In short
- We set only the cookies needed for sign-in, security and your own settings. We use no analytics or advertising cookies.
- Players from YouTube, Vimeo and similar services load only after you allow external media or click "Load video". Those services can then set their own cookies.
- Change your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" in the footer or on this page, or block cookies in your browser.
- A few images and tools still load from other sites, which then see your IP address. Section 4 lists them.
1. What cookies and similar technologies are
Cookies are small text files that a website stores in your browser and reads on later visits. Local storage and session storage also keep information in your browser: session storage until you close the tab, local storage until you or your browser delete it.
First-party items come from our own websites; third-party ones come from other services whose content a page loads. Session cookies end when you close the browser; persistent ones last for the period shown in section 2.
2. Cookies we set
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| __Secure-authjs.session-token (sometimes split into numbered parts) | Keeps you signed in | 30 days |
| __Host-authjs.csrf-token | Protects sign-in and other forms against forged requests | Until you close the browser |
| __Secure-authjs.callback-url | Takes you back to the page you came from after signing in | Until you close the browser |
| __Secure-authjs.pkce.code_verifier | Protects signing in with Google: it checks that the answer from Google belongs to the sign-in you started | 15 minutes |
| sphere_terms_acceptance | Keeps your acceptance of the Terms of Service, and your choice about the weekly digest, while you sign up with Google | 15 minutes |
| locale | Remembers the language you chose | 1 year |
| messages_tab | Remembers the last tab you opened in messages | 180 days |
| sphere_dismiss_app_banner | Remembers that you closed the banner about installing Sphere Cinema on your phone | 30 days |
A visitor who does not sign in, change the language or close the install banner gets no cookies from us. We use no analytics cookies and no advertising cookies.
Our pages report technical errors (your IP address, the page address, browser details and what went wrong) to our error-monitoring provider, Sentry, through our own domain. This sets no cookie and uses no browser storage (Privacy Policy, section 7 "Service providers and other recipients").
3. Browser storage we use
| Key | Type | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| sphere.cookieConsent | Local | Your choice about cookies and external media, and when you made it |
| sphere.welcomeDismissed, spherik-welcome-dismissed, sphere.dashboardTourDismissed | Local | That you closed the welcome banner, the SPHERIK welcome or the dashboard tour |
| theme | Local | Light or dark display |
| sphere:new-project-draft (with your Account id added) | Local and session | A Project setup draft you have not saved yet |
| role-apply-draft (with the role id added) | Session | An Application pitch and link you have not sent yet |
These items stay in your browser; we receive a draft only when you submit it. Clearing your browser data removes them, and closing the tab removes session items.
4. Embedded players from YouTube and Vimeo
4.1 Players that wait for your choice
Profiles, résumés, Project pages, trailers, the Catalog and Project hubs can show videos from YouTube or Vimeo, audio from Spotify or SoundCloud, or a player from another site that a Project links. We call these external media.
External media loads only if you allow it in the cookie banner, or when you click "Load video" (or "Load player" for audio) on a single player. That click loads that one player and stores nothing. Until then, the page shows a placeholder that names the service.
When a player loads, the service receives your IP address and browser details and may set its own cookies or similar items under its own privacy policy, as an independent Controller (Privacy Policy, section 1 "Who is responsible for your data"). We load YouTube players from youtube-nocookie.com and ask Vimeo players not to track you; their own policies and terms still govern what they collect (Terms of Service, section 11 "Third-party services and links").
4.2 Content that still loads from other sites
The items below load without asking, so the site that serves them receives your IP address and browser details:
- poster images of videos, from YouTube or Vimeo;
- sample images and videos on demonstration profiles and pages, from Unsplash, DiceBear and public test-video sites;
- the developer documentation page /api/docs, which loads its viewer from unpkg.com;
- media files uploaded before 4 August 2026, which our storage provider Vercel delivers from the United States;
- the video details your browser asks Vimeo for when you paste a Vimeo link into a video field;
- once private Screenings open, the player of a private Screening, which Cloudflare Stream delivers when you open a Screening you asked to watch.
5. Your choices
On your first visit, a banner asks for your choice. It offers "Accept all" and "Necessary only" with equal weight, and a separate choice for external media. Strictly necessary cookies and storage are always on. On a player's placeholder you can also tick "Always allow external media", which stores the same choice. We keep your choice in your browser (section 3).
You can change or withdraw your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" in the site footer or on this page. Withdrawing is as easy as giving consent: choose "Necessary only", and players already loaded on the page unload.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser. Blocking our necessary cookies stops sign-in; blocking third-party cookies limits what players can store. After you clear your browser data, the banner asks again.
6. Legal basis and consent
Cookies and storage that are strictly necessary for a feature you ask for, such as signing in, protecting forms, remembering your language or keeping an unsent draft, need no consent. They rely on our contract with you and our legitimate interest in a working, protected Service.
Everything else that stores or reads information on your device needs your consent before it is set, and you can withdraw consent as easily as you gave it (section 5). The items in section 4.2 are not meant to store anything on your device, and the sites that serve them see your IP address. Error reports rely on our legitimate interest in finding and fixing faults. Identifiers in cookies are Personal Data, so the Privacy Policy applies to them. For visitors in the European Union, we apply the same rules in line with Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC).
7. Changes and contact
We may update this document. We tell you about material changes by email and in the Service at least 14 days before they take effect, and at least 30 days before for changes to Seller fees, Payouts or selling rules, as set out in the Terms of Service, section 15 "Changes to the Service and the Legal Documents". Earlier versions of this document are available on request at legal@sphere.art.
Questions about cookies and your choices: privacy@sphere.art.