Effective date: 15 May 2026
This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, which cookies Maxa Cloud Ltd t/a HostMaxa and our client area, and how you can control them. It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.
Contents
- What are cookies?
- How we manage cookie consent
- Strictly necessary cookies
- Functional cookies
- Analytics cookies
- Marketing cookies
- International transfers
- Managing your preferences
- Changes to this policy
- Contact us
1. What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They allow the website to recognize your device on subsequent visits, remember your preferences, measure how the site is used, and deliver relevant advertising. Cookies may be first-party (set by HostMaxa directly) or third-party (set by external services we use, such as Google or Meta). They may be session cookies (deleted when you close your browser) or persistent cookies (retained until they expire or you delete them).
Under EU law (the ePrivacy framework and GDPR), we are required to obtain your prior consent before placing any cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of our website.
2. How we manage cookie consent
We use Cloudflare Zaraz as our consent management and tag delivery platform. Zaraz is a server-side tool that runs on Cloudflare’s infrastructure and controls when third-party marketing and analytics tools are loaded; they are only activated after you have given your consent.
When you first visit HostMaxa website, a cookie consent banner appears at the bottom of the page. Your choices are recorded in a first-party cookie named cf_consent (see Section 3 below). From the banner you can:
- Accept All – enables analytics and marketing cookies in addition to strictly necessary cookies.
- Reject All – only strictly necessary cookies are placed. Analytics and marketing tools will not load.
- Save Choices – select individual categories using the checkboxes and save your preference.
Your consent preference is stored in the cf_consent cookie and enforced by Zaraz on every page load. You can change your preferences at any time – see Section 8.
Zaraz is configured to support Google Consent Mode v2, which means that if you decline analytics or advertising cookies, Google’s services will operate in a restricted, consent-aware mode with no personalized signals passed to Google.
3. Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential for our website and client area to function. They do not require your consent and cannot be disabled. Without them, core features such as logging in to your account, completing a purchase, or navigating our site securely would not work.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
cf_consent | HostMaxa / Cloudflare Zaraz | Stores your cookie consent preferences (which categories you have accepted or declined). Necessary to implement your choice and avoid re-displaying the banner on every visit. Contains a JSON object with true/false values per purpose category. | 1 year |
__cf_bm | Cloudflare | Bot management cookie. Distinguishes human visitors from automated bots to protect our website from malicious traffic and abuse. | 30 minutes |
cf_clearance | Cloudflare | Set after a visitor successfully completes a Cloudflare security challenge. Allows continued access without re-challenging on subsequent requests. | 1 year |
__cflb | Cloudflare | Load balancing cookie. Ensures requests within a single session are consistently directed to the same origin server. | Session |
PHPSESSID / session token | HostMaxa (Client Area portal) | Maintains your authenticated session in the Client Area portal (my.maxa.cloud). Contains only a random session identifier – no personal data is stored in the cookie itself. | Session |
hostbill_* (authentication cookies) | HostMaxa (Client Area portal) | Authentication state cookies used by the Client Area portal to maintain secure login status, support “keep me logged in” sessions, and manage two-factor authentication. | Session or up to 30 days (if “remember me” is selected) |
4. Functional cookies
Functional cookies allow our website to remember choices you make to provide a more personalized experience. They are not essential for the site to operate but improve usability. We ask for your consent before placing these cookies.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
comment_author_* | HostMaxa (Main Website) | Set when a visitor submits a comment on a blog post or article. Remembers the commenter’s name so it is pre-filled on their next visit. No account or registration is required to comment – this cookie applies to anonymous visitors only. The cookie contains only the name as entered in the comment form. | 1 year |
comment_author_email_* | HostMaxa (Main Website) | Set alongside comment_author_* when a comment is submitted. Remembers the commenter’s email address to pre-fill the comment form on return visits. The email address is not displayed publicly. | 1 year |
comment_author_url_* | HostMaxa (Main Website) | Set alongside comment_author_* when a comment is submitted. Remembers the commenter’s optional website URL to pre-fill the comment form on return visits. | 1 year |
Note: The comment_author_* cookies are only set if you choose to leave a comment on our website.
5. Analytics cookies
We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors interact with our website – for example, which pages are visited most, how long visitors stay, and where traffic originates. This helps us improve our website content and user experience. Analytics cookies are only placed if you have consented to the Analytics category.
