Visitor identity
Watt Alpha sets a first-party cookie, wa.prospect_id, on every visit. It holds a random identifier with no personal information in it. It is what joins a completed enrollment back to the shopping session that produced it, so a repeat visit, a second tab, and a link into a saved quote all resolve to the same visitor. The cookie lasts 180 days. It is never sold. It is shared only with PostHog, the analytics processor named below, to join recordings and page views to visits. It is never sent to any advertising platform, including the one named in the next section.
Our own servers also keep a log of funnel steps for each visitor ID, such as a quote requested or plans shown, so we can measure how the site is used.
Advertising measurement
Watt Alpha advertises on Meta (Facebook and Instagram). To learn which ads bring people who actually get a useful answer, we report a small number of milestones to Meta: a page view, a first interaction with the site, a quote requested, plans shown, a plan selected, and an enrollment started or submitted.
We report these in two ways. The site loads the Meta pixelin your browser, and our own server also sends the same milestones to Meta through Meta’s Conversions API.
What our server sends with those milestones: Meta’s own advertising cookies (_fbp and _fbc, which identify the browser and the ad click; if the ad-click cookie is missing, we rebuild it from the fbclidvalue in the page address), your IP address, your browser’s user-agent string, the page address (without other query parameters), and, where relevant, your ZIP code, your utility, your selected home size, and how many plans were shown.
The Meta pixel is Meta’s own script. When it loads, Meta collects standard browser information itself, such as the page address, the referring page, and device and browser details, under Meta’s policies.
What our code never sends to Meta: your name, email address, phone number, Social Security number, date of birth, service address, uploaded documents, or the wa.prospect_id cookie above. Our code does not send Meta any hashed or unhashed contact information.
Under Texas law this is “targeted advertising”, and you can opt out. Turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser or extension. Watt Alpha honours that signal: when it is set, the Meta pixel is never loaded and our server reports nothing to Meta. A browser ad blocker can stop the pixel, but it does not stop the reports our server sends, so use Global Privacy Control or email us if you want both to stop. You can also opt out of activity-based advertising in your Meta account settings, which controls how Meta uses what it receives. To ask us to stop directly, email hello@wattalpha.com.
Product analytics and session recording
Watt Alpha uses PostHog to understand how the site is used: page views and a small set of product events tied to the random visitor ID above, and recordings of visitor sessions so we can see where the site breaks and what to fix. Data is sent through our own domain (/ingest) to PostHog’s servers in the United States, so a browser ad blocker usually does not stop it. Global Privacy Control does not currently turn off PostHog; to opt out, email us. A recording is retained for 30 days and then deleted.
Recordings mask everything typed into form fields before anything leaves your browser. The identity step (including Social Security number and date of birth), service addresses, meter IDs (ESIIDs), uploaded ID documents, and uploaded utility bills are also excluded from recordings. Internal Watt Alpha operations pages are never recorded.
Site traffic statistics
Our website host, Vercel, counts page views with Vercel Web Analytics so we can see overall traffic. It reports aggregate page and referrer statistics to us.
Deletion requests
To request deletion of a recording, a cookie, or any other data Watt Alpha holds about a visit, email hello@wattalpha.com. Include the approximate date of the visit if known.