About Cookies (and similar technologies)
A cookie is a small text file that is automatically sent to your device where it is stored by your web browser on your device. The cookie stores a unique identifier (a string of random characters) so that your browser can be distinguished from others and are often used to link your browser to databases that hold data about your usage and inferred interests, along with other data such as your IP address.
They are used for various functions — from enabling the websites and web applications to work, by recognizing the same user as they navigate from one page to another; to analyzing what content is viewed and is popular, through to personalizing content based on browsing behavior and interests.
Cookies are either stored for the duration of your visit (a “session cookie”) or they will remain on your device for a fixed period (sometimes several months, or longer) to remember you across multiple browsing sessions (a “persistent cookie”).
Tracking via Apps
Companies are unable to use cookies within Mobile Apps. Instead, they use unique identifiers associated with your device, such as the device Advertising ID (a random and resettable ID on your device), and other data such as your geo-location or your network location. This data is used in the same way as cookies, e.g., to analyze and improve services.
How we use cookies on our services
When you use our website, web applications and/or use our mobile application to access our products and services or view the information we make available, a number of cookies are used by us and by third parties to allow the website/web application to function, to collect useful information about visitors and to help to make your user experience better.
Some of the cookies we use are strictly necessary for our services to function, and we do not ask for your consent to place these on your computer. However, we will notify you that these cookies have been placed on your device. These cookies are shown below.
| Cookie name |
Purpose |
Further information / expires |
| __ga | Google Analytics | 2 years |
| __ga__* | Google Analytics | 2 years |
| __gat__* | Google Analytics | 1 minute |
| __gid | Google Analytics | 1 day |
| __gali | Google Analytics | 2 years |
| *__mixpanel | Mixpanel | 1 year |
Table 1: Cookies (strictly necessary)
For those cookies that are useful but not strictly necessary, we will always ask for your consent before placing them. These cookies support functionality that improves your experience or provides features you have requested. These are shown below:
| Cookie name |
Purpose |
Further information / expires |
| auth | Allows user to “remember me” so they don’t need to confirm their email address on that device. | 30 days |
| persisted_actions | Local storage — saved user state | Never |
Table 2: Cookies (functional and performance)
As well as the cookies we use, we use a number of specialist companies to help us to run our services effectively and to provide some other functionalities such as payments, analytics or social media platform integration (a “third party cookie”). These third-party cookies are also placed on your device, again with your consent. These are shown below:
| Cookie name |
Purpose |
Further information / expires |
| __stripe_mid | Stripe fraud detection | 1 year |
| __stripe_sid | Stripe fraud detection | 30 minutes |
| _ga | Affinipay payments cookie | 1 year |
| _ga_HEDKE9PLZR | Affinipay payments cookie | 1 year |
| _mkto_trk | Affinipay payments cookie | 1 year |
| _gid | Affinipay payments cookie | Deleted when the session ends |
| NID | Google settings and ad preferences | 60 seconds |
| AEC | Google security | 6 months |
| 1P_JAR | Google analytics | 30 days |
| DV | Google user preferences | 30 minutes |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Google reCAPTCHA | 6 months |
| ln_or | Facebook advertising | Deleted when the session ends |
| lidc | LinkedIn advertising | Deleted when the session ends |
| li_sugr | LinkedIn advertising | 3 months |
| lang | LinkedIn language settings | Deleted when the session ends |
