What is a cookie?

We use cookies and URL information to gather information regarding the date and time of your visit and the information for which you searched and which you viewed. “Cookies” are small pieces of information that a website sends to your computer’s hard drive while you are viewing a web site. We may use both session Cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and persistent Cookies (which stay on your computer until you delete them) to provide you with a more personal and interactive experience on our Website. Persistent Cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions. Cookies may enable automatic logins when you visit in the future and may enable content customisation.

Some cookies are necessary to allow you to browse our Website, use its features, and access secure areas. The use of these cookies is essential for our Website to work.

We also use functional cookies to remember choices you’ve made or information you’ve provided, such as your username, language, or the region you are in. This allows us to tailor your website experience specifically to your preferences. For example, authentication cookies are functional cookies that are used for the duration of a session (or persistent, if you agree to the “remember me” function) to allow users to authenticate themselves on subsequent visits or to gain access to authorized content across pages. The functional cookies we use include:

• User-centric security cookies to detect authentication abuses for a limited persistent duration, like repeated failed login attempts. These cookies are set for the specific task of increasing the security of our Website.
• Multimedia content player session cookies (flash cookies) are used for the duration of a session to store technical data needed to play back video or audio content (e.g. image quality, network link speed, and buffering parameters).
• Load balancing session cookies are used for the duration of the session to identify the same server in the pool in order for the load balancer to redirect user requests appropriately.
• User interface customization persistent cookies are used to store a user’s preference regarding a service across web pages.

We use many tools to help us improve our Website. To this end, we use reporting and analytics cookies to collect information about how you use our Website and how often. These cookies only gather information for statistical purposes and only use pseudonymous cookie identifiers that do not directly identify you. The performance cookies we use include:

• First party analytics cookies – we use these cookies to estimate the number of unique visitors, to improve our Website and to detect the most searched for words in search engines that lead to our Website. These cookies are not used to target you with online marketing. We use these cookies to learn how our Website is performing and make relevant improvements to improve your browsing experience.
• Third party analytics cookies – we also use Google Analytics and other third-party analytics providers listed below to help measure how users interact with our Website content. These cookies “remember” what our users have done on previous pages and how they’ve interacted with our Website. For more information on Google Analytics, visit Google’s information page. For instructions on how opt out of Google Analytics, see below.

Advertising cookies are used on our Website to tailor marketing to you and your interests and provide you with a more personalized service in the future. These cookies remember that you visited our Website and we may share this information with third-parties, such as advertisers. Although these cookies can track your device’s visits to our Website and other sites, they typically cannot personally identify you. Without these cookies, the advertisements that you see may be less relevant and interesting to you. Read more about how companies use cookies to conduct targeted or retargeted advertising here.

Finally, Social and Content cookies are placed by many social media plugins (for example the Facebook ’like’ button), and other tools meant to provide or improve the content on a website (for example services that allow the playing of video files, or that create comments sections). We integrate these modules into our Website to improve the experience of browsing and interacting with our Website. Please note that some of these third party services place cookies that are also used for things like behavioural advertising, analytics, and/or market research. We also use them for remarketing communications. To opt out of these communications please visit the Network Advertising Initiative opt out page.

How long will cookies remain on my computer or mobile device?

The length of time that a cookie remains on your computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies last until you stop browsing and persistent cookies last until they expire or are deleted. Most of the cookies we use are persistent and will expire between 30 minutes and two years from the date they are downloaded to your device.

How do I control cookies?

You can control and manage cookies in various ways. Please keep in mind that removing or blocking cookies can negatively impact your user experience and parts of our Website may no longer be fully accessible.

Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can choose whether or not to accept cookies through your browser controls, often found in your browser’s “Tools” or “Preferences” menu. For more information on how to modify your browser settings or how to block, manage or filter cookies can be found in your browser’s help file or through such sites as: www.allaboutcookies.org.

Many of the third party advertising and other tracking services listed above offer you the opportunity to opt out of their tracking systems. You can read more about the information they collect and how to opt out through the privacy policy links listed above.