In short: When you first visit knowsis.net you'll see a cookie banner. Necessary cookies (which keep the site working) are always on. Analytics and marketing cookies are off until you accept them. You can accept, decline, or change your mind at any time using the Manage Cookies link in the footer or the button below. If your browser sends a “Do Not Track” signal, all optional cookies stay off by default.
1. What this policy covers
This Cookie Policy explains how Knowsis (Pty) Ltd (“Knowsis”, “we”, “us”) uses cookies and similar technologies across our web properties. It is the single, canonical cookie reference for:
- knowsis.net — our public website;
- apps.knowsis.work — the Data Alchemy platform, where you sign in and run analyses;
- clients.knowsis.work — the client portal.
It sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains more broadly how we handle personal information.
We comply with applicable data-protection law, including the South African Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and, for visitors in the EU and UK, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy rules. These require that non-essential cookies are only set with your informed consent, that you can refuse them without losing access to the site, and that you can withdraw consent as easily as you gave it.
A note on separate sites. knowsis.net and apps.knowsis.work (and clients.knowsis.work) are separate domains, so a cookie choice you make on one does not carry across to the others. If you move from our website into the Data Alchemy platform or the client portal, you will be asked for your cookie choice again there. This is by design — each site asks for, and remembers, its own consent.
2. What cookies are
Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. They can be “first-party” (set by knowsis.net) or “third-party” (set by another service, such as Google or LinkedIn). Some last only for your visit (“session” cookies); others remain for a set period (“persistent” cookies). We also use closely related technologies such as browser localStorage and tracking pixels; where we say “cookies” below we mean all of these.
3. The categories we use
We group cookies into exactly three categories. This is the same choice you see in the banner:
- Necessary Always on. Needed for the site to work — your session, security tokens, and remembering your cookie choice. These do not require consent.
- Analytics Off by default. Helps us understand how the site is used so we can improve it (PostHog and Google Analytics 4).
- Marketing Off by default. Measures and improves our advertising and helps us reach relevant audiences (Google Ads and the LinkedIn Insight Tag).
Your choice is stored in a first-party cookie named kns_consent (a small JSON record of which categories you allowed). It lasts 12 months, after which we'll ask again. Clearing your browser cookies also resets it.
4. How consent is managed
Consent is handled by Klaro, an open-source consent manager that we host ourselves on knowsis.net — no third-party consent service is involved. Here is exactly what happens:
- Before you choose: No analytics or marketing cookies are set, and PostHog and the LinkedIn Insight Tag do not load at all.
- Google tags: Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads use Google Consent Mode v2. Until you consent, these tags run in a restricted mode that sets no advertising or analytics cookies and sends no identifiers; they only begin full measurement once you accept the relevant category.
- If you accept: only the categories you allowed are switched on.
- If you decline: optional cookies stay off, and the site remains fully usable.
- Withdrawing consent: click Manage Cookies in the footer (on any page) or the button in the box above, and change your choices. Turning a category off also clears the cookies in it on your next page load.
- Do Not Track: if your browser sends a DNT signal, all optional categories default to off.
One thing worth knowing on the Data Alchemy platform. On our product surfaces (apps.knowsis.work and clients.knowsis.work), two measurement tools — PostHog and Google — load their software when the page first opens. They set no cookies and record nothing about you until you allow it; loading the software briefly makes your device's IP address visible to those providers, as any web request does. Nothing is stored or tracked until you consent. (On knowsis.net itself, PostHog and the LinkedIn Insight Tag do not load at all until you consent, and Google's tags load only in the restricted Consent Mode described above.)
5. Necessary cookies
These are always active because the site cannot function properly without them. They do not track you across other websites.
On the public website (knowsis.net)
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
kns_consent | Knowsis (first-party) | Stores your cookie-consent choices so we don't ask on every visit | 12 months |
| Session cookie | Knowsis (first-party) | Maintains your session state while you use forms and interactive tools | Session |
| CSRF token | Knowsis (first-party) | Security token that protects forms and checkout against cross-site request forgery | Session |
| Paystack payment cookies | Paystack (payment processor) | Set only when you start a card payment (e.g. on the Verbatim Coder checkout), to process the transaction securely and help prevent fraud | Session / short-lived |
On the Data Alchemy platform and client portal (apps.knowsis.work, clients.knowsis.work)
When you sign in to the Data Alchemy platform or the client portal, these strictly-necessary cookies keep the product working and secure. The site-wide kns_consent cookie above also applies here.
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
dataalchemy_session | Knowsis | Keeps you signed in to the Data Alchemy platform | Login session |
kns_portal_auth | Knowsis | Keeps you signed in to the client portal (clients.knowsis.work) | 24 hours |
tables_consent | Knowsis | Records that you accepted cookies so you can pay securely on the Knowsis Tables checkout. Separate from kns_consent; you may see both. | 12 months |
cxcatalyst_consent | Knowsis | The same as tables_consent, for the cxCatalyst checkout | 12 months |
__cf_bm | Cloudflare | Helps protect the site from automated bots | 30 minutes |
_streamlit_xsrf | Streamlit | Security token for the advisor tool | Session |
Two consent cookies, not one. tables_consent and cxcatalyst_consent are separate payment-gate consents recorded by the Knowsis Tables and cxCatalyst checkouts, distinct from the site-wide kns_consent. If you buy one of those products you may encounter both — the site-wide cookie banner, and the checkout's own consent, which is folded into its strictly-necessary category. Neither tables_consent nor cxcatalyst_consent is a marketing cookie.
