictly necessary, analytics, functional and marketing. The sections below describe each category and state plainly which ones Dreams Marketplace currently uses. Categories we do not use are listed rather than omitted, so that this document stays a complete answer to the question and not a partial one.
Essential Cookies
These are required for the marketplace to work and cannot be switched off. Dreams Marketplace sets exactly one:
- Name: dm_rt. Purpose: keeps you signed in by renewing your session. Lifetime: 30 days. Flags: HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax, Secure in production, and scoped to a single endpoint (the session-refresh path) so it is never sent with ordinary page loads.
The cookie is HttpOnly, which means page scripts cannot read it. Your short-lived access token, your cart and a small number of interface preferences are held in the browser's own local storage instead — they stay on your device and are not transmitted with every request.
Analytics Cookies
Analytics cookies measure how a site is used. Dreams Marketplace does not currently set any analytics cookies, and no third-party analytics script runs on the marketplace. If that changes, this policy will be updated before the cookies are set, and where consent is required it will be requested first.
Functional Cookies
Functional cookies remember preferences such as language or layout. Dreams Marketplace does not use cookies for this. The preferences we do remember — cart contents, a remembered sign-in email on the admin console — are stored in your browser's local storage, are readable only by this site, and are cleared when you clear site data.
Marketing Cookies
Marketing cookies build a profile of your interests to target advertising, usually across other sites. Dreams Marketplace does not set marketing cookies, does not run advertising on the marketplace, and does not share your browsing behaviour with advertising networks.
Third-party Cookies
We do not embed third-party trackers in marketplace pages. Two categories of third party are nonetheless involved in delivering the service:
- Payment providers. Checkout is completed on a page hosted by Stripe or PayPal. Those pages are governed by the provider's own cookie and privacy policies, not by this one.
- Content delivery. Fonts and icon assets are requested from a public CDN. These requests deliver static files and are not used to set identifying cookies, but they do reveal your IP address to the CDN, as any request to any host does.
Cookie Preferences
Because the only cookie we set is strictly necessary, there is no consent banner and nothing to opt out of: a marketplace that cannot keep you signed in cannot show you your purchases. If a future release introduces an optional cookie, a preference control will be added here and the cookie will not be set until you have made a choice.
Browser Controls
You can inspect, block and delete cookies from your browser's settings, usually under Privacy or Site data. Blocking the session cookie will sign you out and prevent you from staying signed in. Clearing site data for this domain also clears the local storage described above, which empties your cart and signs you out on that device — it does not affect your account, your purchases or your licenses, which are held server-side against your account.
Updates to Cookie Policy
We will update this policy whenever the set of cookies or storage described here changes, and the change will be reflected in the "Last updated" date on this page. Where a new cookie requires consent, the policy will be updated before it is set.
Contact
Questions about cookies or about the data described here can be sent to privacy@dreamsmarketplace.com.