BlackLine Cookie Policy

Effective 09/06/2023

BlackLine Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy (“Policy”) explains how BlackLine uses cookies and similar technologies (collectively, “Cookies”) to recognize you when you visit a BlackLine website or use a BlackLine app that links to the BlackLine Privacy Policy (each a “Website” and collectively, the “Websites”). It explains what Cookies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control their use. It should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy. Any capitalized terms used herein that are not otherwise defined shall have the meanings given to them in the Privacy Policy.


To learn more about which Cookies we use and for which purposes, please visit our Cookie Table or Cookie Settings, which may be found in the Websites’ footer. To learn more about how we process Personal Data and the identity of the controller, please visit our Privacy Policy.


Table of Contents:

  1. What are Cookies?

  2. Why do we use Cookies on BlackLine Websites?

  3. What Cookies do we use on BlackLine Websites?

  4. What about other Tracking Technologies?

  5. How can you Control Cookies?

  6. How can you opt-out of Targeting Cookies?

  7. Do Not Track (DNT)

  8. Changes to this Policy

  9. Contact Us

  10. List of Third-Party Targeting Cookies


Download/print a copy of this Policy

What are Cookies?

Cookies are small data files that are stored and accessed on your device when you visit websites or other digital properties and allow websites and apps to recognize your device next time you visit, and track your use of the digital property, browsing history, personal preferences, and interests, and improve and customize your browsing experience. Cookies may contain or transmit unique identifiers that are considered Personal Data under certain data protection laws, such as IP address, device information, and website usage.


Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, BlackLine) 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 the website (e.g., like advertising, interactive content and analytics). The parties that set these third party cookies can recognize your computer both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites.


Session cookies are cookies that disappear from your computer or browser when you turn off your computer. Persistent cookies stay on your computer even after you’ve turned it off for a fixed period of time. BlackLine uses first-party cookies and third party cookies, as well as session and persistent cookies.


Why do we use Cookies on BlackLine Websites?


We use Cookies for four main purposes:

  • Strictly Necessary Cookies are strictly necessary to enable basic features of the Website and for security purposes related to user interaction. For example, we use Strictly Necessary Cookies to ensure the Websites’ content is displayed correctly, to keep your individual language settings, temporarily store your input in webforms, identify and record your consent status for our Cookie Settings manager according to your country, provide load-balancing functionality, and ensure session management when you authenticate and access secure areas of the Websites. They cannot be switched off in our systems. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these Cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.

  • Functional Cookies enable our Websites to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, then some or all of these services may not function properly.

  • Performance Cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our Websites. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. They allow us and third parties to analyze your use of the Website to evaluate and improve our performance as well as to provide a better customer experience on our Websites. If you do not allow these Cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.

  • Targeting Cookies may be set, with your consent, through our Websites (excluding the Hosted Service) by our third party advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to better understand your interests and show you ads that are more relevant to you on other sites in an effort to “re-market” our products and services to you. These Cookies are used to track users over time and across websites, including by third parties. For example, we use Targeting Cookies to show our advertisements on third-party websites based on your user preferences, and to determine when you visit our Websites directly from clicking on such advertisements. These Cookies may also reveal how many visitors with specific preferences have seen or clicked on our advertisements to optimize our advertising campaigns. If you do not allow these Cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.


What Cookies do we use on BlackLine Websites?

For a list of the Cookies used on the BlackLine Websites, see our Cookie Table. In addition to our Cookie Table, see the list of Targeting Cookies used on the BlackLine Websites in the table located at the end of this Policy.


Hosted Service and Partner Portal. If you access our Partner Portal or Hosted Service subject to the BlackLine Master Subscription Agreement or other contract between us and your organization, Strictly Necessary, Functional and Performance cookies and similar technologies will be used as necessary for the performance of that contract and for our legitimate business operations related to providing, supporting, maintaining, improving and securing the Hosted Service and our Partner Portal. We do not use Targeting Cookies in our mobile app, Hosted Service or Partner Portal.


What about other Tracking Technologies?

Cookies are not the only way to recognize or track visitors to our Websites. We may use other similar but technically different means (such as tracking pixels or software development kits [SDKs], web beacons, HTTP Etags, local and session storage, TLS Session IDs, HTML 5 and JavaScript). For example, tracking pixels are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that enable us to recognize when someone has visited our Websites or opened an email that we have sent them. This allows us, for example, to monitor the browsing history of users from one page within our Websites to another, to store or access Cookies, to understand whether users have come to our Websites from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website, to improve site performance, and to measure the success of email marketing campaigns. In many instances, these technologies (covered by the term “Cookies”) allow our Websites or other digital properties to function properly, and so declining Cookies may impair their functioning and affect your user experience.


How can you control Cookies?

Except for Strictly Necessary, you have the right to decide whether to accept or decline Cookies. Because Strictly Necessary are essential to deliver our Websites to you, you cannot refuse them. Where required by applicable law, we will not set Functional, Performance and Targeting Cookies unless you enable them. Certain content and features on our Websites depend on Cookies to function and choosing to disable Cookies may limit your ability to use some features on our Websites. For example, authentication cookies are used to identify and recognize registered users of our Hosted Service and to enable them to gain access to requested content or features. If you choose to block Cookies, you cannot sign in or use certain content or features. If you choose to delete Cookies, any settings and preferences dependent on those Cookies will be lost.


