Cookie Policy

Last Updated: June 9, 2026

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or other internet-enabled device when you visit a website. They are widely used by website owners and operators to make websites work more efficiently, to improve user experience, and to provide reporting information.

Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, Chopt) are called "first-party cookies." Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called "third-party cookies." Third-party cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through a website — such as advertising, interactive content, and analytics. The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your device both when it visits the website in question and when it visits certain other websites.

Cookies typically contain the following information:

  • The name of the server the cookie was sent from
  • The lifetime of the cookie (how long it will remain on your device)
  • A value — usually a randomly generated unique number

Beyond cookies, we may also use similar tracking technologies such as:

  • Web Beacons (Pixel Tags): Tiny invisible images embedded in web pages or emails that track whether a page has been accessed or an email has been opened.
  • Local Storage: A method of storing data in your browser that persists even after the browser is closed.
  • Session Storage: Similar to local storage but data is cleared when the browser session ends.
  • Fingerprinting: A technique that collects information about your browser and device settings to create a unique identifier.

2. How Cookies Work

When you first visit chopt-meal.rest, our server sends a cookie to your browser, which stores it on your device. The next time you visit our website, your browser sends the cookie back to our server, allowing us to recognize your device and recall your preferences or activities.

Cookies can be classified by their lifespan:

  • Session Cookies: These are temporary cookies that exist only during your browsing session. They are automatically deleted when you close your browser. They help our website remember what you selected on previous pages during a single visit.
  • Persistent Cookies: These remain on your device for a set period after the browser is closed or until you delete them manually. They allow our website to recognize you as a returning visitor and remember your preferences across multiple visits.

3. Types of Cookies We Use

We use the following categories of cookies on our website:

3.1 Strictly Necessary (Essential) Cookies

Essential cookies help with:

  • Authenticating users and preventing fraudulent use of accounts
  • Remembering items in your shopping cart or order selection
  • Managing security tokens for forms
  • Ensuring the website loads properly and delivers content securely
  • Balancing website traffic across multiple servers

3.2 Analytics and Performance Cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website — for instance, which pages are visited most often, how long users spend on each page, and whether visitors receive error messages. All information collected by these cookies is aggregated and anonymous. They do not collect information that identifies you personally. We use this data to improve the performance and user experience of our website.

3.3 Functional Cookies

These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make (such as your username, preferred language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personalized features. They may also be used to provide services you have requested, such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymized, and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

3.4 Advertising and Targeting Cookies

These cookies are used to deliver advertisements that are more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. They remember that you have visited a website and this information may be shared with other organizations such as advertisers. Quite often, targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organizations.

4. Specific Cookies We Use

The following table provides detailed information about the specific cookies used on chopt-meal.rest:

Cookie Name Provider Purpose Type Duration
_ga Google Analytics Registers a unique ID used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. It distinguishes between users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. Analytics 2 years
_gid Google Analytics Registers a unique ID used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. It stores and updates a unique value for each page visited. Analytics 24 hours
_gat Google Analytics Used to throttle the request rate — limiting the collection of data on high-traffic websites. Helps manage the speed at which requests are made to the Google Analytics server. Analytics 1 minute
_gcl_au Google Ads Used by Google AdSense for experimenting with advertisement efficiency across websites using their services. Tracks conversions and measures the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Advertising 3 months
_fbp Facebook / Meta Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real-time bidding from third-party advertisers. Identifies browsers for purposes of providing advertising and website analytics. Advertising 3 months
fr Facebook / Meta Used by Facebook to show relevant advertisements to users and to measure and improve the relevance of advertisements. Contains a unique browser and user ID. Advertising 3 months
PHPSESSID chopt-meal.rest Preserves user session state across page requests. Essential for maintaining login sessions and shopping cart data. Essential Session
cookie_consent chopt-meal.rest Stores the user's cookie consent preferences to avoid displaying the consent banner on repeat visits. Essential 1 year
cart_session chopt-meal.rest Remembers items added to the food order cart during a browsing session so items are not lost when navigating between pages. Essential Session
user_preferences chopt-meal.rest Stores user preferences such as dietary preferences, saved meal customizations, and preferred restaurant location. Functional 6 months
lang_pref chopt-meal.rest Remembers the user's language or regional settings to display content in the appropriate format. Functional 1 year
_hjSessionUser Hotjar Set when a user first lands on a page. Used to persist the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site on the browser. Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID. Analytics 1 year
_hjSession Hotjar A cookie that holds the current session data. Ensures subsequent requests within the session window are attributed to the same session. Analytics 30 minutes

