Cookie Policy
Last Updated: March 20, 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how DriveSage ("we," "our," or "us") uses cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our website. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them.
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners to make their websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, DriveSage) are called "first-party cookies." Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called "third-party cookies." Third-party cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g., advertising, interactive content, and analytics). The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your computer both when it visits the website in question and when it visits certain other websites.
2. Why Do We Use Cookies?
We use first-party and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our website to operate, and we refer to these as "essential" or "strictly necessary" cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our website. Third parties serve cookies through our website for analytics, personalization, and advertising purposes.
3. Types of Cookies We Use
3.1. Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential for enabling user movement around our website and providing access to features such as secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and they can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| next-auth.session-token | Authentication session management (NextAuth.js) | 30 days |
| next-auth.csrf-token | CSRF protection for form submissions | Session |
| next-auth.callback-url | Stores redirect URL during authentication flow | Session |
3.2. Performance and Functionality Cookies
These cookies are used to enhance the performance and functionality of our website. They help us remember your preferences and settings. They may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages.
DriveSage currently uses browser local storage rather than cookies for functionality preferences such as recent vehicle searches, cookie consent choices, and tutorial progress. See the Local Storage section below for details.
3.3. Analytics and Customization Cookies
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website for you.
Google Tag Manager (GTM) — We use Google Tag Manager as a tag management system to deploy and manage analytics and marketing scripts on our website. GTM itself does not collect personal data, but it enables other tools (such as Google Ads and conversion tracking) to function. GTM is only loaded if you have accepted analytics cookies via our cookie banner. GTM may set cookies related to the tags it manages.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics (via GTM) — Distinguishes unique users | 2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics (via GTM) — Distinguishes unique users | 24 hours |
Microsoft Clarity — We use Microsoft Clarity to understand how users interact with our website. Clarity records anonymised session replays including mouse movements, clicks, scrolling behaviour, and page content. Clarity may set cookies such as _clck and _clsk to distinguish users and track sessions. These cookies are only set if you have accepted analytics cookies via our cookie banner.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _clck | Microsoft Clarity — Persists the Clarity user ID | 1 year |
| _clsk | Microsoft Clarity — Connects page views into a single session | 1 day |
| CLID | Microsoft Clarity — Identifies returning users | 1 year |
Google Ads (gtag.js) — We use the Google Ads tag to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns and track conversions. Google may set cookies to attribute sign-ups and purchases to specific ad interactions.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | Google Ads — Stores conversion information | 90 days |
Google AdSense — We use Google AdSense to display relevant advertisements. AdSense may set cookies to serve ads based on your browsing activity.
Vercel Analytics & Speed Insights — These are first-party analytics services that do not set cookies. They collect anonymised page view and performance data to help us monitor site speed and usage patterns.
3.4. Marketing and Advertising Cookies
These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.
Meta Pixel (Facebook) — We use the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram. The Pixel tracks page views and conversion events (such as sign-ups and purchases) to help us understand which ads drive results. The Pixel is only loaded if you have accepted marketing cookies via our cookie banner.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _fbp | Meta Pixel — Identifies browsers for ad attribution | 3 months |
4. How Can You Control Cookies?
You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functionality and areas of our website may be restricted. For more information on how to control your cookie settings and browser settings, please visit the following links:
In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. For more information, please visit:
5. Cookie Preferences
When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner that allows you to accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer of our website.
Essential cookies cannot be disabled using the cookie preferences tool, as they are necessary for the functioning of our website.
6. Other Tracking Technologies
Cookies are not the only way to recognize or track visitors to a website. We may use other, similar technologies from time to time, like web beacons (sometimes called "tracking pixels" or "clear gifs"). These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that enable us to recognize when someone has visited our website or opened an e-mail that we have sent them. This allows us, for example, to monitor the traffic patterns of users from one page within our website to another, to deliver or communicate with cookies, to understand whether you have come to our website from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website, to improve site performance, and to measure the success of e-mail marketing campaigns. In many instances, these technologies are reliant on cookies to function properly, and so declining cookies will impair their functioning.
7. Local Storage
We also use "local storage" to store data locally on your device. Local storage enables our website to remember your preferences, settings, and certain user data (such as recent vehicle searches) to improve your experience and make future visits more efficient. Unlike cookies, local storage data is not automatically transferred to the server with each request. The data in local storage persists until explicitly deleted or until the storage limit is reached.
Our website uses local storage for the following purposes:
- Storing your cookie consent preferences
- Storing recently viewed vehicle information
- Saving draft comparisons
- Preserving your Car Match Chat conversation history
- Tracking tutorial completion and quiz dismissal status
- Free check eligibility flags for anonymous users
8. Do Not Track
Currently, our systems do not recognize browser "Do Not Track" signals. However, you can disable certain tracking as discussed in this Cookie Policy or by using the cookie preferences tool on our website.
9. Changes to This Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.
The date at the top of this Cookie Policy indicates when it was last updated.
10. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please contact us at:
DriveSage Support
Email: drivesagehelp@gmail.com