Cookie Policy
This policy lists every cookie and browser-storage key Pillar sets — on this public website and inside the field service management platform — what each one does, and how long it lasts.
Version 2.0 — Effective August 10, 2026
1. Cookies, localStorage, and sessionStorage
Cookies are small files a site stores on your device and sends back with each request — that is how a site knows you are signed in. Two related mechanisms do similar jobs without being cookies: localStorage keeps values on your device until they are cleared, and sessionStorage keeps them only until you close the tab. Neither is sent to a server automatically. We use all three, and all three are listed below.
2. On this website
Google Analytics
This website loads Google Analytics on every page to measure traffic and see which pages get read. It sets its own cookies (_ga and _ga_*) and reports usage data to Google: pages viewed, time on page, referring source, approximate location derived from your IP address, and device and browser type.
We do not show a cookie consent banner. Analytics loads without asking you first. We would rather tell you that here than put up a dialog that most people click through. You can stop it with your browser settings, a tracking blocker, or Google's own opt-out browser add-on.
Google Analytics is not loaded inside the signed-in platform, so it never sees your customers, jobs, or invoices.
The local page link
A small pill sometimes appears offering a link to a page about your area. To decide whether to show it, our server looks up the approximate city for your IP address using ipwho.is, a third-party lookup service. The request is made by our server, so your browser never contacts ipwho.is. Only the answer — which local link to offer, or none — comes back to the page, and it is held in sessionStorage until you close the tab. No cookie is set and nothing is stored on our side.
What this website does not do
No advertising pixels, no retargeting tags, no social tracking scripts, and no session-recording tools run on this site. Analytics is the only third-party measurement we load.
3. Inside the Pillar platform
Sign-in cookies (required)
Your session is carried in two HttpOnly cookies, which page scripts cannot read. The short-lived access_token authenticates each request; the longer-lived refresh_token replaces it when it expires, and is sent only to the refresh endpoint. Both are marked SameSite=Lax, which is what stops another site from riding your session. Without them you cannot sign in.
Preferences and cached profile (localStorage)
Your theme, your active role view, and whether you dismissed the app-install prompt are kept on your device so the interface behaves consistently. One entry does hold personal data: a cached copy of your own profile — name, email address, role, and company — so the app can draw itself before the server replies. It is cleared when you sign out.
Third parties inside the platform
- Cloudflare Turnstile — the anti-abuse check on the sign-up form. Where it is configured, Cloudflare runs a challenge in your browser and may set its own storage to do it. It is on the sign-up page only, not throughout the app. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
- Stripe — payment pages are hosted by Stripe, which sets its own cookies for fraud detection and secure payment collection. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
- Maps and address lookup — map views are drawn from map data we host ourselves, and addresses are converted to coordinates by the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder with OpenStreetMap Nominatim as a fallback. Those lookups happen on our server; neither sets a cookie in your browser.
4. Full inventory
Every cookie and storage key Pillar itself sets. Cookies set by Stripe and Cloudflare on their own pages and challenges are theirs to document and are covered by the policies linked above.
| Name | Type | Where | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| access_token | HttpOnly cookie | Platform | 15 minutes | Authenticates your session with the Pillar API. Not readable by page scripts |
| refresh_token | HttpOnly cookie | Platform | 7 days | Obtains a new access token without making you sign in again. Sent only to the token refresh endpoint |
| _ga, _ga_* | Third-party cookie | This website | Up to 2 years (Google’s default) | Set by Google Analytics to tell one visitor from another and count page views. Not set inside the signed-in platform |
| theme | localStorage | Platform | Until you change or clear it | Your display preference — light, dark, or follow the system |
| active_view | localStorage | Platform | Until you change or clear it | The role view you last selected |
| user | localStorage | Platform | Until you sign out or clear it | A cached copy of your own profile — your name, email address, role, and company — so the interface can render before the server replies. It is your own data, held on your own device, and it is cleared on sign-out |
| pwa-install-dismissed-at, pwa-ios-install-dismissed-at | localStorage | Platform | 7 days, then ignored | Records the moment you dismissed the "install this app" prompt — one key for iOS, one for every other browser — so it stops asking for seven days and then offers once more. Both are removed if you install the app |
| pillar:geo-local | sessionStorage | This website | Until you close the tab | Which local page link to offer you, or "none" — the result of the city lookup described below. It holds a single word, never your location itself |
| pillar:geo-local-dismissed | sessionStorage | This website | Until you close the tab | Remembers that you closed the local link, so it does not come back during your visit |
5. Managing cookies and storage
Every browser lets you view, delete, and block cookies and site storage, usually per site. Check your browser's help pages for how.
Important: blocking the sign-in cookies (access_token and refresh_token) will prevent you from signing in to Pillar. The platform needs them to authenticate your session.
Clearing localStorage resets your theme and role view and signs the cached profile away; nothing in your account is affected. Clearing sessionStorage, or simply closing the tab, discards the local-link values on this website.
6. Contact
Questions about this policy, or about anything Pillar stores in your browser:
Pillar Software Solutions LLC
Email: admin@pillarfsm.com
Mailing address: c/o Northwest Registered Agent LLC, 502 W 7th St, Ste 100, Erie, PA 16502, USA