Cookie Policy

1. Introduction

This Cookie Policy explains how Topcuts (“Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on www.topcuts.com (the “Site”). Our Site uses our own cookie consent banner, which we operate directly rather than through a third-party consent management platform. When you first visit the Site you may accept, deny, or customize non-essential cookies, and you can change your choices at any time by clicking the fingerprint icon in the lower-left corner of the Site. This consent banner is the primary way to control whether our non-essential cookies and tags are used; see Section 6 for additional cookie-management options.

2. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They may be “session cookies,” which expire when you close your browser, or “persistent cookies,” which remain on your device for a set period or until manually deleted. This Policy also covers similar technologies — such as pixels, tags, and local storage — that perform comparable functions.

3. Categories of Cookies We Use

Our consent banner groups cookies and similar technologies into the categories below, which mirror the choices available to you in the banner. The specific services active in each category — and their individual descriptions — are listed in the consent banner itself, which is the authoritative, up-to-date source.

3.1 Essential

Required for the basic operation and security of the Site — including core functionality, security, network management, load balancing, form submissions, and remembering your cookie-consent choices. These cannot be switched off through the banner. Essential technologies include those provided by our website platform and host (Render), our own cookie consent banner (which stores your choice on your device so we can remember it), Google Tag Manager (which manages the delivery of tags on our Site), and tools that help us operate, host, and secure the Site (such as error monitoring). Essential cookies do not include analytics or behavioural tracking, which are covered under the Analytical category below.

3.2 Analytical

Help us understand how visitors interact with the Site — such as pages visited, time on page, traffic sources, and browser/device information — so we can measure and improve performance. These include:

Google Analytics (Google LLC), which collects information such as browser characteristics, device information, and interaction data to help us measure and improve the performance of the Site; and

Hotjar (Hotjar Ltd.), which may record session activity such as clicks, scrolling, and mouse movement to help us understand how visitors use the Site.

These technologies are blocked by default and are activated only after you enable the Analytical category through the consent banner.

3.3 Marketing

Help deliver relevant advertisements and measure the performance of our advertising campaigns. We use the Meta (Facebook) Pixel (Meta Platforms, Inc.), which enables us to measure the effectiveness of our advertising and to reach relevant audiences on Meta’s platforms. These technologies are blocked by default and are activated only after you enable the Marketing category through the consent banner.

3.4 Embedded Content

Some pages, such as our salon location pages, include third-party content embedded from other services — in particular Google Maps (Google LLC). The Google Maps embed is subject to our consent controls: it is loaded only after you provide the applicable consent through our consent banner. When you then view a page containing an embedded Google Map, Google may collect information about your interaction with the map, including device and usage information, in accordance with Google’s privacy practices. If you do not provide consent, embedded maps may not display.

Consent. Analytical and Marketing technologies — including Google Analytics, Hotjar, and the Meta (Facebook) Pixel — are blocked by default and are activated only after you provide consent through our consent banner. You can enable or disable the Analytical and Marketing categories independently, and change your choices at any time via the fingerprint icon in the lower-left corner of the Site.

4. Summary of Cookies Used on Our Site

Essential — website platform and hosting (Render), our own cookie consent banner, tag management (Google Tag Manager), site security, functionality, form submissions, and error monitoring.

Analytical — Google Analytics and Hotjar.

Marketing — Meta (Facebook) Pixel.

Embedded Content — Google Maps on salon location pages.

5. Applicable Law

This Cookie Policy is intended to comply with applicable Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). For more information about your privacy rights, please see the “Your Privacy Rights” section of our Privacy Policy.

6. Managing and Disabling Cookies

The primary way to control whether our non-essential cookies and tags (Analytical and Marketing) are used is through our consent banner. You may manage your preferences at any time:

Consent banner (primary): click the fingerprint icon in the lower-left corner of the Site to reopen the consent banner, where you can enable or disable the Analytical, Marketing and Embedded content categories independently. This is the mechanism that controls whether our non-essential tags are activated.

Browser controls (supplementary): Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari all provide cookie management settings in their privacy/security preferences. These are a general, additional way to manage cookies but do not replace the consent banner as the means of controlling whether our non-essential tags fire.

Advertising opt-outs (supplementary): Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada — AdChoices (youradchoices.ca) and the Network Advertising Initiative (optout.networkadvertising.org).

You may also manage certain Google advertising and analytics preferences through Google’s available privacy controls. Disabling certain cookies may affect Site functionality.

7. Data Retention

Cookie data is retained only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy or as required by applicable law. Retention periods vary by cookie and provider; details for individual services are available in the consent banner and the relevant provider’s privacy policy.

8. Contact Us

If you have questions regarding this Cookie Policy, please contact us at info@topcuts.com or (416) 223-1700, or by mail at 54 Vaughan Road, Toronto, ON M6G 2N4.

9. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. Updates will be posted with a revised “Last Updated” date.