Legal
Cookie Policy
Last updated: August 30, 2026
The short version. This site keeps your cart and your age confirmation in your own browser, and sets one first-party cookie so your visit stays consistent between pages. We use Google Analytics to measure aggregate traffic, configured so that it cannot be used for advertising — and it is switched off entirely if your browser asks us not to track you. There are no advertising, remarketing, or cross-site tracking technologies here, and we do not sell or share what we collect. The complete inventory is below.
What cookies and similar technologies are
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store and send back on later visits. Related technologies do similar jobs: localStorage keeps data in your browser until you clear it, and pixels or tags are small pieces of code that report activity back to a server. This policy covers all of them, and forms part of our Privacy Policy.
First-party means set by us, on our domain. Third-party means set by another company. We use the categories below:
- Strictly necessary — required for the site to function, such as keeping your cart and honoring the age gate. These cannot be switched off without breaking the site, and we do not need your consent to use them.
- Functional — remember preferences to improve your experience.
- Analytics — help us understand aggregate traffic and performance. We use Google Analytics 4 for this, and nothing else; see the inventory below.
- Advertising and targeting — we do not use any. There is no ad pixel, no remarketing tag, and no cross-site tracking on this site.
Complete inventory
This is every cookie and browser storage key associated with this site. We keep it current as part of our development process rather than as an annual review.
| Name | Type | Category | Set by | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| empti:cart-v1 | localStorage | Strictly necessary | Empti (first party) | Holds the contents of your shopping cart — the products, variants, and quantities you selected — so your cart survives page loads and return visits. Stored only in your browser; it is not sent to us until you begin checkout. | Until you clear your cart or clear site data |
| empti-cart-count | sessionStorage | Strictly necessary | Empti (first party) | Stores the number of items in your cart so the header cart badge renders immediately, before the full cart loads. Session-scoped and cleared when you close the tab. | Until you close the browser tab |
| empti:tax-exemption-v1 | localStorage | Functional | Empti (first party) | Retains a sales-tax exemption application you started at checkout, including the resale or exemption certificate number you entered, so you do not have to re-enter it. Stored only in your browser. | Until you reset the application or clear site data |
| empti:recent-searches | localStorage | Functional | Empti (first party) | Remembers your recent search terms so they can be offered as shortcuts the next time you search. Stored only in your browser and never sent to us. | Until you clear site data |
| empti-announcement-dismissed | sessionStorage | Functional | Empti (first party) | Records that you closed the announcement banner at the top of the page so it stays closed. Session-scoped and cleared when you close the tab. | Until you close the browser tab |
| empti-age-verified | localStorage | Strictly necessary | Empti (first party) | Records that you confirmed you are 21 or older so the age confirmation screen is not shown on every page. Stores only a version flag — no date of birth, name, or identifier. | Until you clear site data |
| session | Cookie | Strictly necessary | Empti (first party) | A signed, HTTP-only cookie our storefront platform uses to keep your visit consistent across page requests — for example, to carry a form result through a redirect. It holds no cart contents, no account, and no advertising identifier, and it is not used to track you across other websites. | Until you close the browser or clear site data |
| _ga | Cookie | Analytics | Google LLC, set as a first-party cookie on empti.com | Assigns your browser a random identifier so Google Analytics can count you as one returning visitor rather than a new one on each visit, and report how people move through the site in aggregate. It holds no name, email address, or advertising identifier. We have turned off Google Signals and ad personalization, so this data is not used to build an advertising profile or to follow you to other websites. | 2 years from your most recent visit |
| _ga_5M7MKER1CC | Cookie | Analytics | Google LLC, set as a first-party cookie on empti.com | Keeps the state of your current Google Analytics session — when it started and how many pages you have viewed — so a single visit is not counted as several. Because it is set on empti.com rather than on one subdomain, continuing to checkout is recorded as the same visit instead of a new one. | 2 years from your most recent visit |
| Shopify checkout cookies | Cookie | Strictly necessary | Shopify Inc. | When you proceed to checkout you are handed off to Shopify, which sets its own cookies on its own domain to maintain your checkout session and process payment. These are governed by Shopify’s privacy policy, not ours. | Set and controlled by Shopify |
Apart from the analytics cookies listed above, we use no advertising, remarketing, social media, session recording, heat mapping, or fingerprinting technology. If we add anything to this list, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date before it goes live, and we will add a consent mechanism where the law requires one.
A note on analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages and products people look at, how they reach us, and where the buying process breaks down. It records page views, searches, cart activity, checkout starts, and form submissions — as counts and patterns, not as a dossier on you. We do not send it your name, email address, or anything you type into a form, and we do not use it for session recording, heat mapping, or fingerprinting.
Three deliberate choices limit what this can become, and they are enforced in our code rather than only in a settings screen:
- Google Signals and ad personalization are off. This is what keeps the data out of advertising and keeps our commitment not to share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising accurate.
- Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track are respected before anything loads. If your browser sends either signal, Google Analytics is never loaded and no analytics cookie is set.
- The analytics cookie is not linked to your account or your order. It is a random identifier for a browser, and we do not join it to your customer record.
Our hosting provider also keeps standard server logs of requests, described in our Privacy Policy. If we add another analytics or measurement product, this page and the "Last updated" date will change before it goes live.
Checkout is handled by Shopify
When you proceed to checkout you are handed off to Shopify, which sets its own cookies on its own domain to maintain your session and process payment. We do not control those cookies and cannot switch them off; without them, checkout cannot work. Shopify's own cookie and privacy policies govern them.
How to control cookies
We do not show a consent banner. Every cookie we set is either strictly necessary or, in the case of analytics, honors your browser’s Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal automatically — so the opt-out happens without you having to click through a dialog on arrival. You also remain in full control through your browser.
Every major browser lets you view, block, and delete cookies and clear site data:
- Chrome — Settings → Privacy and security → Third-party cookies, and Settings → Privacy and security → Delete browsing data
- Safari — Settings → Privacy, and Safari → Clear History
- Firefox — Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
- Edge — Settings → Cookies and site permissions
You can also use your browser's private or incognito mode, which discards cookies and local storage when you close the window.
What breaks if you block them. Clearing or blocking localStorage empties your cart and brings back the age confirmation screen on your next visit, because both are kept there rather than on our servers. Blocking the session cookie can cause a form result or notice to be lost when a page redirects. Blocking the analytics cookies changes nothing about how the site works for you — it only removes you from our aggregate counts. None of this is harmful, and all of it resolves once you allow the storage again.
Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, or has Do Not Track enabled, we do not load Google Analytics and no analytics cookie is set — the check runs before the analytics code is requested, not after. Everything else on the site continues to work normally. We run no cross-site tracking and do not sell or share personal information, so there is nothing further for these signals to switch off.
Changes and contact
We will update this policy when our use of cookies or similar technologies changes, and we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of the page. For questions about this policy or about anything in the inventory, email support@empti.com or use our contact form.