Why does DAREBEE use browser cookies?
Short answer: so we can stay free, fast, and fully private - for everyone. Here's the longer version.
Wait, I thought cookies were a privacy concern?
They can be, when they're used to track you across the web for advertising purposes. That's not what's happening here. DAREBEE uses cookies only to remember your own progress - and that data never leaves your device. It stays in your browser, on your machine. No one else can see it. Not us, not anyone.
Why don't you just use logins like other sites?
We used to. The problem is that storing progress data for thousands of users is genuinely expensive - in server load, in storage, in maintenance. DAREBEE is a small non-profit running on limited resources, and every bit of server capacity we have goes toward keeping the site fast and reliable for everyone who visits. Storing millions of individual workout data points on our end would slow everything down and cost money we'd rather spend on making more free content. By moving progress tracking to your browser, we solved the problem - and accidentally gave you something better in the process.
So where exactly is my data?
Right where you're sitting. Your workout completions, challenge progress, and dashboard data are stored in your browser's local storage on your own device. Think of it like a personal notebook that only you have access to - it's not on our servers, it's not in a database somewhere, and it's not being transmitted anywhere.
What does DAREBEE actually see?
Nothing about your progress. When you visit the site, we see what any web server sees - a request for a page. Your completed workouts, your challenge streaks, your dashboard - none of that reaches us. We have no record of it because we never receive it.
What's the catch?
Just one thing worth knowing: because your progress lives in your browser, it's tied to that browser on that device. If you clear your browser data, use a different browser, or switch devices, your progress won't automatically follow you. That's the trade-off - and we think it's a fair one given what you get in return. If you use DAREBEE on multiple devices, you'll need to track progress separately on each one for now.
What about the Community - does that work the same way?
No, the Community (our forums) has its own separate login. That's a different system entirely, and your account there is for connecting with other people - not for tracking workouts on the main site. The two are intentionally separate.
We made this change to keep DAREBEE running well for everyone - free, fast, and with no data sitting on our servers that doesn't need to be there. Your progress is yours. That felt like the right call.
