Cookie Policy

2. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better user experience, and give website operators information about how their site is being used.

Cookies can be categorised in several ways:

• First-party cookies are set by the website you are visiting (in this case, encodedigital.com.au);
• Third-party cookies are set by a domain other than the one you are visiting, typically when the website includes content or resources from external services;
• Session cookies are temporary and are deleted when you close your browser; and
• Persistent cookies remain on your device for a set period or until you manually delete them.

3. Types of Cookies

Cookies are generally classified into the following categories based on their purpose:

4. Cookies We Use

Our Website takes a minimal approach to cookie usage. Below is a summary of the cookies and similar technologies currently in use:

4.1 Hosting Infrastructure Cookies

Our Website is hosted on cloud infrastructure (Vercel) that may set strictly necessary cookies for the following purposes:

These cookies are set by our hosting infrastructure and are strictly necessary for the operation and security of the Website. They do not track your browsing activity across other websites and cannot be used to personally identify you. The specific cookies set may vary depending on the hosting provider's current configuration.

4.2 Cookies We Do Not Use

To be clear, our Website currently does not use:

• Google Analytics or any other web analytics platform;
• Facebook Pixel, Google Ads, or any other advertising or retargeting pixel;
• Social media tracking cookies or share buttons that track user behaviour;
• Session replay or heatmap tracking tools (such as Hotjar or FullStory);
• A/B testing cookies;
• Personalisation or preference cookies; or
• Any first-party cookies set by our own application code.

If we introduce any new cookies or tracking technologies in the future, we will update this Cookie Policy accordingly and, where required, seek your consent before setting such cookies.

5. Third-Party Cookies

While we do not set third-party tracking cookies, certain resources on our Website are loaded from external services, which may set their own cookies when your browser requests those resources:

We have no control over the cookies set by these third-party services. We encourage you to review their respective cookie and privacy policies for further information about how they handle your data.

6. Local Storage and Similar Technologies

In addition to cookies, websites may use other browser-based storage technologies, including:

• Local Storage — Allows websites to store data in your browser that persists even after you close the browser window;
• Session Storage — Similar to Local Storage but the data is cleared when you close the browser tab or window; and
• Web Beacons / Pixels — Small, invisible images embedded in web pages or emails that can be used to track whether content has been viewed.

Our Website currently does not use Local Storage, Session Storage, or web beacons/pixels for tracking purposes. If this changes in the future, we will update this Cookie Policy accordingly.

7. Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie preferences in the following ways:

• Browser settings — Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can set your browser to block all cookies, block third-party cookies only, accept all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. The method for managing cookies varies by browser (see Section 8 below);
• Browser extensions — You can install browser extensions designed to block or manage cookies and other tracking technologies, such as uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, or Ghostery; and
• Clearing existing cookies — You can delete cookies that have already been set on your device through your browser settings. This will remove all cookies set by all websites, not just ours.

Since our Website primarily relies only on strictly necessary infrastructure cookies, blocking these cookies may affect the availability or functionality of the Website.

8. Browser-Specific Instructions

Below are links to instructions for managing cookies in common web browsers. Please note that these links are to external websites and we are not responsible for their content:

If you use a browser not listed above, please refer to your browser's help documentation or the browser developer's website for instructions on managing cookies.

9. Impact of Disabling Cookies

Since our Website uses a minimal number of cookies (limited to strictly necessary infrastructure cookies), the impact of disabling cookies on your experience is expected to be limited. However, please be aware that:

• Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent the Website from loading correctly, as these cookies are required for basic security and routing functions provided by our hosting infrastructure;
• Blocking third-party requests to external services (such as Unsplash or Google Fonts) may result in some images not loading or the Website displaying in a fallback font; and
• Clearing all cookies will also remove cookies set by other websites you have visited, which may affect your experience on those sites (such as being logged out of accounts).

We have designed our Website to be functional and accessible even with limited cookie support. Core content, navigation, and the contact form will continue to work regardless of your cookie settings.

10. Do Not Track Signals

Some web browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) setting, which sends a signal to websites requesting that your browsing activity not be tracked. There is currently no universally accepted standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals.

As our Website does not use any tracking cookies, analytics tools, or advertising technologies, we effectively honour the intent of Do Not Track signals by default. Your browsing behaviour on our Website is not tracked, profiled, or used for advertising purposes regardless of your DNT settings.

11. Cookies and Children

Our Website is not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly set cookies or collect data through cookies from children under 18 years of age. As our Website does not use tracking or analytics cookies, no behavioural profiles of any users (including children) are created.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies and technologies we use, changes to our Website, or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make changes, we will:

• Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page;
• If we begin using new categories of cookies (such as analytics or advertising cookies), we will update this Policy before deploying them and, where required by applicable law, seek your consent through a cookie consent mechanism; and
• Make reasonable efforts to notify you of material changes that may affect your privacy, such as by posting a prominent notice on our Website.

We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies and related technologies.

13. Related Policies

This Cookie Policy forms part of our broader approach to data privacy and should be read in conjunction with:

14. Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this Cookie Policy, or about how we use cookies and similar technologies on our Website, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all inquiries within five (5) business days.