Regardless of your location, you can exercise your Cookie preferences through our “Cookie Settings” manager at any time (link located in the footer of our Website), even if you initially accepted or declined all or certain Cookies. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect. Once you’ve made your choices in the Cookie Settings, they will be stored for 365 days so you don’t have to re-configure every time you visit our Websites. You can also exercise your Cookie preferences by clicking on the appropriate opt-out links provided below or emailing us at PrivacyRequest@blackline.com.


You can also set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse Cookies. If you choose to reject Cookies, you can still use our Websites to perform the requested service, although your access to some additional functionality and areas may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse Cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser to browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org. Find out how to manage Cookies on popular browsers:

  • Google Chrome

  • Microsoft Edge

  • Mozilla Firefox

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer

  • Opera

  • Apple Safari


To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer's website.


BlackLine uses Google Analytics or a third party like Google Analytics for aggregated, anonymized website traffic analysis. In order to track your session usage, Google or a third party drops a cookie with a randomly generated ClientID in your browser. This ID is anonymized and contains no identifiable information (e.g., name, email, phone number, etc.). We use Google Analytics or a third party like Google Analytics to track aggregated website behavior, such as what pages you looked at, for how long, and so on. This information is important to us for improving the user experience and determining site effectiveness. You can read Google’s security and privacy policies for Google Analytics. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.


How can you Opt-out of Targeting Cookies?

For a list of the Targeting Cookies used on the BlackLine Websites, see our Cookie Table and the table located at the end of this Policy. You may opt-out of Targeting Cookies in the following ways:

  • In the Cookie Settings manager, opt-out of Targeting Cookies (link located in the footer of our Website). If you visit us from a different device or browser, or clear cookies, then you may need to return to this screen to re-select your preferences.

  • Set the Global Privacy Control (GPC) for each participating browser system that you use (see below). In certain jurisdictions, you may use the GPC opt-out preference signal to opt-out of the use of third-party Targeting Cookies. For instructions on how to download and use GPC, please visit https://globalprivacycontrol.org/.


Opting out will not remove advertising, but, instead, opting out will result in the ads you see not being matched to your interests.


We do not “sell” or “share” your Personal Data for targeted advertising, as those two terms are defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act.


Do Not Track (DNT)

Various browsers allow a “do not track” (DNT) setting that relies on a technology known as a DNT header, which sends a signal to websites visited by the individual about the individual’s browser DNT setting. At this time, there is no general agreement on how companies like BlackLine should interpret Do Not Track signals. Therefore, our Websites currently do not respond to the Do Not Track (DNT) browser signal.


Changes to this Policy

This Policy may be amended or revised from time to time at the discretion of BlackLine. Changes to this Policy will be posted on the Website and links to the Policy will indicate that the Policy has been changed or updated. Any updates to this Policy become effective when we post the updates on the Website. To the extent permitted by applicable law, your use of a Website following the update to this Policy means that you accept the updated Policy. If we propose to make any material changes, we will provide notice on this page, sending you an email notification, or if you subscribe to our products and services, via BlackLine’s products and services prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this Policy for the latest information on our use of Cookies or other technologies.


Contact Us

If you have questions about our use of Cookies or other technologies, please contact us as provided in our Privacy Policy.

List of Third Party Targeting Cookies

Cookie

Description

Link to Privacy Policy/Opt-Out Link

6Sense

Allows BlackLine to deanonymize website visitors at the account level, understand the impact of BlackLine’s ad campaigns, and provide insights to sales about account-level behavior.

Adobe (Audience Manager Demdex)

Allows BlackLine to understand how users arrive on our website and how they engage with us on the website. Adobe also uses this cookie to understand the content with which you have engaged on our website so they may subsequently deliver some targeted advertisements to you.

AppNexus

Allows BlackLine to connect ad delivery and site visit information for account level insights, to understand the impact of BlackLine’s ad campaigns, and provide insights to sales about account-level behavior.

Beeswax

Presents the user with relevant content and advertisement. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers.

Bing Ads

Helps BlackLine understand how our Bing campaigns perform by tracking actions on BlackLine websites once ads have been clicked.

Bizible

Bizible JavaScript tracks web page visits (including anonymous visits), general page navigation, content downloads, and form fill completions on blackline.com.

Demandbase

Demandbase analyzes online identifiers (cookies) in the aggregate and applies AI and machine learning models to provide us with analytics data regarding the use of our website. The use of cookies provides us with business intent; helps identify and count unique users; drive site optimization; and improve retargeting. Demandbase syncs with third party ad technology partners so that these users can be targeted in ad campaigns on the relevant networks.

Facebook

The Meta Pixel is a piece of code that you put on your website that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions people take on your website.

Google Tag

The Google Tag is a single tag deployed across BlackLine’s website which connects to multiple Google product destinations. The Google Tag is by Google to register and report the website user's actions after viewing or clicking one of the advertiser's ads with the purpose of measuring the efficacy of an ad and to present targeted ads to the user.


LinkedIn

Allows us to perform campaign reporting and unlock valuable insights about website visitors that may come via LinkedIn campaigns.


Marketo

Enables us to understand your interaction with the emails we send you, and to ensure we’re sending you relevant information; specifically, Marketo cookies let us know whether our emails have been opened, and which links are clicked.


MediaMath

Helps us to deliver advertising to your browser or mobile device on our website and elsewhere. They perform functions like preventing the same advertisements from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.


Twitter/X

Allows users to share content from our websites.