Privacy Policy
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Privacy Policy
Please read this carefully
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 & Conditions 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. VAT number GB 248 1845 43. Any queries or notices under the Data
Protection Act should be addressed to the IT Director at the above address.
Last updated: 3 May 2007
