Cookie Policy.
Last updated: 29 October 2026
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They are used to remember your preferences, keep you logged in, and understand how you use the site.
Cookies we use
These are the cookies set by this website and by Hotline LMS, including the workspaces our customers run on it: strictly necessary cookies that keep you signed in and make the site work, one functional cookie that remembers your language, and analytics cookies on this website that help us understand how it is used. Analytics cookies are only set if you accept them. We do not use advertising cookies, retargeting cookies, or any cookie that tracks you across other websites.
| Cookie | Purpose | Lasts | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLMS_ followed by a short code for the address | Keeps you signed in during a visit. HttpOnly and Secure; SameSite=None so that single sign-on works | Until you sign out, or 120 minutes without activity | Strictly necessary |
| remember_me | Keeps you signed in on this device, only if you tick "Remember me". HttpOnly and Secure | 30 days | Strictly necessary |
| CLMS_SOCIAL_BIND | Links a Google or Microsoft sign-in back to the right workspace. HttpOnly and Secure | Minutes, during sign-in | Strictly necessary |
| hotline_locale | Remembers the language you chose | 1 year | Functional |
| hl_cookie_consent | Remembers your cookie choice on a workspace's public website | Until you change it | Strictly necessary |
| hotline_invite | Preview pass. Set only when someone opens an invite link to preview this website before it opens. HttpOnly and Secure | 30 days | Strictly necessary |
| _pk_id | Matomo analytics on this website. Stores a random identifier so repeat visits from the same browser are counted as one visitor rather than several. | 13 months | Analytics (only if you accept) |
| _pk_ses | Matomo analytics on this website. Groups the pages you view into a single visit. | 30 minutes | Analytics (only if you accept) |
| _pk_ref | Matomo analytics on this website. Remembers which website or search engine you arrived from, so we can see what brings people here. | 6 months | Analytics (only if you accept) |
There is no separate CSRF cookie: the token that protects our forms is kept in your session, not in a cookie of its own. On this website, your answer to the cookie banner is kept in your browser's local storage (cookie_consent), not in a cookie.
Matomo may also set a short-lived _pk_testcookie to check whether your browser accepts cookies at all. It is deleted immediately.
How we measure site traffic
We use Matomo, an open-source analytics tool that we run on our own server at stats.hotlinelabs.com. Nothing is sent to Google, to an advertising network, or to any other third party, and we never sell or share the data.
Analytics run on our public marketing pages and our sign-up pages only. If you use Hotline LMS as a customer or a learner, the branded environment you log into is not covered by this tracking.
If you decline, or before you have answered the banner, Matomo still counts the page view but stores nothing on your device: no cookie is set, and visits cannot be linked together or back to you. Accepting adds the three cookies above, which let us tell a returning visitor from a new one.
What we don't use
- No Google Analytics. Our analytics are self-hosted and first-party.
- No advertising or retargeting cookies.
- No social media tracking pixels.
- No cross-site tracking of any kind.
- No selling or sharing of analytics data with third parties.
Your choice
The first time you visit, a banner asks whether you accept analytics cookies. Declining does not reduce anything you can do on the site, and you can change your mind whenever you like.
Current choice: loading
Managing cookies in your browser
You can also configure your browser to block or delete cookies. Blocking strictly necessary cookies will prevent you from signing in, because those cookies are what keep your session alive.
Contact
Questions about our cookie usage? Contact us at [email protected].