5. Third-Party Cookies

In addition to our own cookies, we may allow third-party service providers to place cookies on your device when you visit our website. These third parties include, but are not limited to:

We do not have direct control over the information collected by third-party cookies. We recommend that you review the privacy and cookie policies of these third parties for more information about their practices.

6. How to Manage and Disable Cookies

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies (except for strictly necessary cookies which are required for the website to function). There are several ways to manage your cookie preferences:

6.1 Browser Settings

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

Here are links to cookie management instructions for popular browsers:

6.2 Opt-Out Tools for Specific Services

You can opt out of specific third-party cookies using the following tools and links:

Service Opt-Out Link Description
Google Analytics Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on Install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on to prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics.
Google Ads Personalization Google Ad Settings Manage your Google advertising preferences and opt out of personalized ads.
Facebook / Meta Ads Facebook Ad Preferences Manage your Facebook advertising preferences and opt out of interest-based advertising.
Hotjar Hotjar Opt-Out Opt out of Hotjar's tracking and analytics on all websites.
Network Advertising Initiative NAI Opt-Out Tool Opt out of interest-based advertising from all NAI member companies.
Digital Advertising Alliance DAA Opt-Out Tool Opt out of online interest-based advertising from participating companies.

6.3 Mobile Device Settings

If you access our website through a mobile device, you can manage your advertising preferences through your device's settings:

  • iOS (Apple): Go to Settings → Privacy → Tracking → Toggle off "Allow Apps to Request to Track"
  • Android (Google): Go to Settings → Google → Ads → Opt out of Ads Personalization

7. Impact of Disabling Cookies

The specific impacts of disabling each type of cookie are as follows:

7.1 Disabling Essential Cookies

If you disable or block essential cookies, please be aware that:

  • You may not be able to log into your account or maintain a logged-in session
  • Items in your food order cart may not be saved as you navigate between pages
  • Certain security features may not function properly, potentially exposing you to security risks
  • Some pages of our website may not load correctly or may not be accessible at all

7.2 Disabling Analytics Cookies

If you disable analytics cookies:

  • We will not be able to collect data about how you use our website
  • We may be less able to identify and fix errors or issues on our website
  • We may be less able to improve the overall performance and user experience of our website
  • Your browsing experience on our website will not be directly affected

7.3 Disabling Functional Cookies

If you disable functional cookies:

  • Your preferences (such as dietary restrictions, saved meal customizations) will not be remembered between visits
  • You may need to re-enter your preferences each time you visit our website
  • Some features of our website may not work as expected

7.4 Disabling Advertising Cookies

If you disable advertising cookies:

  • You will still see advertisements, but they will be less relevant to your interests
  • You may see the same advertisements more frequently, as frequency capping will not function
  • We will be less able to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns

8. Cookies and Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location within the United States, you may have specific rights regarding the personal information collected through cookies:

8.1 California Residents — CCPA/CPRA Rights

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) grants you the following rights with respect to personal information collected through cookies:

  • Right to Know: You have the right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell about you.
  • Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of your personal information that we have collected.
  • Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: You have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
  • Right to Limit Use: You have the right to limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information.
  • Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your privacy rights.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided in Section 10 of this policy.

8.2 Federal Consumer Protection

Our cookie practices are also governed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices. We are committed to transparent disclosure of our data collection practices in compliance with FTC guidelines.

9. Updates to This Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated Cookie Policy on this page with a new "Last Updated" date.

We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. Your continued use of our website after any changes to this Cookie Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies and similar tracking technologies, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Chopt — Cookie Policy Inquiries

We will endeavor to respond to all cookie-related inquiries within a reasonable timeframe. For privacy-related requests from California residents under the CCPA/CPRA, we will respond within 45 days of receiving your verifiable consumer request.