1. Introduction
This policy explains how HostAfrica uses cookies on this website. It names every cookie we set. It names every third-party service that may set a cookie. It also tells you how to change your choice.
This policy covers the website at www.hostafrica.com/rw. Host Africa (Pty) Ltd is the entity responsible for this website. That entity decides which cookies this website sets, and how long each cookie lasts. Section 9 holds our contact details. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information.
2. What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file. A website asks your browser to store it, and your browser sends it back on a later visit. A cookie can hold a setting, a session marker or a code.
Two other browser stores work in a similar way. sessionStorage holds a value until you close the browser tab. localStorage holds a value until something deletes it. The table in section 4 names every value that this website stores in either one.
3. Consent categories
We sort cookies into four categories.
| Category | What the category covers | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | Security, live chat, and the core function of the website. | On. You cannot switch it off. |
| Functional | Extra features, such as a third-party review badge. | Off. |
| Analytics | Measurement of how visitors use the website. | Off. |
| Advertisement | Adverts, and measurement of adverts. | Off. |
Only the Necessary category runs before you choose. The other three categories stay off until you accept them. No category arrives pre-selected.
We pass your choice to Google Consent Mode. This table shows the signals that each category controls.
| Category | Google Consent Mode signals |
|---|---|
| Necessary | security_storage |
| Functional | functionality_storage, personalization_storage |
| Analytics | analytics_storage |
| Advertisement | ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization |
4. The cookies we set
Our own code sets four cookies, one session value and one localStorage value.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Category | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ha_consent | HostAfrica | Records your cookie choice, the version of this policy and the date of your choice. | Necessary | 180 days |
ha_click_admarula | HostAfrica | Records the click code from an AdMarula affiliate network link, so that network earns credit for your visit. | Advertisement | 90 days |
ha_click_offerforge | HostAfrica | Records the click code from an OfferForge affiliate network link, so that network earns credit for your visit. | Advertisement | 90 days |
affiliateId | HostAfrica | Records the referral code of the affiliate whose link you followed. | Advertisement | 90 days |
ha_attribution | HostAfrica | A marker in sessionStorage. It records that we already sent this visit to our own traffic report. | Analytics | Until you close the browser tab |
ha-price-currency | HostAfrica | A value in localStorage. It records the currency you chose, if this website offers a second currency. | Necessary | Until you clear your browser storage |
Five of these do not wait for your choice, and we state that plainly. ha_click_admarula, ha_click_offerforge and affiliateId record which partner sent you to this website. Each value is a partner code, not a profile of you. ha_attribution marks one visit for our own traffic report, and it holds no code for you. ha-price-currency is a first-party value, and it carries no Google Consent Mode signal. The consent controls do not switch these five off. The category column above still shows the purpose of each one, so that you can see what each one does.
5. Third-party services
Some features on this website come from a third party. Each of those services may set its own cookie. We do not control the name or the lifetime of a third-party cookie. Read the provider's own policy for that detail.
| Service | Provider | Purpose | Category | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live chat | Tawk.to | Runs the chat window and keeps your place in a conversation. | Necessary | Set by the provider |
| Survey | Simplesat | Collects your rating of an article. | Analytics | Set by the provider |
| Forms | Tally | Runs a form that you open from a button. | No category. It loads on click only. | Set by the provider |
| Review badge | GoodFirms | Displays our review score. | Functional | Set by the provider |
| Insights | Cloudflare | Measures page performance. See section 6. | Not gated. See section 6. | Set by the provider |
| reCAPTCHA | Blocks automated abuse of our forms. | Not gated. Fraud prevention. | Set by the provider |
Live chat is part of our support desk, so we treat it as a Necessary service. It loads on every page of this website, and the consent controls do not switch it off. A Tally form loads only after you click the button that opens it.
6. Cloudflare Insights
Cloudflare protects and delivers this website. Cloudflare adds its own Insights script at its network edge, not in our code. The script runs on every page of this website. The consent controls do not reach it, and no change to our code can switch it off. We state this plainly, because the cookie banner cannot control it. Cloudflare publishes its own privacy documentation for this product.
7. Tags inside Google Tag Manager
We load our measurement tags and our advert tags through a Google Tag Manager container. The container fires Microsoft Clarity, Bing UET, LinkedIn Insight, Facebook Pixel and Google Ads. Each of those tags may set its own cookie. Google Consent Mode governs all of them. A tag in the Analytics or Advertisement category stays off until you accept that category.
8. How to change your choice
You can change your choice at any time. This page carries a control, and the footer of every page carries a second one. Select either control, and the cookie banner opens again. You can then set each category.
To reach the footer control, open the Help column, and then select the cookie preferences control.
Both controls need JavaScript. If your browser blocks JavaScript, delete the ha_consent cookie instead, and the cookie banner appears again.
We record your choice in the ha_consent cookie for 180 days. If you clear the cookies in your browser, the banner appears again. If we change this policy, the banner may appear again, so that you can review your choice.
9. Contact and changes to this policy
We may update this policy. We publish every update on this page.
If you have a question about this policy, please contact us.
- E-mail: support@hostafrica.com
- Street address: 12 Helena Ave, Helena Heights, Somerset West, Cape Town, 7130, South Africa
- Website: https://www.hostafrica.com/rw