Cookie Policy

1. What Cookies and Similar Technologies Are

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They allow a site to recognise your device, remember information about your visit, and function correctly. Some of the technologies described in this policy are cookies in the strict sense; others are similar client-side storage mechanisms used for the same purposes.

2. How VIVA Portugal Uses Them

We group the cookies used on the Site into three categories: strictly necessary, functional, and optional (analytics and advertising). Strictly necessary and functional cookies are used automatically because the Site cannot work properly without them. Optional cookies are only set after you give your consent through the cookie banner or the preferences panel.

On your first visit, non-essential cookies (analytics and advertising) start switched off. Nothing beyond strictly necessary and functional cookies is set until you make a choice.

3. Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are required for the Site to work and cannot be switched off in the preferences panel.

• Supabase authentication cookies - set by our authentication provider (Supabase) to keep you signed in and protect your session. Their exact names are managed automatically by Supabase, not chosen by us.
• vp_nl_last - a short-lived technical cookie that prevents repeated newsletter submissions in quick succession.
• vp_cookie_consent- stores the cookie choices you have made, so we don't ask you again on every visit.

4. Functional Cookies

NEXT_LOCALE remembers the language you have chosen (English, Portuguese, or Spanish) so we can show you the Site in your preferred language on your next visit.

5. Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand, in aggregate, how visitors use the Site (for example, which pages are read and how traffic flows between them), so we can improve content and navigation.

Google Analytics is integrated with Google's Consent Mode. While Analytics consent is not granted, analytics_storage stays denied: no Google Analytics cookies (such as _ga or _ga_*) are set on your device. Google may still receive limited, cookieless measurement signals during this period; these signals are used for aggregated modelling and are not equivalent to identifying you individually. Once you accept Analytics, consent is updated to granted and Google Analytics may set its cookies normally.

We also use Vercel Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to measure aggregated traffic and performance (Core Web Vitals) for the Site. According to Vercel, these products do not use cookies or similar client-side storage, so they are not part of the Analytics consent toggle described above.

6. Advertising

Advertising technologies are currently disabled. We have prepared the technical groundwork to support Google AdSense in the future (including an ads.txtfile and an AdSense client ID), but the AdSense script is intentionally not loaded and no advertisements are served on the Site today. The “Advertising” choice in the preferences panel is kept available so that, if advertising is enabled later, your existing preference is already respected.

7. Your Choices

Essential and functional cookies are always active. You choose whether analytics and advertising cookies are allowed:

• Accept all - allow analytics and advertising cookies
• Reject non-essential - keep only essential and functional cookies
• Manage preferences - choose analytics and advertising individually

Cookie preferences at any time to review or change your choice.

8. How to Change or Withdraw Consent

You do not need to delete cookies manually to withdraw your consent. You can open your preferences again at any time using the “Cookie preferences” link in the footer of every page, and save a new choice - including switching analytics or advertising back off.

9. Cookie Duration

10. Third-Party Services

• Supabase - authentication and session management
• Google Analytics - aggregated usage analytics (only after consent)
• Vercel Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights - aggregated traffic and performance measurement
• Google AdSense - prepared for future use; currently not loaded and not serving advertisements

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in the technologies we use or in applicable law. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

12. Contact

If you have questions about this Cookie Policy, please contact us at hello@vivaportugal.blog.