Cookie Policy
Version 1.5 · Last updated: October 12, 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how GoRefer.io LLC ("GoRefer," "we," "us" or "our") uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit our websites and use our Service. It also covers the academy where learners buy and take courses from tax firms, at gorefer.academy, at addresses ending in .gorefer.academy and on the custom domains firms connect to their academy. The academy's store pages count visits without cookies and run no advertising or analytics tags; section 2A of the Privacy Policy explains the counter. Please read it with our Privacy Policy. To opt out of sharing for advertising, see Your Privacy Choices.
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, smartphone, or tablet) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide information to website owners, and enable certain features.
Cookies can be "session cookies" (which are deleted when you close your browser) or "persistent cookies" (which remain on your device for a set period or until you delete them).
2. How We Use Cookies
We use cookies for the following purposes:
- Essential cookies: Required for the Service to function properly (authentication, security)
- Analytics: Help us understand how visitors interact with our website
- Functional cookies: Remember your preferences and settings
- Attribution cookies: Credit the affiliate or referral link that introduced you to us
3. Types of Cookies We Use
3.1 Essential Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary for the operation of our Service. They enable core functionality such as security, authentication, and session management. You cannot opt out of essential cookies.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| refresh_token / sa_refresh_token | Authentication cookies used by the separate GoRefer application, not required to browse this public website | Authentication-session policy | GoRefer.io application |
| auth_role / auth_status | Application authentication and role-routing indicators | Authentication-session policy | GoRefer.io application |
3.2 Analytics Cookies
We use two analytics systems on this marketing website, and we do not load Google Analytics on our own sites. First, our own first-party measurement stores two identifiers in your browser's local and session storage and sends page views, referrer, screen size, language and time zone to our own servers. Second, we use HeyCatch, a third-party analytics service, which stores its own identifiers and receives page views and interaction events. If your browser sends a "Do Not Track" or Global Privacy Control signal, neither system is loaded: no identifier is created and nothing is sent.
On our public webinar registration pages at app.gorefer.io/webinar/ we measure how visitors move through the page so we can improve it. We keep this measurement for 90 days. None of it is collected when your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control; we only count the visit.
The Meta Pixel loads on this public marketing website when marketing measurement is turned on, and on our own public webinar registration pages at app.gorefer.io/webinar/. On both, the Pixel is not loaded when your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, and our servers send Meta nothing about your visit either. A firm can also add its own tags to a landing page it publishes through GoRefer; those tags are the firm's, not ours (section 3.5). See section 3.4 for our advertising measurement.
Neither analytics system runs inside the GoRefer application. Once you sign in at app.gorefer.io, no third-party analytics or advertising tag is loaded. The signed-in application handles taxpayer data, so we keep third-party measurement out of it. Error monitoring (Sentry) still runs there; it is described in our sub-processor list. The webinar registration pages on that same domain are public pages you reach before signing in, and use the Meta Pixel described in section 3.4.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| gr_vid (local storage) | First-party visitor identifier used to distinguish new from returning visitors | Until you clear site data | GoRefer.io |
| gr_sid (session storage) | First-party session identifier used to group page views into one visit | Session | GoRefer.io |
| gr_webinar_session (session storage) | First-party session identifier on our public webinar registration pages (app.gorefer.io/webinar/ and /join/), used to measure how visitors move through the page. Not created when your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control. | Session (cleared when the tab closes) | GoRefer.io |
| HeyCatch analytics storage | Third-party analytics on this marketing website only, never inside the signed-in application. Distinguishes visitors and groups page views into visits. Not created when your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control. | Until you clear site data | HeyCatch |
3.3 Functional Cookies
These cookies enable enhanced functionality and personalization, such as remembering your preferences.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| gorefer_chat_session (local storage) | Restores an active support-chat session when chat is used | 24-hour application expiry | GoRefer.io |
| chatWidgetPosition / chatLeadForm (local storage) | Remembers chat placement and form details when those controls are used | Until you clear site data | GoRefer.io |
| gorefer_exit_popup_dismissed (local storage) | Remembers dismissal of the newsletter popup | Until cleared; dismissal timing is checked by the popup | GoRefer.io |
| gr_privacy_choice (local storage) | Remembers that you opted out of sale and sharing on our Your Privacy Choices page, so the Meta Pixel does not load on this website in this browser | Until you clear site data | GoRefer.io |
3.4 Marketing and Advertising Cookies
On this marketing website, a first-party attribution cookie remembers an affiliate or referral link so that it can be credited if you sign up.
We also advertise GoRefer on Meta's platforms (Facebook and Instagram) and measure which of those ads lead to visits and webinar registrations. The Meta Pixel runs on this public marketing website, when marketing measurement is turned on, and on our webinar registration pages at app.gorefer.io/webinar/. It sets the cookies listed below and reports page views and webinar registrations to Meta. When you register for a webinar, we also send Meta your email, phone and name in scrambled form, plus browser identifiers, so Meta can tell us which ads led to registrations. California law treats this as "sharing"; you can opt out on our Your Privacy Choices page.
