A cookie is a tiny file that is stored on your device. It contains a unique identifier, as well as the address and other information about the site you are visiting. Some cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around our Site and use its features, such as accessing secured areas. Other cookies collect information about how visitors use the Site (for instance, which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages). When combined with information collected when you register on a website, cookies allow us to welcome you back to the site or otherwise provide enhanced, more personal features. Cookies may also be used on our behalf by third parties managing our advertising on other websites to enable us to learn which advertisements bring visitors to our Sites and to otherwise improve or target our online advertising.
Most browsers accept cookies automatically but can be configured not to do so or to notify the user when a cookie is being sent. If you wish to disable cookies, refer to your browser help menu to learn how to disable cookies. Please note that if you disable cookies, you may be unable to access some customized features on our Site.
Other tracking technologies
A variety of other tracking technologies, like web beacons, pixels, and tags, are also used. These are small strings of code that are placed on a web page, email, or advertisement. When you access a page containing one of these technologies, you establish a communication with a web server, which collects certain information about your computer or device. This information may include your IP address, browser type, operating system type, and identifiers that have been stored in cookies. We (and third parties) may use these technologies to count the number of visitors to our Sites and to recognize users by accessing unique identifiers stored in cookies that we have set on their computers or devices. Being able to access these identifiers enables us to provide a personalized experience on our Sites. We may also include technologies like these in advertisements or in email messages to determine how these are acted on.
For purposes of the balance of this "Cookie Policy," we will include all of these technologies within the generic term "cookies."
Categories of cookies and your rights to opt out
As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, cookies are used for different purposes. Some cookies are "set" (delivered to your browser) by us. These are called "first party cookies." Others, called "third party cookies" are set by third parties who are given access to do so on our Site. We are proud to offer you multiple ways to make choices about accepting or rejecting some of these cookies The primary way to do this is by accessing the Cookie Preference Center that we have established for each of our Sites (which you can access by clicking the "Customize Cookie Settings" link found in the bottom footer of each Site, near the link to the Privacy Policy). Within the Cookie Preference Center, you will find descriptions of each category of cookie (similar to those immediately below), and then you will be able to choose to reject certain categories of cookies, should you wish to do so (except that you cannot choose to opt out of receiving cookies falling within the "strictly necessary" category, because our Site will not function properly without these).
Cookies on our Sites fall into the following categories:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the Site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems through the Cookie Preference Center. These cookies are usually only set in response to your request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, filling in forms, and accessing secure areas of the Site. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the Site will not then work.
Analytics Cookies
These cookies allow our Site to collect information about how you interact with the Site, including which pages you visit most often and if certain pages send you error messages. These cookies help us improve our services. If these cookies are blocked or disabled, our Site may become less functional, including the potential that some of our services may no longer be available to you.
Functional Cookies
Functional cookies allow our Site to remember information, such as your preferred language, that can be used to customize your experience on our Site. These cookies also can be used to provide you with information specific to your region and may assist you in customizing our Site’s appearance. If these cookies are blocked or disabled, our Site may become less functional, including the potential that some of our services may no longer be available to you.
Targeting Cookies
Targeting cookies are used by parties that are involved in serving other companies' advertising on our sites, or that are involved in determining which of our advertisements (or other parties' advertisements) to show you on third-party websites. These cookies collect information about your online activities, such as the advertisements you have seen or the websites or pages you have visited, in order to draw inferences about what advertising might be relevant to you. This information is then used to show you targeted advertising (sometimes referred to as "interest based advertising" or "online behavioral advertising") that may be most relevant to you, including when you visit other websites not belonging to us. If these cookies are blocked or disabled, our Site may become less functional, including the potential that some of our services may no longer be available to you.
With respect to this final category of cookies described above (targeting cookies), we offer a second means of opting out of these cookies – beyond our Cookie Preference Center. The Cookie Preference Center relates to the cookies that are set on our Site but does not affect the rest of the online world. There is also an industry-wide opt out program for targeting cookies that you can access by clicking here. Through this latter program, you can opt out of receiving targeting cookies from a broad array of third parties on any site, not just ours. Please be aware, though, that this opt-out process is itself cookie-based. In other words, if you opt out, a cookie is placed on your browser that informs these third parties that they are not to use cookies with you for targeted advertising. As a result, if you subsequently clear cookies from your browser (as many people do periodically), your opt out will be lost until you reinstate it.