Cookie Policy

1. 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 efficiently and to provide information to the website owner.

Cookies allow us to recognize your device on subsequent visits and remember certain information about your preferences and actions. They help us provide you with a consistent and secure experience across the WingZen platform.

2. Cookies We Use

WingZen uses essential cookies required for the platform to function, third-party cookies set by our payment processor for fraud prevention, and — with your explicit consent — analytics and advertising cookies from third-party services that help us improve the platform and measure our marketing.

2.1 Essential Session Cookies (First-Party)

These cookies are strictly necessary for the platform to operate. Without them, core features such as signing in and maintaining your session would not work. These cookies do not track you across other websites and are deleted when you close your browser or sign out.

• Authentication session cookie: Set by NextAuth.js when you sign in to your WingZen account. This cookie keeps you logged in as you navigate between pages and expires when your session ends or you sign out.
• CSRF protection token: A security cookie used to protect form submissions from cross-site request forgery attacks. This is set automatically on page load and is required for any authenticated action.

These cookies are set by WingZen directly (first-party cookies) and are never shared with or accessible to third parties.

2.2 Payment Processing Cookies (Third-Party)

When you visit pages that display a payment form (such as the checkout page), Stripe, Inc., our payment processor, may set cookies on your device for fraud detection and security purposes. These include:

• __stripe_mid: A Stripe device identifier cookie used to detect fraudulent payment activity. This is a persistent cookie.
• __stripe_sid: A Stripe session identifier cookie used for fraud detection during the current browsing session. This expires when you close your browser.

These are third-party cookies set directly by Stripe and are governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy. WingZen does not control these cookies. They are only set on pages where Stripe payment forms are displayed.

2.3 Analytics and Advertising Cookies (Third-Party, Consent Required)

When you accept analytics cookies via our consent banner, WingZen activates the following third-party tracking tools. These cookies are only set after you give explicit consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by clicking “Cookie Settings” in the site footer.

• _ga, _ga_* — Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC): Used to distinguish users and measure how visitors use the WingZen platform (pages visited, search behaviour, booking funnel steps). Retention: 2 years. Governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
• _clarity — Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Corporation): Used for session recordings and heatmaps to understand how users interact with pages (e.g., rage clicks, dead clicks, scroll depth). Recordings do not capture sensitive fields such as passwords or payment card numbers. Retention: 1 year. Governed by Microsoft's Privacy Statement.
• _fbp, _fbc — Meta Pixel (Meta Platforms, Inc.): Used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising on Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram) and to attribute conversions. These cookies are only active when you have also accepted advertising cookies. Retention: 90 days. Governed by Meta's Privacy Policy.

Analytics cookies are never activated for users who decline consent or who do not interact with the consent banner. WingZen does not use these cookies for cross-site behavioural advertising unrelated to our own platform.

3. Local Storage

In addition to cookies, WingZen uses your browser's local storage to remember certain preferences. Local storage items are not cookies and are not sent to our servers with each request, but we disclose them here for transparency.

• wz_cookie_consent: Stores your per-category cookie consent choices as a JSON object ({ "analytics": true, "advertising": false }). This is used to remember your consent decisions so that the banner is not shown again on subsequent visits, and to gate analytics and advertising tools accordingly. If this item is absent from local storage, the consent banner will be displayed again.

Local storage data persists until you clear your browser data or remove it manually via your browser's developer tools.

4. Legal Basis for Cookies

Under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), essential cookies that are strictly necessary for a service the user has explicitly requested are permitted without prior consent. WingZen's session cookies (Section 2.1) and Stripe's fraud prevention cookies (Section 2.2) fall under this exception, as they are required to provide the authentication and secure payment services you have requested.

WingZen uses analytics and advertising cookies (Section 2.3) on the basis of your explicit consent. These cookies are activated only after you click “Accept” on the cookie consent banner, or after you enable the relevant category in the Cookie Settings panel. Analytics and advertising cookies are not strictly necessary — you may decline or withdraw consent at any time without affecting your ability to use the platform. Consent can be withdrawn by clicking “Cookie Settings” in the site footer and updating your preferences.

5. How to Control Cookies

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie preferences through your web browser settings. Most browsers allow you to:

• View cookies stored on your device and delete them individually
• Block all cookies or cookies from specific websites
• Set your browser to notify you when a cookie is being set
• Browse in private or incognito mode, which does not retain cookies after the session ends

Please note that blocking essential session cookies will prevent you from signing in to your WingZen account and using authenticated features of the platform. Blocking Stripe cookies may prevent you from completing payment transactions. The ability to search for flights and view public pages does not require cookies.

For instructions on managing cookies in your specific browser, please refer to your browser's help documentation. Common browsers include Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, each of which provides cookie management settings under their privacy or security options.

6. Changes to This Policy

WingZen currently uses the categories of cookies described in Section 2 above. If we introduce additional categories of cookies in the future, we will update this Cookie Policy and obtain your consent where required by applicable law. We encourage you to review this page periodically. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

7. Contact Information

If you have questions about our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, please contact us:

Email: service@wingzen.com
Platform: WingZen, operated by WingZen Inc.

For more information about how we handle your personal data, please see our Privacy Policy. For information about our use of third-party service providers, see Section 4 of our Privacy Policy.