Surfshark Cookie Policy
Last Update 2026.04.21.
Most sites on the internet, including Surfshark’s, use cookies, pixels, web beacons, and other similar technologies (collectively called “cookies”), as they are pretty convenient to help provide, protect, and improve our Services and Website.
1. What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small string of data that transfers to your device for identification purposes.
Surfshark utilizes cookies for several reasons, all aimed at enhancing your experience and ensuring the security of our services. These small data files help us maintain the efficient and secure functioning of our Website, allowing us to detect and prevent fraud effectively. Cookies also enable us to remember your preferences and recognize you as a returning visitor, tailoring your browsing experience by analyzing your habits and personalizing content. Furthermore, we gather statistical information on Website traffic and usage, and to display customized advertisements that are more relevant to your interests.
2. What categories of cookies does Surfshark collect?
Surfshark uses the following categories of cookies:
By cookie purpose
| Necessary cookies | These cookies are crucial for the core operations of our Website, and they're automatically placed on your devices to keep things running smoothly — no explicit consent needed. |
|---|---|
| Analytic cookies | These cookies help us to understand your browsing behavior. They track which parts of our Website you find most engaging and flag any areas where you hit an error. They allow us to make improvements to our Website and analyze their performance. |
| Marketing cookies | These cookies are used to track user activity and sessions so that we can deliver a more personalized service. Marketing cookies are set by third parties with whom we execute marketing campaigns and allow us to provide marketing relevant to you. |
| Affiliate | Affiliate cookies allow us to identify the customers referred to our Website by our partners so that we can grant the referrers their commission. |
By cookie origin
| First-party cookies | These are placed directly by our Website on your device. |
|---|---|
| Third-party cookies | These are placed by other services that are integrated into our Website, like analytics or advertising platforms. For example, if you click a partner's link to reach our site, a third-party cookie might be used to track that interaction so that the partner can provide you with relevant offers. |
By cookie duration
| Session | These are temporary and are deleted as soon as you close your browser. |
|---|---|
| Persistent | These stay on your device for a set amount of time, which can range from a few days to several years. They will remain there unless you delete them yourself. You can learn how to do this in the "How to control cookies" section of the Cookie Policy. |
There are many great resources to learn about the different types of cookies and how they work. You can check out websites like https://knowcookies.com/ or https://allaboutcookies.org/.
3. What specific cookies Surfshark collects?
We may occasionally test new cookies on our Website, and any that are permanently adopted will be added to the tables below.
Our Website employs the following first-party cookies:
| Cookie | Expiry | Provenance | Purpose | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| surfshark-locale | 29 days | Surfshark | Stores selected website language | Functional |
| surfshark-coupon | Session | Surfshark | Stores the applied coupon code | Essential |
| surfshark-on-exit-dialog-shown | 1 year | Surfshark | Stores interactions with exit surveys | Functional |
| surfshark-intent-survey-shown | 1 year | Surfshark | Stores session data related to intent surveys | Functional |
| surfshark-cf-uuid | 30 min | Surfshark | Used to prevent fraud | Essential |
| surfshark-sticky-cta-closed | Session | Surfshark | Captures engagement data for promotional pop-ups | Functional |
| surfshark-uuid | 1 year | Surfshark | Maintains an encrypted session identifier | Functional |
| _ssli | 13 months | Surfshark | Maintains authenticated session settings | Functional |
| _sstk | 1 year | Surfshark | Used for authentication purposes | Essential |
| _ssrtk | 1 year | Surfshark | Used for authentication purposes | Essential |
| _ssexp | 2 hours | Surfshark | Used for authentication purposes | Essential |
| sf-af | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores the parameter of the previous visit | Marketing |
| sf-ap | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores the parameter of the previous visit | Marketing |
| sf-lu | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores the prior page URL | Marketing |
| sf-la | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores the prior page URL | Marketing |
| sf-fi | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores the prior page URL | Marketing |
| sf-rf | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores referral program information | Functional |
| surfshark-consent-state | 13 months | Surfshark | Stores cookie consent | Essential |
| _sp_ses.{{DOMAIN HASH}} | 30 minutes | Surfshark | Determines the current session authentication status | Analytic |
| _sp_id.{{DOMAIN HASH}} | 13 months | Surfshark | Persists attributes across sessions | Analytic |
| surfshark-hide-renewal-off-notification | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores engagement status for auto-renewal notification | Functional |
| surfshark-hide-renewal-not-supported-notification | 30 days | Surfshark | Stores engagement status for auto-renewal notification | Functional |
| surfshark-hide-setup-guide | 1 year | Surfshark | Stores interactions within the setup guide | Functional |
| surfshark-skip-upgrade | 14 days | Surfshark | Stores interactions with upgrade screen | Functional |
| surfshark-app-auto-download-triggered | 1 year | Surfshark | Stores the initiation status of automatic application downloads | Functional |
| surfshark-product | Session | Surfshark | Redirects back to product after additional product purchase | Functional |
| surfshark-expired-url | Session | Surfshark | Stores session errors to facilitate redirection to fallback workflows | Functional |
| surfshark-activate-user-error | Session | Surfshark | Indicates errors to facilitate redirection to fallback workflows | Functional |
| surfshark-purchase-error | Session | Surfshark | Shows purchase-related errors | Essential |
| surfshark-teams-purchase-error | Session | Surfshark | Shows purchase-related errors | Essential |
