Cookie Policy

About This Policy

This Cookie Policy explains how hifreetools.com ("hifreetools", "we", "us", or "our") uses cookies and similar technologies, what categories of cookies we may set, and the choices available to you. It should be read together with our Privacy Policy.

hifreetools.com is operated by an independent solo developer based in South Korea. For any questions about cookies or your privacy, you can contact us at [email protected].

Most of our tools (calculators, converters, and text/developer utilities) run directly in your browser and process your input on your own device. The cookies and identifiers described in this policy relate primarily to optional analytics and advertising provided through third parties such as Google. Where required by law, these are used only after you give consent, and you can change or withdraw that consent at any time.

What Cookies Are

Cookies are small text files that a website, or a third party acting on its behalf, stores on your device (computer, tablet, or phone) when you visit. They are widely used to make websites work, to remember your preferences, to measure how a site is used, and to support advertising.

Cookies set by the website you are visiting are called "first-party" cookies. Cookies set by other organizations whose services appear on the site (for example, an analytics or advertising provider) are called "third-party" cookies.

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. In this policy, references to "cookies" also include similar technologies such as local storage, pixels/web beacons, software development kits (SDKs), and device or advertising identifiers, where these are used for the same purposes.

How We Use Cookies (When Monetization Is Enabled)

When monetization features are turned on, we use cookies and similar technologies that fall into three broad categories: strictly necessary, analytics, and advertising. Each category is described below, with examples of the purposes and the types of providers involved.

Strictly necessary, analytics, and advertising cookies differ in an important way: strictly necessary cookies are always active because the site cannot function properly without them, while analytics and advertising cookies are optional and, where consent is required, are set only after you agree.

Below, "such as" is used because the exact cookies and providers can change over time; we describe the category and purpose and name only well-known examples.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Purpose: These cookies are essential for the website to operate and for features you have specifically requested. They support core functions such as page navigation, load balancing and security, remembering your privacy/consent choices, and keeping the site stable. They do not require consent and cannot be switched off through our consent tool, although you can block them in your browser (which may stop parts of the site from working).

Example uses and providers: a cookie or local-storage entry that records your consent preferences so we do not ask you on every page (set by hifreetools.com); security and abuse-prevention or content-delivery cookies (such as those used by our hosting/CDN provider); and a session cookie that keeps basic settings consistent while you use a tool.

Because these cookies are required for the site to function, they are used even if you decline analytics and advertising cookies.

Analytics Cookies

Purpose: These cookies help us understand how visitors find and use the site — for example, which tools and pages are popular, how people move through the site, and whether anything is broken — so we can improve performance and content. Where required by law, they are used only with your consent.

Example uses and providers: aggregated and statistical measurement of visits, traffic sources, and tool usage, provided by Google Analytics (which uses cookies such as _ga to distinguish users and measure sessions). Depending on configuration, IP addresses and similar data may be processed by the analytics provider; we use available controls (such as IP anonymization/truncation) where applicable.

If you decline analytics cookies through our consent tool, we will not load these analytics cookies, and your visit will not be measured in this way.

Advertising Cookies

Purpose: These cookies are used to show advertising, to make ads more relevant to your interests where you have allowed personalization, to limit how often you see the same ad (frequency capping), to measure ad performance, and to detect and prevent ad fraud. Where required by law, they are used only with your consent.

Example uses and providers: serving and measuring ads through Google AdSense and Google's advertising services, which set advertising cookies (such as Google's advertising and ad-personalization cookies) and may use identifiers to build or read an interest profile and to attribute ad interactions. These third parties act as independent controllers for their own advertising purposes; their use of data is governed by their own privacy and cookie policies.

If you decline advertising cookies through our consent tool, advertising personalization will not be enabled by us. Note that we may still display non-personalized (contextual) ads where this is permitted without consent; non-personalized ads still involve limited cookie use for purposes such as frequency capping, fraud prevention, and aggregate measurement, as described by the ad provider.