| ipv6 | Bing advertising | Deleted when the session ends |
| fr | Facebook advertising | 3 weeks |
| expor | Google | Deleted when the session ends |
| datr | Facebook advertising | 6 months |
| bcookie | LinkedIn security | Deleted when the session ends |
| _uetvid | Bing advertising | 3 weeks |
| _uetsid | Bing advertising | Deleted when the session ends |
| _gid | Google | Deleted when the session ends |
| _gcl_au | Google | 3 months |
| _ga_3169FMG4VW | Google analytics | 1 year |
| _ga | Google analytics | 1 year |
| _fbp | Facebook | 3 months |
| _dc_gtm_UA-29890259-1 | Google analytics | Deleted when the session ends |
| __stripe_mid | Stripe fraud detection | 1 year |
| __gsas | .google.com | 1 year |
| __Secure-3PSIDTS | Google advertising | 1 year |
| __Secure-3PSIDCC | Google advertising | 1 year |
| __Secure-3PSID | Google advertising | 1 year |
| __Secure-3PAPISID | Google advertising | 1 year |
| _UR | Bing advertising | 1 year |
| _SS | Bing advertising | Deleted when the session ends |
| _HPVN | Bing advertising | 1 year |
| UserMatchHistory | LinkedIn | 1 month |
| TDID | Adsrvr advertising | 1 year |
| TDCPM | Adsrvr advertising | 1 year |
| SSID | Google advertising | 1 year |
| SRCHUSR | Bing advertising | 5 months |
| SRCHUID | Bing advertising | 5 months |
| SRCHHPGUSR | Bing advertising | 1 year |
| SRCHD | Bing advertising | 4 months |
| SIDCC | Google advertising | 1 year |
| SID | Google advertising | 1 year |
| SEARCH_SAMESITE | Google advertising | 5 months |
| SAPISID | Google advertising | 1 year |
| OTZ | Google advertising | 1 month |
| OGPC | Google advertising | 1 week |
| OGP | Google advertising | 1 week |
| NID | Google advertising | 6 months |
| MUID | Bing advertising — identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. Used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes. | 1 year |
| MR | Indicates whether to refresh MUID | 1 week |
| IDE | Doubleclick advertising | 1 month |
| HSID | Google advertising | 2 weeks |
| HSID | Google advertising | 1 month |
| BFBUSR | Bing advertising | 11 months |
| BFB | Bing advertising | 3 months |
| AnalyticsSyncHistory | LinkedIn analytics | 1 month |
| APISID | Google advertising | 1 month |
| AID | Google advertising | 1 year |
| AEC | Google advertising | 5 months |
| 1P_JAR | Google advertising | 1 month |
| _mfauth | Mouseflow | Deleted when the session ends |
| mf_# | Mouseflow — collects data on the user's navigation and interaction on the website to personalize the experience | Deleted when the session ends |
| __hssc | Mouseflow HubSpot integration | 1 day |
| _fbp | Mouseflow Meta integration | 3 months |
| intercom_device_id | Mouseflow Intercom integration | 8 months |
| mp_#_mixpanel | Mouseflow Mixpanel integration | 1 year |
| hubspotutk | Mouseflow HubSpot integration | 179 days |
| _hssrc | Mouseflow HubSpot integration | Deleted when the session ends |
| _gcl_au | Mouseflow Google AdSense integration | 3 months |
| intercom_id_# | Mouseflow Intercom integration | 8 months |
| ajs_anonymous_id | Segment analytics | 1 hour |
| ajs_user_id | Segment analytics | 1 hour |
| mf_user | Mouseflow | 3 months |
| _mflang | Mouseflow | 3 weeks |
| __hstc | Mouseflow HubSpot integration | 179 days |
| _mfsw | Mouseflow | 3 months |
| _clck | Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site, attributed to the same user ID | |
| _clsk | Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording | |
| CLID | Identifies the first time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity | |
| ANONCHK | Indicates whether MUID is transferred to ANID, a cookie used for advertising. Clarity doesn't use ANID, so this is always set to 0. | |
| SM | Used to synchronize the MUID across Microsoft domains | |
Table 3: Cookies (third parties)
Family Property Specific Cookies (AU and US only)
The below cookies are strictly required for FamilyProperty to work and to function without defects. The application will not work normally if these are not present and we do not ask for your consent to place these on your device.
