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Information
About Cookies
Cookies facilitate certain features that can make the surfing experience
more convenient and valuable for Web users.
A "cookie" is a small piece of information which a web server
can store on your web browser. This is useful for having your browser remember
some specific information which the web server can later retrieve. As you
browse the web, some cookies are "set" on your Web browser. When
you quit your browser, some cookies are stored in your computer's memory
in a cookie file, while some expire, or disappear. All cookies have expiration
dates. The cookie is set on a particular browser on a particular computer,
so when you use a different computer, the cookie will not exist.
Cookies are used, for example, when a browser stores your password to a
particular site so that you do not have to input it every time you visit.
Cookies are also used to store preferences you express for information
that is then aggregated and presented to you. Instances where cookies are
most commonly used include:
- Ordering Online
Online ordering systems can use cookies that remember what a
person wants to buy. Cookies enable users to keep browsing and
adding to their "shopping cart". They can even end a browser
session, come back, and still have the same items in their cart
from the last session, if they choose to.
- Registering Online
If you decide to register for an informational site, such as
a newspaper, periodical or an interest group site, or even a
chat group or on-line community, so that you can use it on a
regular basis, you will likely be asked to supply some information
about yourself. Often cookies are used so that you do not have
to identify yourself every time you re-enter the site.
- Site Personalization
Cookies allow users to indicate what types of information they
are interested in receiving when they visit a particular site.
Users can then view only what they are interested in and not
waste time with news or information of no interest to them.
- Web Site Tracking
Tracking allows site owners to find out what pages visitors
link to, and interpret or infer what is interesting to them.
This helps the owners of sites to keep their content fresh and
relevant.
- Targeted Marketing
Cookies can be used to build a profile of where on a particular
site you visit. This information is then used to target advertising
that might be of interest to you. Some sites use cookies to
"remember" which advertisements were sent to you, so that you
do not see the same ones again.
- Security
Cookies cannot be used to obtain data from your hard drive,
get your e-mail address or steal sensitive or personal information
about you. The only way that any private information could be
part of your cookie file would be if you personally gave that
information to a Web server. Also, each cookie can only be read
by the server that set it, so strange servers cannot view or
steal the information in a cookie that you have previously accepted.
Note also that computer viruses are not passed through the setting
or use of cookies.
If you, as a visitor, want to disallow cookies you can do so
on your Web browser.
Return to the Privacy policy page.
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privacy