Third-Party Cookies and Ad Personalization

Some cookies on our site are set by third parties, most notably Google, in connection with analytics and advertising. When these third parties set cookies, they may receive information about your visit (such as the page you are on, your approximate location derived from your IP address, your device and browser type, and your interactions with ads or content). This processing is carried out under the third party's own privacy and cookie policies, and for advertising it may involve them acting as an independent or joint controller.

Personalized advertising means ads selected based on information about you or your activity over time and across sites or apps. We enable ad personalization only where you have consented (or where it is otherwise lawful in your region). You can opt out of personalized advertising at any time using our consent tool and the industry controls described in the next section, and many providers also let you continue to receive non-personalized ads instead.

Because third-party providers can update their technologies and the cookies they set, we recommend reviewing their policies for the most current details. Google's privacy and advertising information is available at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

How to Manage or Withdraw Your Consent

Our consent tool: Where required by law, we ask for your consent before loading analytics and advertising cookies, and you can accept or reject categories at that point. You can change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by reopening the consent/cookie settings link available on our site (for example, in the footer). Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew it.

Browser settings: Most browsers let you see what cookies are stored, block or delete them, and refuse cookies from specific sites or all sites. Look in your browser's "Settings," "Privacy," or "Cookies" section. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the site from working. Browser "Do Not Track" or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals are honored where we are required to do so.

Google and industry advertising controls: You can manage how Google personalizes ads to you at Google Ads Settings (myadcenter.google.com / adssettings.google.com). You can also use industry opt-out tools: in the United States, youradchoices.com (Digital Advertising Alliance) and optout.aboutads.info; and in the EU/UK, youronlinechoices.eu (European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance). These tools let you opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies. Note that opt-outs are typically stored in a cookie, so clearing cookies or using a different browser or device may require you to opt out again.

Your Choices Under GDPR, UK GDPR, ePrivacy, and CCPA/CPRA

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, non-essential cookies (analytics and advertising) are set only with your consent, in line with the ePrivacy rules and the GDPR/UK GDPR. You may give, decline, or withdraw consent for each category at any time using our consent tool, and you retain your data-protection rights (such as access, deletion, and objection) as described in our Privacy Policy.

If you are a California resident, certain advertising activities involving cookies may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information, or "cross-context behavioral advertising," under the CCPA/CPRA. You have the right to opt out of such sale/sharing. You can exercise this right through our consent tool, through the opt-out controls above, and by using a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal in your browser, which we treat as a valid opt-out request where applicable.

Regardless of your location, declining or withdrawing consent will not prevent you from using the tools on hifreetools.com, since the tools themselves run in your browser.

If You Decline Consent

If you decline consent (or do not consent where consent is required), we use only strictly necessary cookies. We do not load analytics cookies, and we do not enable advertising personalization through our consent-gated providers.

In that case, the only cookies and similar technologies used are those needed to operate the site securely and to remember your privacy choice — for example, the entry that records that you declined, so we do not repeatedly ask you. The site and its tools remain fully usable.

How Long Cookies Last (Consent Lifespan)

Cookies have different lifespans. Session cookies last only until you close your browser, while persistent cookies remain for a defined period or until you delete them. Analytics and advertising cookies set by third parties such as Google have retention periods determined by those providers; for example, certain Google Analytics and advertising cookies typically persist for up to about two years, though these periods can change.

Your consent choice is itself remembered for a limited period so that we do not ask you on every visit. We will re-ask for consent periodically (for example, after several months), and also if our cookie use changes materially or if you clear the relevant cookie/local-storage entry. You can re-open the consent tool to change your choice before then.

You can delete cookies (including our consent record) at any time through your browser. If you do, you may be asked for your cookie preferences again on your next visit.

Changes to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the technologies we use, the providers we work with, or legal requirements. When monetization features are first enabled, or when the categories of cookies change materially, we will update this policy and, where required, ask for your consent again.

The date of the latest update will be shown on this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. If you continue to use the site after changes take effect, and where your continued use does not by itself constitute consent under applicable law, we will rely on your consent choices recorded through our consent tool.

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies, please contact us at [email protected].