| Cookie name |
Purpose |
Further information / expires |
| layout | The version of the menu layout | 2000 days |
| token | User token for authorization | 30 days |
| version | The version ID to indicate if the matter information is old | 2000 days |
| action | The action for the next step | Deleted when the session ends |
| client | The current client ID | 2000 days |
| courtEvent | The court event information | Deleted when the session ends |
| disclosureMatter | Save matter details for disclosure matters | 90 days |
| disclosureTour | Showing disclosure tour or not | 90 days |
| disclosureUser | User details of disclosure user | 90 days |
| dpcode | The passcode | Deleted when the session ends |
| embed | Indicating if the current mode is embed mode | 2000 days |
| enforce2fa | Redirecting user to enable 2FA or not | Deleted when the session ends |
| enforce2faRedirect | URLs for the user to enable 2FA | Deleted when the session ends |
| filenumber | The file number of the matter | Deleted when the session ends |
| force | Whether to use the user token provided in the querystring | Deleted when the session ends |
| intake | The current matter key | Deleted when the session ends |
| invite | The key of the invited account | Deleted when the session ends |
| invited | The invited user's email address | Deleted when the session ends |
| invites | The matter information when inviting the other side | Deleted when the session ends |
| jointbsSynced | The joint balance sheet sync information | Deleted when the session ends |
| lastKey | The last key for matter list pagination | Deleted when the session ends |
| login | Indicating if the user has smart form access | 2000 days |
| maintenance | Whether the user has dismissed the maintenance information or not | 2000 days |
| menu | Indicating the display of the left hand menu | Deleted when the session ends |
| msg | Indicating a message for the system to display | Deleted when the session ends |
| nbsetup | The neutral balance sheet set up information | Deleted when the session ends |
| newNBS | Whether to create a new proposals balance sheet or not | 2000 days |
| notifications | The latest notification updated time | 2000 days |
| ocrauth | Whether the current account is OCR or not | 2000 days |
| playbook | The playbook information of the current matter | Deleted when the session ends |
| preaction | Whether the questionnaire has a pre-action section or not | 2000 days |
| redirect | The URL for the user to be redirected | Deleted when the session ends |
| scenario | Related to storing information on balance sheet version(s) | Deleted when the session ends |
| scenarios | Related to storing information on balance sheet version(s) | 2000 days |
| step | The current step information when saving forms | Deleted when the session ends |
| steps | The steps to define the questionnaire menu | 2000 days |
| switched | Whether the account was switched or not | Deleted when the session ends |
| tourBot | Whether to show the bot tour or not | 2000 days |
| tourClientPortal | Whether to show the client portal tour or not | 2000 days |
| tourListing | Whether to show the tour list or not | 2000 days |
| tourMatter | The matter tour information | 2000 days |
| tours | The tours of the current playbook | 2000 days |
| tourWSL | Indicates opening the tour for shareable link matters or not | Deleted when the session ends |
| training | The training information | Deleted when the session ends |
| widget | Indicates if the current mode is widget or not | Deleted when the session ends |
Table 4: FamilyProperty cookies (strictly necessary)
| Cookie name |
Purpose |
Further information / expires |
| __ga | Google Analytics | 2 years |
| __ga__* | Google Analytics | 2 years |
| __gat__* | Google Analytics | 1 minute |
| __gid | Google Analytics | 1 day |
| __gali | Google Analytics | 2 years |
| *__mixpanel | Mixpanel | 1 year |
Table 5: FamilyProperty cookies (optional)
Your choices
We will always ask for your prior consent for the use of cookies and other specialist technologies. We will ask for your consent again if any new types of cookies have been added since your last visit.
You can manage your cookie preferences by clicking on the Cookie Settings/Preferences link in the cookie consent notification or “change your consent”.
Your web browser or device may be set to accept cookies automatically, and only you can manage your browser or device settings. If you do not want personal data collected through the use of cookies, there is a setting on most browsers that allows you to block certain cookies. Please note that by blocking certain cookies, you may not be able to access important functions or take advantage of the improved website experience that cookies offer.
You can also choose how cookies (across all websites) are handled on your device via your browser settings, including to block or delete all cookies or just third-party cookies. Each browser manufacturer is different, so check the “Help” menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.
Some web browsers include the ability to transmit “Do Not Track” signals. Because uniform standards for “Do Not Track” have not been established, our websites are not currently configured to respond to these signals.
If you want to opt out of interest-based advertising, you may do so by clicking here.
Please note this does not completely opt you out of being served ads. You may continue to receive generic advertisements.
Updates to this Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in response to changing legal, regulatory, technical, or business developments. This Cookie Policy was last updated and approved on 18 August 2026.
How to contact us
If you have any questions or concerns about how we use cookies, please email us at infosec@smokeball.com.