GA4 is delivered through Cloudflare Zaraz, which processes analytics events server-side on Cloudflare’s infrastructure rather than loading tracking code directly from Google’s servers. This means your IP address is not passed directly to Google – Zaraz handles the request first. We have also enabled the Hide Originating IP Address setting in Zaraz, so your real IP address is never sent to Google at all.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | The primary Google Analytics cookie. Contains a randomly generated client ID used to distinguish unique visitors and calculate session and campaign data for analytics reports. | 2 years |
_ga_* | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | GA4 property-specific session cookie. Maintains session state and persists campaign information across page views. The suffix corresponds to our GA4 measurement ID. | 2 years |
_ga4 | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | Zaraz-specific GA4 visitor identifier used when GA4 is managed through Cloudflare Zaraz. | 2 years |
_ga4sid | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | Zaraz-specific session identifier for GA4. Tracks the current session for accurate session-level reporting. | 30 minutes |
_ga4s | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | Auxiliary Zaraz GA4 session cookie used for session management and event deduplication when GA4 events are processed server-side. | 30 minutes |
cf_zaraz_google-analytics_v4 | Cloudflare Zaraz / Google | Internal Zaraz tool state cookie confirming that the GA4 tool has been activated for this session, used by Zaraz’s consent enforcement system. | Session |
Google Analytics data is aggregated. We do not use GA4 to build advertising audiences – that function is disabled. As Google Analytics data is processed on servers in the United States, an international transfer takes place – see Section 7. Google’s privacy practices are described in their Privacy Policy.
6. Marketing cookies
We use marketing cookies to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns on Google and Facebook/Instagram. These cookies record whether a visitor arrived from one of our ads and whether they subsequently completed an action such as signing up for a hosting plan. Marketing cookies are only placed if you have consented to the Marketing category. Like our analytics tools, they are delivered through Cloudflare Zaraz and will not fire unless consent has been given.
Google Ads
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_gcl_au | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | Google Ads conversion linker cookie. Stores and tracks conversion events by linking ad clicks to on-site actions, enabling Google Ads to measure which ads lead to sign-ups or purchases. | 90 days |
_gac_* | Google (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | Google Ads campaign cookie. Records the Google Ads click that brought a visitor to the site, used for advertising attribution reporting. | 90 days |
You can manage your Google advertising preferences at adssettings.google.com. Google’s privacy practices are described in their Privacy Policy.
Facebook / Meta Pixel
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_fbp | Meta (via Cloudflare Zaraz) | Facebook Pixel browser identifier. Used by Meta to track browsers across websites that use the Facebook Pixel, enabling measurement of Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns, conversion tracking, and remarketing audiences. | 90 days |
You can manage your Facebook advertising preferences at facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads. Meta’s privacy practices are described in their Privacy Policy.
7. International transfers
Some of the cookie providers listed above process data outside the European Economic Area (EEA):
- Google LLC (Google Analytics, Google Ads) — data is processed in the United States. Google relies on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission and participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. See Google’s Data Transfer Framework.
- Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook Pixel) — data is processed in the United States. Meta relies on SCCs and participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. See Meta’s Data Transfer Addendum.
- Cloudflare Inc. (Zaraz, security cookies) — some data is processed in the United States. Cloudflare relies on SCCs and is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. See Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy.
By consenting to analytics or marketing cookies, you acknowledge that data may be transferred to these providers outside the EEA under the safeguards described above. These transfers only occur if you have actively consented; if you decline optional cookies, no data is passed to any of these providers.
8. Managing Your Preferences
Cookie Settings banner
You can update your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the “Cookie Settings” link in the footer of our website. This reopens the consent banner where you can change your choices by category. Your updated preference takes effect immediately and is saved to the cf_consent cookie.
Browser settings
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can block or delete cookies, or receive a warning before a cookie is stored. Please note that blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent our website and client area from functioning correctly. Cookie management guidance for major browsers:
Provider opt-out tools
In addition to our consent banner, you can opt out directly through each provider’s own tools:
- Google Analytics: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
- Google Ads: adssettings.google.com
- Facebook / Meta: facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
- EU interest-based advertising: youronlinechoices.eu
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time – for example, to reflect changes in the cookies we use, updates to applicable law, or changes to third-party services. When we make material changes we will update the this policy and, where required, re-request your consent via the cookie banner. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
10. Contact us
For any questions about this policy, please visit our Contact page or refer to the contact details in our Privacy Policy.