Legal

Cookies Policy

Effective May 23, 2026 · Last updated May 23, 2026

Working draft. This document is a starting draft prepared with care but should be reviewed by qualified legal counsel before being relied upon.

On this page

  1. 1. What cookies are
  2. 2. What we use on this site
  3. 3. Local browser storage
  4. 4. Third-party services
  5. 5. Future use (analytics, marketing)
  6. 6. How to manage cookies
  7. 7. Do Not Track
  8. 8. Changes to this policy
  9. 9. Contact

1. What cookies are

Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device to remember information about your visit. Similar technologies — such as local storage, session storage, and pixels — work the same way for our purposes, and we'll refer to all of them as "cookies" in this policy.

Cookies are usually classified by how long they last (session cookies expire when you close the browser; persistent cookies stay until they expire or you clear them) and who sets them (first-party by the site you're visiting; third-party by another service embedded on the page).

2. What we use on this site

beyondafrica.org is a static informational website. We currently do not set any first-party tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or analytics cookies on this site. The only data that touches our servers is the standard request log kept by our hosting provider (see our Privacy Policy for detail).

That said, our infrastructure provider (Vercel) may occasionally set strictly-necessary cookies for security, request routing, or abuse prevention. These are essential to operating the Site and cannot be meaningfully disabled without breaking the Site.

3. Local browser storage

The Pitch Competition application page uses your browser's localStorage to save your in-progress application draft so you can come back and resume. This data:

  • Stays on your device only — it is not transmitted to us until you submit;
  • Is stored under a key called ba-pitch-app-draft-v1;
  • Persists until you click "clear" on the application page, submit the form, or clear your browser data.

If you are on a shared or public computer, click "clear" before leaving, or use your browser's private/incognito mode to avoid leaving a draft behind.

4. Third-party services

When you click a link or interact with a service outside our site, that third party may set its own cookies under its own policy. The most common examples on BeyondAfrica:

  • Eventbrite (when you click a ticket button). Eventbrite handles the entire purchase flow on its own domain and sets cookies under its own policy: Eventbrite Cookie Statement.
  • Google Apps Script (when you submit the Pitch application form, the request goes to a Google Apps Script web app that writes to a Google Sheet and emails our applications inbox). Google may set cookies on the script.google.com domain under its own policy: Google's Cookie Policy.
  • Google Fonts (used by our site to render typography). Google Fonts loads CSS and font files from fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, the Fonts API does not set cookies, but your IP address is logged briefly for performance reasons.

5. Future use (analytics and marketing)

We may, in the future, add privacy-respecting analytics (for example, Plausible, Fathom, or Vercel Analytics) and lightweight conversion tracking. If we do, we will update this Cookies Policy in advance, describe what each tool collects, and — where required — request your consent before non-essential cookies are set.

6. How to manage cookies

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse all cookies, accept only first-party cookies, or be prompted before each cookie is set. Be aware that blocking strictly-necessary cookies may cause parts of this Site to stop working.

Quick links to common browser controls:

To clear local storage specifically (for the Pitch application draft), open your browser's developer tools, go to the Application or Storage panel, and remove the ba-pitch-app-draft-v1 key under beyondafrica.org. Or use the "clear" link directly on the application page.

7. Do Not Track

Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. Because there is no common industry standard for how to interpret DNT, we currently treat it as informational and do not change Site behavior based on it. We also do not engage in cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is no targeted tracking to opt out of on this Site.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this Cookies Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects when the most recent change was made. If we add new categories of cookies (for example, analytics or marketing), we will update this page and request consent where required by law.

9. Contact

Questions about cookies and tracking on this Site? Email privacy@beyondafrica.org.

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