Nothing about your taxes is ever sent to Meta, and nothing at all from inside the signed-in application. You can block the Pixel with your browser's tracking protection or an ad blocker, and we make no attempt to work around either.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| gorefer_affiliate_ref | Remembers which affiliate or referral link brought you to us, so the referral is credited if you sign up | 90 days | GoRefer.io |
| _fbp | Set by the Meta Pixel on this marketing website and our public webinar registration pages. Identifies your browser so that a registration can be matched to the ad that led to it. | 90 days | Meta Platforms |
| _fbc | Set by the Meta Pixel on this marketing website and our public webinar registration pages if you arrived from a Meta ad. Stores that ad's click identifier. | 90 days | Meta Platforms |
3.5 Tags on Firms' Landing Pages
Firms that use GoRefer publish landing pages at app.gorefer.io/p/ and at addresses ending in goreferme.to. A firm can add its own tags to its pages: the Meta Pixel, Google Analytics, Google Ads and the TikTok pixel. These tags report to the firm's own accounts, and the firm is responsible for them. We only host the page and load the tags on the firm's instructions (section 1.5 of our Privacy Policy). A page loads only the tags its firm has added.
The firm's tags load only after you agree in the page's cookie notice. They do not load when your browser sends Global Privacy Control. When you send the page's form, the firm's tags may report that a form was sent, and if the firm has connected Meta's server-side measurement, we send the firm's Meta account the contact details you entered in scrambled form. For questions about a firm's tags, contact that firm.
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| _fbp / _fbc | Set by the firm's Meta Pixel, if the firm has added one. Identify your browser and, if you arrived from a Meta ad, that ad's click, so the firm can measure its ads. | 90 days | Meta Platforms, for the firm |
| _ga / _ga_<ID> | Set by the firm's Google Analytics tag, if the firm has added one. Distinguish visitors so the firm can measure use of its page. | Up to 2 years | Google, for the firm |
| _gcl_au | Set by the firm's Google Ads tag, if the firm has added one. Lets the firm measure which of its Google ads led to a form being sent. | 90 days | Google, for the firm |
| _ttp | Set by the firm's TikTok pixel, if the firm has added one. Identifies your browser so the firm can measure its TikTok ads. | Up to 13 months | TikTok, for the firm |
4. Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies are placed by third-party services that appear on our pages. We do not control these cookies. The third parties are:
- Stripe: Payment processing, on checkout and billing pages - Privacy Policy
- Meta Platforms: Advertising measurement on our public marketing and webinar registration pages (section 3.4), and on a firm's landing page when that firm adds its own Pixel (section 3.5) - Privacy Policy
- Google and TikTok: Only on a firm's landing page, when that firm adds its own tags (section 3.5) - Google Privacy Policy, TikTok Privacy Policy
For the full list of vendors that process data on our behalf, see the Trust Center sub-processor register.
5. Managing Cookies
5.1 Cookie Consent
We do not show a cookie consent banner on our own websites. The cookies and browser storage described above are strictly necessary, remember a choice you made, or measure use of the site. Our measurement, HeyCatch and the Meta Pixel on this website and on our webinar registration pages do not load when your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, and our servers then send Meta nothing about your visit.
On a firm's landing page, the firm controls its own tags and cookie notice. Its tags load only after you agree in its cookie notice. They do not load when your browser sends Global Privacy Control.
You can remove cookies at any time in your browser settings, as described below, and browser tracking protection or an ad blocker will stop advertising tags from loading. For privacy questions or requests, contact legal@gorefer.io.
5.2 Browser Settings
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can:
- Block all cookies
- Block only third-party cookies
- Delete cookies when you close your browser
- Browse in "private" or "incognito" mode
Please note that blocking essential cookies may prevent our Service from functioning properly.
5.3 Browser-Specific Instructions
To manage cookies in your browser, please refer to:
6. Do Not Track
Some browsers have a "Do Not Track" (DNT) setting, and newer ones send a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, asking sites not to track you. Our website analytics, our webinar page measurement and the Meta Pixel on this website and our webinar registration pages honor both: when either signal is present, they do not load, so no visitor or session identifier is created and no page-view data is sent to them. We treat Global Privacy Control as a request to opt out of sale and sharing. Essential and preference cookies still apply, because the Service cannot work without them.
On our webinar registration pages, one thing is still counted. The visit itself is added to our own traffic total as an opted-out visit. Nothing is stored in your browser for it, nothing follows you from it, and nothing is sent to Meta.
Tags on a firm's landing page honor Global Privacy Control, not Do Not Track. When your browser sends GPC, the tags a firm has added to its landing page (section 3.5) do not load, and nothing about a form you send there goes to the firm's Meta account. Those pages do not check the older Do Not Track signal.
7. Similar Technologies
In addition to cookies, we may use similar technologies such as:
- Web beacons (pixels): Small graphic images used to track user behavior
- Local storage: Data stored in your browser for functionality purposes
- Session storage: Temporary data stored during your browsing session
8. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy. We will post the new version on this page with its date, and we will email account holders before a material change takes effect.
9. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Cookie Policy, please contact us at:
GoRefer.io LLC, Dallas, Texas
Email: legal@gorefer.io
Website: https://gorefer.io