6. Analytics cookies
Analytics Set only if you accept the Analytics category. They help us understand which pages are useful and where visitors get stuck. Expiry periods are set by the provider and may change.
PostHog (product analytics)
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
ph_phc_…_posthog | PostHog (first-party) | Stores an anonymous device / session identifier so PostHog can measure page views, funnels and feature usage. PostHog is hard-gated — it does not load until you accept Analytics. | 12 months |
PostHog stores most of its state in browser localStorage; a first-party cookie is used as a fallback. Data is sent to PostHog's US region (us.i.posthog.com).
Google Analytics 4
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google (first-party) | Distinguishes unique visitors | 2 years |
_ga_EFRC0XFS22 | Google (first-party) | Persists Google Analytics 4 session state for our property | 2 years |
_gid | Google (first-party) | Distinguishes unique visitors (short-term) | 24 hours |
_gat / _gat_gtag_… | Google (first-party) | Limits (throttles) the rate of requests to Google Analytics | 1 minute |
Under Consent Mode v2, Google Analytics does not write these cookies until you accept Analytics.
On the Data Alchemy platform and client portal
The same analytics providers are used inside the product, again only after you allow analytics. The specific cookies there are:
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
ph_<id>_posthog | PostHog | Understands how you use the product, to improve it. Only after you allow analytics. | ~12 months |
_ga | Google Analytics: tells visitors apart to measure usage. Only after you allow analytics. | 2 years | |
_gid | Google Analytics: short-term visitor distinction. Only after you allow analytics. | 24 hours |
On the product surfaces PostHog's software loads when a page opens (see “How consent is managed” above), but it sets no cookie and records nothing until you allow analytics.
7. Marketing cookies
Marketing Set only if you accept the Marketing category. They measure the performance of our advertising and let us build remarketing audiences. Several are set by Google's and LinkedIn's own domains.
Google Ads
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
_gcl_au | Google (first-party) | Stores ad-click information for conversion measurement (Google Ads Conversion Linker) | 90 days |
_gcl_aw | Google (first-party) | Set when you arrive via a Google Ad; used for conversion attribution | 90 days |
IDE | Google (doubleclick.net) | Measures and targets ads; used for remarketing | 13 months |
test_cookie | Google (doubleclick.net) | Checks whether your browser supports cookies | ~15 minutes |
LinkedIn Insight Tag
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
bcookie | LinkedIn (linkedin.com) | Browser identifier used for advertising and analytics | 12 months |
bscookie | Secure browser identifier | 12 months | |
lidc | Selects the LinkedIn data centre for routing | 24 hours | |
li_gc | Stores consent for the use of non-essential cookies on LinkedIn | 6 months | |
li_sugr | Probabilistic browser identifier used for matching | 90 days | |
UserMatchHistory | Synchronises LinkedIn Ads identifiers | 30 days | |
AnalyticsSyncHistory | Stores the time of synchronisation with LinkedIn's analytics service | 30 days |
The LinkedIn Insight Tag is hard-gated — it does not load until you accept Marketing. On our questionnaire audit page it also records an “Audit Landing Page Visit” conversion; that too only fires with consent.
On the Data Alchemy platform and client portal
The same advertising measurement is used inside the product, only after you allow marketing. The specific cookies there are:
| Cookie | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
_gcl_au | Google Ads: measures whether an ad led to a sign-up or purchase. Only after you allow marketing. | 90 days | |
li_*, UserMatchHistory, AnalyticsSyncHistory, bcookie, lidc, li_gc | LinkedIn Insight Tag: measures whether a LinkedIn ad led to a sign-up. Only after you allow marketing. | 30 days – 2 years |
8. Functional third-party services
Some pages embed third-party tools that provide a feature you actively use. These are not advertising trackers, but they are third parties and may set their own cookies when the feature loads, so we disclose them here:
- Cal.com (booking): our “Book a call” scheduler is provided by Cal.com. It loads only when you actively choose to open it — either by clicking a booking button or, on our homepage, by clicking “Load booking calendar” on the placeholder. Nothing from Cal.com loads and no Cal.com cookies are set until you do. When you open it, Cal.com may set cookies needed to run the booking widget. It is used solely to let you schedule a call.
- Paystack (payments): used at checkout to process card payments securely (also listed under Necessary above).
9. Managing cookies in your browser
Beyond our banner, you can control cookies in your browser settings — including blocking or deleting them. Note that blocking necessary cookies may stop parts of the site (such as forms or checkout) from working. Guides are available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Cookie Policy as our site or the services we use change. When we make material changes we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, ask for your consent again.
11. Contact us
If you have questions about this Cookie Policy or how we use cookies, please contact us:
Knowsis (Pty) Ltd
Data Protection Inquiries
Email: info@knowsis.net
Website: https://knowsis.net
You can review your choices any time with the Manage Cookies link in the footer, or here: