Privacy Policy
Please read this carefully
Published: 05 December 2006
Before using the Website (that is, any site operated by a company in the Independent News & Media group) it is your responsibility to read the Privacy Policy. You can notify us in the manner set out below if you do not want us to share information about you with third parties.
Independent News and Media Limited (together with its holding and associated companies where relevant), is hereinafter referred to as INM.
The basic principles
By accessing and using the Website you
are agreeing to be legally bound by the Terms of Use and this Privacy
Policy. You should therefore also read the Terms of Use before using the
Website.
IINM is determined to protect your privacy. It is very
important to us that you should be able to use and enjoy the Website without
having to compromise your privacy unacceptably.
Knowing something
about our users is, however, necessary to ensure that our service is
continually improved. We need to build an accurate picture of the needs and
wishes of our users, and to be able to communicate with you. That enables us
to offer a service that is relevant and truly interactive, which is what our
users expect. It also helps us to maintain the greatest possible
free-to-user access to the Website.
We answer your important
questions
"What information do you collect about me?"
We automatically collect some data about our users' browsing
actions and patterns. This is aggregate data and does not identify any
individual.
We may also ask you to provide personal information on
a voluntary basis in order to get a clearer picture of our users. It is then
entirely up to you whether you are happy to give us this information.
In the course of entering competitions, promotions and other offers you will
be asked to give some details about yourself. You may also choose to e-mail
us or make contact with us in other ways. Such contact gives us information
about you.
If you have any financial dealings or make purchases
with our trading partners on co-branded sites, they will ask for certain
information. This information may be shared with us.
"For
what purposes do you collect and use this information?"
We
use aggregate audience details (where no individual is identifiable) to help
us improve our understanding of our users and their preferences. We use it
to assist us in arranging relevant advertising, commercial opportunities and
competitions, as well as ensuring the best editorial coverage. It also helps
us develop the Website and audit its use.
* The information about
you as an identifiable individual, including contact details, may be used in
the following ways:
* to conduct market research and other
surveys.
* to create and draw to your attention editorial material
and commercial opportunities that may be of interest to you.
* to
be shared with advertisers, trading partners and other commercial entities
with whom we have or might have an association. We may also be able to share
the information that they obtain about their users, which may include you.
"How private are my details?
Apart from other companies in
the INM group, we only share personal information about you with third
parties whom we have selected carefully and with whom we have, or may have,
a commercial relationship. INM complies with the relevant legal requirements
and takes all reasonable care to ensure that your information is secure and
private and is only seen by responsible third parties. However we cannot be
held responsible for the actions of any third party who receives or obtains
access to the information, or for any breach of security.
If you
tell us that you do not want us to use your details, then data about your
use of the Website would then only form part of aggregated statistics and
would not be related to you as an individual.
You can ask to see
the information we have about you by e-mailing a request to
customerservices@ independent.co.uk.
"What do I do if I
am not happy for you to share information about me with others?"
You may not wish us to share personal details about you with third parties
outside the INM group, or to use your information in the other ways we have
described in this Privacy Policy. You can e-mail
customerservices@ independent.co.uk at any time to let us know of any
objections you may have to how we use or disclose your data in the ways set
out in this Privacy Policy. Your personal details may in any event be shared
with third party organisations we have contracted to provide services to us,
on an agency basis, which include processing data. We may also have to
release information (which could include the contents of e-mail
communications between any persons) because of a legal requirement on us or
pursuant to a court order.
Use of cookies on a website
The basic principles
A cookie is a text-only string of
information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser of
your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are. A
cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie
has come, the "lifetime" of the cookie, and a value, usually a
randomly generated unique number.
Two types of cookies are used on
the Website: Session Cookies which are temporary cookies that remain
in the cookie file of your browser until you leave the Website.
Persistent Cookies which remain in the cookie file of your browser for
much longer (though how long will depend on the lifetime of each specific
cookie). Cookies can help a website to arrange content to match your
preferred interests more quickly. Most major websites use cookies. Cookies
cannot be used by themselves to identify you.
How we collect
cookies on the Website and what information we collect
Session Cookies: To allow you to carry information across pages of the
Website and avoid having to re-enter information. Persistent Cookies:
To help us recognise you as a unique visitor (just a number) when you return
to the Website and to allow us to tailor content, advertisements and the
presentation of the Website to match your preferences. To compile anonymous,
aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use the Website
and to help us improve the structure of the Website. We cannot identify you
personally in this way.
Third Party Cookies.
Third parties serve cookies via the Website. These are used for the
following purposes: To serve advertisements on the Website and track whether
these advertisements are clicked on by users. To control how often you are
shown a particular advertisement. To count the number of anonymous users of
the Website.To provide security within transactions.
Use of Web
Beacons
Some of our web pages may contain electronic images
know as web beacons (sometimes know as clear gifs) that allow us to count
users who have visited these pages. Web beacons collect only limited
information which including a cookie number, time and date of a page view,
and a description of the page on which the web beacon resides. We may also
carry web beacons placed by third party advertisers. These beacons do not
carry any personally identifiable information and are only used to track the
effectiveness of a particular campaign.
Disabling/Enabling
Cookies.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by
modifying the settings in your browser. However, you may not be able to use
all the interactive features of the Website if cookies are disabled.
International transfer of personal data
As you will know, the
internet does not recognise national boundaries. Services on the net are
accessible globally so collection and transmission of personal data is not
always confined to one country. You should be aware that by using the
Website and those of our partners or any site we link through to, your
personal data may be processed in or transferred to other countries, the USA
for example, and you agree to your personal data being transferred or
processed in this way.
Further information
If you
want further information, or wish to communicate with us about this Privacy
Policy and your wishes about your personal information, please e-mail us at
customerservice@ independent.co.uk.
Company and data protection
information
The data controller of data on the Website is
Independent News and Media Limited, which is a company in the Independent
News & Media group, registered in England and Wales under company number
1908967, whose registered office is at Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall,
London E14 9RS, UK. Any queries or notices under the Data Protection Act
should be addressed to the IT Director at the above address.
