Cookies and browser storage
Last updated 30 October 2026. Every single thing this site stores in your browser, in plain words.
The short version. We use first-party cookies for sign-in, referrals and aggregate usage measurement. No advertising or third-party analytics. A few small settings, such as your language, are kept in your own browser and never sent to us. Nobody else puts cookies on hellojames.io. If you arrive through a friend's invite link, a second small cookie remembers who invited you; see below.
1. Cookies
| Name | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
js | Keeps you signed in after you open the sign-in link we email you, so you do not have to sign in again on every page. It holds a random code, not your name or email. It cannot be read by scripts on the page (HttpOnly) and is only sent over an encrypted connection (Secure). | Until you sign out, or 7 days |
jref | Set only when you open a friend's invite link (hellojames.io/?ref=...). It holds their short invite code and nothing about you, so the invite can be counted if you create an account. | 30 days |
This cookie is strictly necessary: without it, signing in would not work. The law allows strictly necessary cookies without asking for consent, which is why our notice only informs you and has a single "Got it" button. If you have not signed in, this cookie is not set at all.
The jref cookie exists only for the invite programme. It is never set if you come to the site any other way, it is not used for tracking or advertising, and you can delete it in your browser at any time.
2. Settings kept in your browser
Some small settings are kept in your browser's "local storage". This is not a cookie: it is never sent to our server with your requests, and no one else can read it. It simply lets the site remember your choices on this device.
| Name | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
ui_lang | The language you picked for the site, so you do not have to pick it again. | Until you clear it |
ck_seen | Remembers that you have seen the cookie notice, so it does not appear every time. | Until you clear it |
On the companion and setup pages, a few more settings are kept the same way:
| Name | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
james_face | Whether you switched James's moving face on or off. | Until you clear it |
james_gain | The volume level you set for James's voice. | Until you clear it |
james_notify | Whether you were already asked about notifications, so you are not asked again. | Until you clear it |
james_last_seen | The time this device last opened the companion page, so James can greet you sensibly. It stays on the device. | Until you clear it |
james_signup_v1 | A draft of the setup form, so nothing is lost if the page is closed half way. It can include what you typed about the person. It stays on this device and is removed when setup is finished. | Until setup is finished |
signup_started | The time setup was started on this device. | Until setup is finished |
james_tool_timings | How long James's lookups took on this device, used to keep his replies smooth. | Until you clear it |
If you set James up on a shared computer, you may want to clear the browser's site data afterwards. Section 6 explains how.
3. What we do not use
- No analytics cookies, and no analytics service of any kind.
- No advertising cookies, tracking pixels or social network buttons.
- No third-party trackers. No other company sets cookies on hellojames.io.
- No requests to Google Fonts or any other font service. Our fonts are stored on our own server, so loading a page tells no one else that you visited.
4. How we count visits without cookies
To know whether the site helps people, our own server keeps a simple daily count of a few steps: the home page was opened, "try now" was pressed, a demo started, a demo lasted two minutes or more, a sign-in link was sent, someone signed in, a companion was created, a subscription was paid.
It stores only the date, the step and a number. It uses no cookie and no browser storage, and it keeps no IP address and no identifier of any kind. It cannot tell who you are or follow you from one step to the next.
5. When you pay: Stripe's cookies
When you subscribe, you are taken to Stripe's secure checkout page at checkout.stripe.com, and to Stripe's billing page when you manage or cancel your subscription. Those pages belong to Stripe, our payment provider. Stripe sets its own cookies there, mainly to keep payments secure and prevent fraud. They are set on Stripe's website, not on ours, and are covered by Stripe's cookie policy.
6. How to remove them
Signing out removes the sign-in cookie straight away. You can also delete everything this site has stored, cookie and settings together, in your browser's settings, usually under "Privacy" and then "Cookies and site data", by removing the data for hellojames.io. If you do, you will need to sign in again and pick your language again. Nothing else changes, and James's memory is not affected, because that is kept safely on our server, not in your browser.
7. Questions
Write to privacy@hellojames.io. How we handle personal data in general is in the privacy policy. Who we are is on the imprint page.
First-party usage measurement
The random jfv cookie lasts 30 days. We use it to count unique visitors through demo, sign-in and subscription steps, linking it to your account when you sign in. No IP address, email or third-party tracker is stored in the funnel. This browser identifier is sent only to James.