Cookie & Tracking Technologies Policy
Effective date: October 16, 2026 | Last updated: October 16, 2026 | Read together with our Privacy Policy
3.1 What this policy covers
This Cookie & Tracking Technologies Policy explains how Wellington Auto Service uses cookies, pixels, tags, local storage, and similar technologies on [WellingtonAutoService.com], what they do, and how you can control them. It supplements our Privacy Policy. Where this policy says “we,” it includes the third-party providers — such as Google, Meta, and our hosting platform — whose technologies we deploy on the Site.
3.2 What these technologies are
- Cookies are small text files placed on your device that allow a site or a third party to recognize your browser, remember settings, and measure activity.
- Pixels (web beacons) and tags are small pieces of code or invisible images that load when a page or action occurs, sending information to the provider that served them — this is how the Meta Pixel and Google’s advertising and measurement tags operate.
- Local storage and SDK identifiers store information in your browser or app, including a generated device or advertising identifier.
- Server logs record requests to our server, including IP address, browser, and the page requested.
Cookies are either “session” cookies (deleted when you close your browser) or “persistent” cookies (which remain for a set period), and either “first-party” (set by us) or “third-party” (set by a provider whose service we use).
3.3 Categories of cookies and tracking we use
Category | Purpose | Consent required? |
Strictly necessary | Core site functionality and security: loading pages, delivering content, protecting forms from spam and abuse, remembering your cookie choices, load balancing, and preventing fraud. | No — these are needed to operate the Site. |
Functional | Remembering your preferences and improving usability, including remembering form progress, preferred location, and embedded-service settings. | Yes, where not strictly necessary. |
Analytics / performance | Understanding how visitors use the Site — pages viewed, traffic sources, device types, and interactions — so we can improve the Site and measure our marketing. Primarily Google Analytics 4. | Yes, where required by law. |
Advertising / marketing | Measuring the performance of our ads, building and targeting audiences, remarketing to past visitors, and limiting how often you see an ad. Includes the Meta Pixel, Google Ads tags and the Google Ads conversion linker, and any other platforms we use. | Yes, where required by law. |
Social, embedded content, and scheduling | Enabling embedded reviews, maps, video, social feeds, and our online scheduling or chat/AI-assistant widgets, which may set their own cookies and receive your IP address and interaction data. | Yes, where not strictly necessary. |
3.4 Cookies you may encounter
The table below lists the cookies and identifiers typically set on a site configured like ours. Cookie names, durations, and providers can change when vendors update their services, so treat this as representative and refer to the linked provider policies for authoritative detail.
Name | Set by | Category | Typical duration | What it does |
_ga, _ga_<container-id> | Google Analytics 4 (first party) | Analytics | Up to 2 years (configurable) | Distinguishes users and sessions so we can measure site traffic and behavior. |
_gid | Google Analytics (legacy) | Analytics | 24 hours | Distinguishes users for a short period (where legacy tags remain active). |
_gcl_au, _gcl_aw | Google Ads / conversion linker (first party) | Advertising | Up to 90 days | Links ad clicks and form/call conversions to the Google Ads campaign that produced them. |
IDE, NID, _gads | Google (third party) | Advertising | Up to 13 months or more | Ad delivery, frequency capping, and remarketing across Google’s network. |
_fbp, _fbc | Meta (first party cookie set by the Meta Pixel) | Advertising | Up to 90 days | Identifies your browser to Meta for campaign measurement, audience building, and remarketing on Facebook and Instagram. |
Consent preference cookie, e.g. cookie_consent | Us / our consent platform | Strictly necessary | Up to 12 months | Records which categories you accepted or rejected so we do not re-ask on every page. |
Security and CDN cookies, e.g. __cf_bm | Our hosting / CDN provider | Strictly necessary | Minutes to hours | Distinguishes human visitors from bots and protects the Site from abuse. |
Third-party widget cookies | Review platform, map provider, scheduling or chat/AI provider | Functional / Analytics | Varies | Enables the embedded widget to display reviews, maps, availability, or chat, and may measure widget use. |
3.5 Consent, the cookie banner, and Google Consent Mode v2
For visitors in the United States and other regions without a prior-consent requirement, the Site loads analytics and advertising technologies by default and gives you a clear, persistent way to opt out — through the cookie banner, the controls in Section 3.6, and by sending a Global Privacy Control signal. For visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, the Site asks for your consent before any non-essential cookie or tag loads, and no analytics or advertising cookies are set unless you agree.
We use a consent management tool and Google Consent Mode v2 so that Google tags adjust their behavior to your choices — for example, when you decline analytics or advertising cookies, the corresponding Google tags operate in a consent-denied state and do not write advertising or analytics identifiers to your device. Declining non-essential cookies does not prevent you from using the Site or from contacting or visiting our shop.
3.6 How to manage cookies
- Our banner: change or withdraw your choices at any time using the “Cookie settings” or “Privacy choices” link in the Site footer.
- Your browser: all major browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and mobile browsers) let you view, block, and delete cookies in their settings or preferences. Blocking all cookies may affect Site functionality.
- Global Privacy Control: set your browser or a supported extension to send the GPC signal and we will treat it as an opt-out of sharing/targeted advertising for that browser.
- Mobile devices: use your device’s privacy settings to limit ad tracking and reset or delete your advertising identifier; also check the in-app ad settings of the social platforms you use.
3.7 Opting out of interest-based advertising
In addition to the controls above, you can limit interest-based advertising with these industry tools and provider settings:
- Digital Advertising Alliance WebChoices opt-out tool: optout.aboutads.info.
- Google: manage personalized advertising in Google Ads Settings, and learn about Google’s advertising technologies at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. Google also offers an “Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on” for Google Analytics specifically.
- Meta: adjust how Meta uses information for advertising in Meta Ad Preferences.
Opting out of interest-based advertising does not mean you will stop seeing ads — you may still see our ads, but they will be less tailored to you. Opt-outs are typically tied to a specific browser or device.
3.8 Do Not Track
We do not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals because there is no consistent industry interpretation of them. We do honor the Global Privacy Control signal, as described in Section 3.6 and in our Privacy Policy.
3.9 How long cookie data lasts, and changes to this policy
Cookies last for the periods shown in Section 3.4 or until you delete them. Information collected through cookies is retained for the periods described in the “How long we keep personal information” section of our Privacy Policy. We may update this policy when we add or remove a tool; the “Last updated” date above will change, and material changes will be announced on the Site.
3.10 Contact
Questions about cookies or tracking: Wellington Auto Service, 3103 Fortune Way #1, Wellington, Florida 33414 · (561) 790-2886 · info@wellingtonautoservice.com.