Cookie Policy
We're transparent about how phorentavial.com tracks and collects data to make your budgeting experience better. This page explains what happens behind the scenes when you visit our site.
What Are Cookies Anyway?
Cookies are small text files that get saved to your device when you browse websites. Think of them as digital sticky notes that help websites remember who you are and what you were doing.
At phorentavial, we use these tracking technologies to keep your financial data secure, remember your preferences, and make sure the budgeting tools work smoothly. Some cookies stick around for months, while others disappear the moment you close your browser.
You're always in control. You can delete cookies, block them entirely, or pick and choose which ones you want to allow. Just know that turning them off might mean some features won't work as smoothly.
The Types of Tracking We Use
Not all cookies do the same job. Here's how we break them down at phorentavial.com:
Essential Cookies
These are the non-negotiables. They keep you logged in, protect your account from security threats, and make sure the site actually functions. Without them, you wouldn't be able to access your budget dashboard or save any changes.
Session-basedFunctional Cookies
These remember your choices so you don't have to set everything up again each time you visit. Things like your preferred currency display, dark mode settings, or which budget categories you've customized.
Up to 12 monthsAnalytics Cookies
We use these to understand how people actually use our budgeting tools. Which features get ignored? Where do people get stuck? This data helps us fix problems and build better tools for managing personal finances.
Up to 24 monthsMarketing Cookies
These track your journey across our site to show you relevant information about features you might find useful. We don't sell this data to third parties, but we do use it to understand what financial tools matter most to Australian households.
Up to 18 monthsHow Tracking Improves Your Experience
Here's the practical side of all this data collection. When you use phorentavial.com, tracking technologies help us:
- Keep your budget data synced across your phone and computer without you thinking about it
- Remember which spending categories matter most to your household budget
- Spot unusual patterns that might indicate security issues with your account
- Load your most-used features faster by caching them locally
- Show you educational resources that match your actual budgeting challenges
- Test new features with small groups before rolling them out to everyone
Last year, we used analytics data to discover that 63% of users were struggling with our expense categorization system. That feedback led to a complete redesign that launched in March 2025, making it way easier to track where your money actually goes.
Taking Control of Your Tracking Preferences
Every modern browser gives you tools to manage cookies. The exact steps vary, but you'll usually find these options in your browser's privacy or security settings.
You can block all cookies, allow only first-party cookies (from phorentavial.com directly), or review and delete cookies individually. Some browsers even offer "incognito" or "private" modes that automatically delete cookies when you close the window.
Most browsers also let you set exceptions, so you can block cookies generally but allow them for specific sites like phorentavial.com where you need them to work properly.
What Happens When You Block Cookies?
Your budgeting tools will still work, but you might lose some convenience features. You'll need to log in every time you visit, your preferences won't be saved, and some personalized recommendations won't appear. The core functionality stays intact though.
Data Retention and Storage
We don't keep tracking data forever. Different types of information have different lifespans based on what they're used for and what Australian privacy regulations require.
How Long We Keep Different Data Types
If you delete your phorentavial account entirely, we remove all associated tracking data within 30 days, except for basic transaction records we're legally required to keep for seven years under Australian tax law.
Third-Party Services
We work with a handful of external providers who help us run phorentavial.com more effectively. These services have their own tracking technologies that we don't directly control.
Our infrastructure partner hosts our servers in Sydney and uses basic analytics to maintain uptime and performance. We also use a fraud detection service that analyzes login patterns to protect your account from unauthorized access.
All third parties we work with are bound by contracts that require them to handle your data according to Australian Privacy Principles. They can't use your information for their own marketing or sell it to other companies.
Changes to This Policy
Technology changes fast, and so do privacy regulations. We update this cookie policy whenever we add new tracking methods or change how we handle your data.
When we make significant changes, we'll email active users and post a notice on your dashboard for at least 30 days. You can always find the current version of this policy on our website, with the effective date clearly marked at the top.
The last major update was in January 2025 when we added new functional cookies to support our recently launched mobile app synchronization feature.
Questions About Our Cookie Policy?
If something here doesn't make sense or you want more details about how we track and use data, get in touch. We're based in Dickson and actually respond to privacy questions.
Postal Address:
3 / 20 Challis Street
Dickson, Australian Capital Territory
Australia