1. Cookies and similar technologies
“Cookies” are small files a website stores in your browser. This policy also covers similar technologies — in our case localStorage and sessionStorage, which are browser storage areas that, unlike cookies, are not sent to our servers with every request. We use these technologies sparingly, and we explain every single item below. This policy supplements our Privacy Policy.
2. What we do not do
- No advertising or marketing cookies, ever.
- No third-party analytics (no Google Analytics, Meta Pixel or similar) on the public site.
- No cross-site tracking, fingerprinting or sale of data.
- The anonymous identifiers described below are random numbers. They are never joined to your name, email address or quote requests.
Because nothing we store is used to identify you or to track you across other websites, the site works fully without a cookie-consent pop-up. We still give you a genuine choice — see the opt-out below.
3. What the public website stores
Our visit measurement is first-party and anonymous by design: a beacon tells our own server which page was viewed, on what class of device (phone / tablet / desktop), and which external site referred the visit. No cookies are involved; the two random identifiers below are the only state kept in your browser.
| Key | Type | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
aavs_vid | localStorage | A random identifier (UUID) that lets us count returning browsers as one visitor instead of many. Contains no personal information and is never linked to your name, email or enquiries. | Until you clear site data or opt out below |
aavs_sid | sessionStorage | A random identifier grouping the pages you view in one browsing session, so we can see which pages are read together. | Deleted when you close the tab |
aavs_entry | sessionStorage | Marks that your first page of the session has been recorded, so the site that referred you (e.g. a search engine) is noted once, not on every page. | Deleted when you close the tab |
aavs_optout | localStorage | Records that you opted out of visit measurement, so the beacon stays off on your next visit. | Until you clear site data or opt back in |
4. Your choice: switch measurement off
Opting out stops the page-view beacon entirely for this browser and deletes the identifiers above. The site keeps working exactly as before.
Anonymous visit measurement
Checking your current setting…
You can also block or clear storage for this site in your browser’s settings at any time (usually under “Privacy”, “Site settings” or “Clear browsing data”) — the site remains fully usable, and browsers in strict privacy modes are handled gracefully.
5. Strictly necessary cookies in specific areas
- Payments. When you pay a quotation you are redirected to PayFast’s own secure payment page at payfast.co.za. Any cookies set there are set by PayFast under PayFast’s privacy policy. Our pages do not read them.
6. Legal position
South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 applies to identifiers only where they can identify a person; ours are random and unlinked, and we treat them under POPIA’s conditions anyway. For visitors from the EU/EEA and UK, strictly necessary storage and our anonymous, opt-out-able first-party measurement are used in reliance on the principles of the ePrivacy Directive and GDPR; since we set no third-party trackers, no consent banner is required. If we ever introduce cookies that need prior consent, we will add a consent mechanism before they are set and update this policy.
7. Questions
Email admin@aavs.co.za — or see the Privacy Policy for our Information Officer’s details and your rights under POPIA and the GDPR.