Cookie policy

01 · Background

What are cookies

Cookies are small text files that a website places on your device when you visit. They allow the site to remember information between page loads — such as whether you are signed in, your language preference, or how you arrived at the site.

In addition to cookies, Pleks may use local storage and session storage — browser-based key-value stores that behave similarly to cookies but are not sent to the server with every request. The same rules apply to these technologies as to cookies under this policy.

Under POPIA, we are required to inform you about cookies that process personal information and to rely on a valid lawful basis — consent (POPIA · S11(1)(a)), contract (POPIA · S11(1)(b)), or legitimate interest (POPIA · S11(1)(f)) — before processing. SA law does not have a direct equivalent of the EU ePrivacy Directive’s cookie rule; our requirements are set by POPIA s11 (lawful basis) and, for direct-marketing cookies, POPIA s69.

This policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, which describe how we handle personal information more broadly.

Pleks operates under South African law. If you access Pleks from outside South Africa, additional local cookie or e-privacy laws may apply; this policy describes our compliance with SA law and is not a determination of compliance with any other jurisdiction’s regime.

02 · Essential cookies

Essential cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary for Pleks to function. They cannot be disabled without preventing you from signing in or using the platform. No consent is required for these cookies under POPIA · S11(1)(b) — they are necessary for the performance of the contract (the Pleks Terms of Service) you have entered into with us.

A note on storage type: Your Pleks session is held in cookies, not in browser localStorage. Because the server must verify your session on every request, the session cookie is transmitted with each request. It is not marked HttpOnly: the sign-in library running in your browser reads and refreshes the session itself, so a script running in the page could read it. It is marked Secure (sent only over HTTPS) and SameSite=Lax, lasts at most 12 hours unless your session is refreshed, and our content security policy limits where scripts may be loaded from. Cookies are cleared when you sign out or clear your browser data. The same POPIA obligations apply regardless of whether data is stored in a cookie or in browser storage.

Session validation and the underlying user record are stored at our database and storage provider’s Ireland (EU) infrastructure (see the operators directory in the POPIA processing register). Transfers outside South Africa are governed by Standard Contractual Clauses per POPIA · S72(1)(a).

03 · Analytics cookies

Analytics cookies

Pleks uses Vercel Analytics to measure page performance and visitor counts on the marketing site. Vercel Analytics does not set cookies. IP addresses and user agents are converted to a daily-rotating one-way hash by Vercel; raw values are not retained and no individual user profiles are built.

Pleks treats Vercel Analytics data as processed in a privacy-preserving aggregated form and does not consider it to require POPIA s11(1)(a) consent. If you disagree, you can block analytics via your browser’s developer tools or a content blocker — the platform continues to function normally.

We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or any other third-party analytics that sets cookies or tracks individuals across sites.

04 · Third-party cookies

Third-party cookies

Some features of Pleks involve third-party services that may set their own cookies. Where this occurs, the third party’s own cookie and privacy policy applies. Pleks does not control these cookies.

The e-signature workflow (DocuSeal) is self-hosted on Pleks’s own infrastructure — no data is transferred to a third-party DocuSeal service, and any storage items set during document signing are first-party Pleks items governed by this policy. This is consistent with the Operator Agreement classification in the POPIA processing register.

Pleks does not embed social media plugins, advertising networks, or any third-party scripts that would track you across websites for marketing purposes.

05 · Managing cookies

Managing cookies

You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to:

• View all cookies currently stored by your browser.
• Delete all cookies, or cookies from a specific site.
• Block all cookies, or block cookies from specific sites.
• Set the browser to warn you before a cookie is placed.

Be aware: blocking or deleting the essential cookies listed in section 02 will sign you out of Pleks and prevent the platform from working correctly. You will need to sign in again after clearing session cookies.

Browser-specific guides: Chrome Firefox Safari Edge

06 · Changes

Changes to this policy

We may update this cookie policy from time to time as the platform evolves or as legal requirements change. Material changes include adding a new cookie or storage item, changing a cookie’s purpose, adding a third-party recipient, or changing the lawful basis. Non-material changes (typographical corrections, link updates) take effect on publication. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last reviewed” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email.

If an inconsistency exists between this Cookie Policy and the Pleks Terms of Service, the Terms of Service prevail unless mandatory law requires otherwise.

For any questions about how Pleks uses cookies, contact our Information Officer.