Cookie policy
Cookies we set and what they do. Effective Date: June 15, 2026
1. INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE
We believe in being clear and open about how we collect and use data related to you. This Cookie Policy is part of TrustRating.ai’s Privacy Policy and covers the use of cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar tracking technologies between your device and our website. When we say “TrustRating.ai”, “TrustRating”, “we”, “our”, or “us”, we mean TrustRating.ai. When we say “website” or “platform”, we mean all of TrustRating.ai’s websites, applications, dashboards, and embedded review widgets.
2. WHAT ARE COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES?
- Cookies: A cookie is a small text file containing a string of alphanumeric characters that is downloaded and stored on your computer, smartphone, or tablet when you visit a website. They allow the platform to uniquely identify your browser or device, remember your configurations, and assist our automated systems in recognizing your logged-in session.
- Web Beacons and Pixels: These are tiny graphic objects with a unique identifier embedded invisibly on web pages or within our automated system notifications and review invitations. They help us track user engagement, analyze traffic spikes, and monitor whether our transactional emails are being opened.
3. HOW WE USE COOKIES (AI + HUMAN OVERVIEW)
TrustRating.ai uses these tracking technologies to deliver a personalized user experience, optimize performance, and enforce strict directory integrity through our hybrid moderation model:
- Algorithmic Security: Our proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning tools analyze incoming cookie metadata to automatically detect fraudulent patterns, flag multi-account review generation farms, and block automated scrapers or bots attempting to mine site ratings.
- Human Oversight Data: When a review or account is flagged as suspicious by our cookie tracking systems, our human compliance team manually inspects the metadata context to resolve false positives and verify the platform's operational fairness.
4. CATEGORIES OF COOKIES WE USE
We deploy cookies across four main categories, which are regularly updated on our technical inventory list to reflect operational changes:
- Strictly Necessary Cookies: These are required for the core technical operation of our platform. They enable you to securely log into your business or reviewer account, navigate our directory, and utilize our verification pipelines. The platform cannot function correctly without these.
- Analytical and Performance Cookies: These cookies collect aggregated data regarding how visitors navigate TrustRating.ai. They count page visits, track average session times, measure referral URLs, and run diagnostic performance logs so we can improve site speed and interface accessibility.
- Functionality Cookies: Used to recognize you when you return to our website. This enables our platform to remember your saved dashboard preferences, auto-fill your regional language preferences, and retain your half-completed review forms.
- Targeting and Advertising Cookies: These track your digital journey across our site, the review content you read, and the brand domains you click. We utilize this information to map out relevant business recommendations or display tailored advertising elements that match your localized business interests.
5. MANAGING AND DISABLING COOKIES
You maintain full autonomy over your data tracking preferences. You can adjust, restrict, or wipe clean your tracking permissions using the following mechanisms:
- Browser Settings: Most web browsers accept cookies by default. However, you can access your specific browser preference panel (e.g., Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox) to block third-party cookies or delete existing storage tracks completely. Please be aware that disabling essential tracking elements may break core components of our user-generated content submission tools or block your dashboard login sessions.
- Platform Control Banner: Upon your initial entry to TrustRating.ai, our privacy preference banner allows you to selectively choose which non-essential cookies (such as analytics or targeting tags) you consent to deploy during your visit.
6. DISCLAIMER REGARDING THIRD-PARTY WIDGETS
Businesses that claim profiles on TrustRating.ai frequently copy and embed our star score widgets onto their independent corporate web domains. While our core tracking code remains safe and compliant, we do not control how those external business entities deploy additional third-party tracking scripts or manage data collection on their private platforms. Users are encouraged to review individual merchant policies when executing commercial decisions.
7. CHANGES TO THIS COOKIE POLICY
We maintain a centralized cookie master list that is regularly updated to reflect modifications to our software infrastructure, new analytics providers, or updated regulatory frameworks. Any adjustments will be transparently timestamped with an updated Effective Date at the top of this page. Your ongoing use of our website or directory platforms serves as your acceptance of these operational updates.
8. CONTACT US
If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy, our data collection protocols, or how our hybrid verification systems analyze technical metadata, please reach out directly to our compliance desk: