Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy explains how CareerLink Africa uses cookies and similar tracking technologies when you visit our platform at careerlinkafrica.com. Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website when you visit it. They serve many important functions: keeping you securely logged in, remembering your preferences between visits, understanding how you use our platform, and helping us improve our services over time.

This policy explains in plain language what categories of cookies we use, the specific purpose of each, how long they last, and — critically — how you can control them. We believe you should have full visibility into and control over the data collected about your browsing behaviour.

By continuing to use CareerLink Africa, you consent to our use of cookies as described in this policy. You may withdraw or adjust your consent at any time using the methods described in the "How to Control Cookies" section below.

Cookies are small data files stored in your browser when you visit a website. They allow the site to recognise your device on subsequent visits and recall information about your session or preferences. Alongside traditional cookies, we may also use similar technologies such as:

• Local storage — browser-side storage used to persist small amounts of data such as your last active dashboard tab, without an expiry date unless cleared manually.
• Session storage — temporary in-browser storage that is cleared automatically when you close your browser tab.
• HTTP-only cookies — cookies that are inaccessible to JavaScript, used for security-sensitive data such as authentication tokens to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
• Secure cookies — cookies transmitted only over HTTPS connections, ensuring session data cannot be intercepted over unencrypted connections.

Not all of these technologies are cookies in the strict technical sense, but they serve similar purposes and are governed by the same principles described in this policy.

CareerLink Africa uses five categories of cookies. Each category serves a distinct purpose and has different implications for your privacy:

• Essential Cookies — Strictly necessary for the platform to function. Without these cookies you cannot log in, submit applications, or access your dashboard. These cookies cannot be disabled.
• Analytics Cookies — Help us understand how visitors interact with our platform. We use anonymised data from these cookies to identify popular features, discover where users encounter difficulties, and improve the overall experience. These cookies do not identify you personally.
• Preference Cookies — Remember your choices and settings across sessions — such as your selected currency on the pricing page, your last active dashboard tab, and your search filter preferences. These improve your experience by reducing repetitive setup.
• Functionality Cookies — Enable enhanced platform features such as the in-app messaging system, real-time application status updates, and AI-powered features that adapt to your usage patterns within a session.
• Advertising Cookies — Placed by Google AdSense to serve relevant advertisements to visitors of this platform. These cookies collect information about your browsing habits to make advertising more relevant to you. They are set by Google LLC and governed by Google's cookie and privacy policy. You can opt out of personalised advertising at any time.

Essential cookies are required for the core functionality of CareerLink Africa. They cannot be disabled as the platform cannot operate securely without them. The following essential cookies are in use:

• Authentication Session Cookie — Set by Supabase Auth. Stores your encrypted session token to keep you logged in across page visits. Expires when you log out or after 7 days of inactivity. This is an HTTP-only secure cookie inaccessible to JavaScript.
• CSRF Protection Cookie — Prevents cross-site request forgery attacks by binding your session to a unique token verified on every state-changing request. Expires at the end of your browser session.
• Consent Cookie — Records your cookie consent preferences so you are not shown the consent prompt on every visit. Expires after 12 months.
• Load Balancer Cookie — Ensures consistent routing of your requests to the same server instance during your session. Expires at the end of your browser session.

We use analytics cookies to collect anonymised information about how users interact with CareerLink Africa. This data helps us make informed decisions about feature development, performance improvements, and user experience optimisation.

Data collected through analytics cookies includes:

• Pages visited and the order in which they were visited.
• Time spent on each page and the total session duration.
• Features and buttons interacted with.
• Search queries entered on the jobs and tenders pages (anonymised).
• Application funnel events — such as how far users progress through the job application flow.
• Error events and failed interactions.
• Device type, browser, and operating system (non-identifying).
• Entry and exit pages for each session.

This data is aggregated and anonymised before analysis. It cannot be used to identify you personally. Analytics cookies help us answer questions such as: which job categories generate the most applications, which dashboard features are underused, and where users drop off during the sign-up process.

Preference cookies store your personal settings and choices so that you do not need to reconfigure your experience every time you visit. On CareerLink Africa, preference cookies record:

• Your selected currency preference on the pricing page (e.g. KES, NGN, USD).
• Your last active tab in the employer or jobseeker dashboard, so you return to the same view.
• Your most recently applied search filters on the jobs page — such as last selected country, industry, job type, and experience level.
• Your most recently applied search filters on the tenders page.
• Dashboard layout preferences and column settings.
• Notification banner dismissal state.
• Onboarding guide completion state.

These cookies improve your experience by making the platform feel personalised and efficient. They do not collect sensitive information and cannot be used to identify you across other websites.

Functionality cookies enable enhanced and interactive features on the CareerLink Africa platform. Without these cookies, certain advanced features may not work correctly.

• In-app messaging session state — maintains the continuity of your message thread view within your current session.
• Real-time application status updates — enables live updates of application stage changes without requiring a page reload.
• Video interview session state — tracks the progress of a video interview recording session to prevent data loss on interruption.
• AI Career Coach session continuity — maintains the context of your current coaching conversation within a session.
• Job alert preference sync — keeps your alert preferences in sync between the dashboard and any active alert emails.

The following third-party services integrated into CareerLink Africa may set their own cookies on your device. These cookies are governed by their respective privacy and cookie policies:

• Stripe — Our payment processor sets cookies to prevent payment fraud, identify returning customers, and maintain payment session security during checkout. These cookies are essential for secure payment processing. Stripe's cookie policy is available at stripe.com/cookie-settings.
• Supabase — Our database and authentication infrastructure provider sets session management cookies required for account security. These are essential cookies and cannot be disabled.
• Google AdSense — Our advertising partner, Google LLC, sets cookies to serve personalised advertisements to visitors of this platform. These cookies track browsing activity across websites to build interest profiles used for ad targeting. Google's cookie policy is available at policies.google.com/technologies/cookies. You can opt out of personalised advertising at google.com/settings/ads.
• Meta Pixel (Facebook) — We use the Meta Pixel to measure aggregate conversions from our advertising campaigns. The Meta Pixel sets cookies on your device governed by Meta's Cookie Policy at facebook.com/policies/cookies. You can manage your Facebook ad preferences at facebook.com/ads/preferences.

Beyond the services listed above, CareerLink Africa does not use additional third-party advertising networks or cross-site behavioural profiling tools.

Cookies used on CareerLink Africa fall into two duration categories:

• Session Cookies — Temporary cookies that are deleted automatically when you close your browser or end your session. Used for CSRF protection and load balancing.
• Persistent Cookies — Remain on your device for a defined period. Durations on CareerLink Africa range from 7 days (authentication session cookie) to 12 months (consent and preference cookies).

Summary of persistent cookie durations:

• Authentication session token — 7 days (refreshed on each visit)
• Cookie consent record — 12 months
• Dashboard preference cookies — 12 months
• Search filter preference cookies — 12 months
• Pricing page currency preference — 12 months

You have several options for controlling cookies on CareerLink Africa and across the web. Below are instructions for the most common browsers and devices:

Desktop browsers:

• Google Chrome — Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data
• Mozilla Firefox — Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
• Apple Safari — Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data
• Microsoft Edge — Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies
• Opera — Settings → Advanced → Privacy & security → Cookies

Mobile devices:

• iOS Safari — Settings → Safari → Privacy & Security → Block All Cookies
• Android Chrome — Chrome app → Settings → Site settings → Cookies

Third-party opt-outs:

• Stripe cookies — manage via stripe.com/cookie-settings
• Google AdSense personalised ads — opt out at google.com/settings/ads or via the NAI opt-out tool at optout.networkadvertising.org
• Meta Pixel — manage ad preferences at facebook.com/ads/preferences
• CareerLink Africa preferences — manage notification and dashboard settings directly in your account dashboard

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) setting that sends a signal to websites requesting that they do not track your browsing activity across sites. CareerLink Africa currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals because there is no industry-standard approach to interpreting or acting on these signals.

However, our commitment to your privacy means that regardless of your DNT setting:

• We limit cross-site tracking to Google AdSense advertising cookies and Meta Pixel aggregate conversion measurement.
• Browsing data shared with Google AdSense for ad personalisation is governed by Google's privacy policy, not ours.
• Behavioural profiles for advertising purposes are built by Google AdSense, not by CareerLink Africa directly.
• Our internal analytics data is anonymised and used only to improve the CareerLink Africa platform.

We continue to monitor the development of DNT standards and will update our approach if a meaningful standard is established.

CareerLink Africa is intended exclusively for users aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly use tracking cookies or any other technology to collect data from minors. Our platform does not serve behavioural advertising and does not build profiles on individuals under 18.

If you believe a minor is using our platform, please contact us at privacy@careerlinkafrica.com and we will investigate and terminate the account promptly, deleting all associated data within 30 days.

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use, new platform features, or applicable regulations such as updates to the GDPR ePrivacy Directive or African data protection laws.

• Significant changes — such as adding a new category of cookie or a new third-party provider — will be communicated to registered users by email before taking effect.
• Minor updates — such as clarifying language or correcting descriptions — may be made without notice.
• The date at the top of this page reflects when the policy was last updated.
• Your continued use of CareerLink Africa after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, this Cookie Policy, or want to exercise your data rights, please get in touch with our team:

• Cookie and privacy questions: privacy@careerlinkafrica.com
• General support: support@careerlinkafrica.com

We aim to respond to all enquiries within 5 business days. For broader privacy concerns, please also review our full Privacy Policy.