We use cookies, web beacons, mobile analytics and advertising IDs, and similar technologies to operate our websites and online services and to help collect data, including usage data, identifiers, and device information.
What are cookies and similar technologies?
Cookies are small text files placed by a website and stored by your browser on your device. A cookie can later be read when your browser connects to a web server in the same domain that placed the cookie. The text in a cookie contains a string of numbers and letters that may uniquely identify your device and can contain other information as well. This allows the web server to recognize your browser over time, each time it connects to that web server.
Web beacons are electronic images (also called single-pixel or clear GIFs) that are contained within a website or email. When your browser opens a webpage or email that contains a web beacon, it automatically connects to the web server that hosts the image (typically operated by a third party). This allows that web server to log information about your device and to set and read its own cookies. In the same way, third-party content on our websites (such as embedded videos, plug-ins, or ads) results in your browser connecting to the third-party web server that hosts that content. We also include web beacons in our email messages or newsletters to tell us if you open and act on them.
Mobile analytics and advertising IDs are generated by operating systems for mobile devices (iOS and Android) and can be accessed and used by apps in much the same way that websites access and use cookies. Our apps contain software that enables us and our third-party analytics and advertising partners to access these mobile IDs.
How do we and our partners use cookies and similar technologies?
We, and our analytics and advertising partners, use these technologies in our websites, apps, and online services to collect personal data (such as the pages you visit, the links you click on, and similar usage information, identifiers, and device information) when you use our services, including personal data about your online activities over time and across different websites or online services. This data is used to store your preferences and settings, enable you to sign-in, analyze how our websites and apps perform, track your interaction with the site or app, develop inferences, deliver and tailor interest-based advertising, combat fraud, and fulfill other legitimate purposes. We and/or our partners also share the data we collect or infer with third parties for these purposes. For more information about the third-party analytics and advertising partners that collect personal information on our services, please see the “Our Disclosure of Personal Data” section of this statement.
What controls are available?
There are a range of cookie and related controls available through browsers, mobile operating systems, and elsewhere. See the “Choice and Control of Personal Data” section below for details.