| surfshark-free-trial-purchase-error | Session | Surfshark | Shows purchase-related errors | Essential |
| surfshark-card-purchase-error | Session | Surfshark | Shows purchase-related errors | Essential |
| surfshark-payment-settings-success | Session | Surfshark | Shows payment update success status | Essential |
| surfshark-payment-settings-processing-error | Session | Surfshark | Shows payment method update errors status | Essential |
| surfshark-hide-manual-setup-startup | 1 year | Surfshark | Stores information about actions on setup screen | Functional |
| surfshark-purchase-survey-showed | 1 year | Surfshark | Stores interaction data for order-related exit survey | Functional |
| surfshark-success-purchase | Session | Surfshark | Displays purchase history | Essential |
| surfshark-ref-checkout-path | Session | Surfshark | Facilitates purchase flow redirection after failed payment | Essential |
| surfshark-onboarding-task | Session | Surfshark | Manages navigation state between onboarding tasks | Essential |
| surfshark-upgrade-initially-skipped | Session | Surfshark | Manages session redirection following an upgrade transaction | Functional |
| surfshark-cancel-deal | Session | Surfshark | Maintains session data regarding applicable promotions | Functional |
| surfshark-chat-session | Session | Surfshark | Maintains support chat continuity during site navigation | Functional |
| shark-check | Session | Surfshark | Checks cookie enablement status | Essential |
| surfshark-purchase-data | Session | Surfshark | Supports payment processing | Essential |
| surfshark-experiments | 1 year | Surfshark | Maintains session data for interface optimization research | Functional |
| surfshark-experiments-exclude | Session | Surfshark | Manages session segmentation for interface optimization | Functional |
| shark-oauth-link | Session | Surfshark | Supports third-party authentication | Essential |
| shark-oauth-verify | Session | Surfshark | Supports third-party authentication | Essential |
| shark-oauth-referrer | Session | Surfshark | Supports third-party authentication | Essential |
| shark-oauth-skip-prompt | Session | Surfshark | Supports third-party authentication | Essential |
| shark-oauth-challenge | Session | Surfshark | Supports third-party authentication | Essential |
| surfshark-onboarding-upgrade-visited | 1 year | Surfshark | Manages session routing following interaction with the upgrade interface | Functional |
Third-party service providers we currently use include:
| Service provider | Purpose | Privacy policy | How to disable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adyen | Essential | https://www.adyen.com/privacy-policy | Cannot be turned off |
| Apple | Essential | https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/ | Cannot be turned off |
| AppsFlyer | Analytics, advertising | https://www.appsflyer.com/legal/services-privacy-policy/ | Opt-out |
| Cloudflare | Essential | https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/ | Cannot be turned off |
| Analytics, advertising, functionality | https://business.safety.google/privacy/ | Opt-out | |
| Iterable | Analytics, advertising, functionality | https://iterable.com/legal/privacy-policy/ | Please change your application or browser settings to disable cookies |
| Meta | Analytics, advertising | https://www.facebook.com/privacy/center/ | Opt-out |
| Microsoft | Advertising | https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement | Please change your application or browser settings to disable cookies |
| Paypal | Essential | https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/privacy-full | Cannot be turned off |
| ProcessOut | Essential | https://www.processout.com/privacy-policy | Cannot be turned off |
| Purchasely | Functionality, Analytics | https://www.purchasely.com/privacy-policy | Please change your application or browser settings to disable cookies |
| TikTok Information Technologies | Advertising | https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/en | Please change your application or browser settings to disable cookies |
| TVSquared | Analytics, advertising | https://www.innovid.com/privacy-policy | Opt-out |
| Typeform | Functionality | https://admin.typeform.com/to/dwk6gt/ | Please change your application or browser settings to disable cookies |
| Zendesk | Functionality | https://www.zendesk.co.uk/company/agreements-and-terms/privacy-notice/ | Opt-out here |
4. How to control cookies?
You can control the cookies deployed on your devices. You may update your cookie preferences at any time by selecting the 'Cookie Preferences' link in the Website footer. Also, the majority of cookie types can be regulated or eradicated via your web browser's configuration options. Please be aware, however, that when you choose to reject cookies, this choice may limit the functionality of the Website and you may lose access to some of its features.
For detailed instructions on adjusting cookie preferences within various commonly used browsers, please consult the following directional links:
Also, if you would like to disable advertising cookies, please learn more at Network Advertising Initiative’s opt-out page, the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out page, or http://youronlinechoices.eu.
We note that our Website may contain links to external sites that may take you outside of our Website and are beyond our control. Please note that these other sites may send their own cookies to users, collect data, or solicit personal information. We urge you to review the equivalent data protection, privacy, and cookie policies available on their websites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the data protection or privacy practices of third-party websites and your use of third-party websites is entirely your own responsibility.
5. Does our website respond to do-not-track signals?
Currently, it doesn’t. You can tweak your specific browser settings to achieve very similar results.
At this time, Surfshark does not recognize automated browser signals regarding tracking mechanisms, which may include “do-not-track” instructions. However, you can change your privacy preferences regarding the use of cookies and similar technologies through your browser. You may set your browser to accept all cookies, block certain cookies, require your consent before a cookie is placed in your browser, or block all cookies. Please note that blocking all cookies will affect your online experience and may prevent you from enjoying the full features offered by our Website.
Back to the Privacy Policy