Placement and Purpose of Cookies and Web Beacons

When using certain parts of the Service, the Operator installs small data files (cookies) on the user's computer that do not directly link to the user, for the purpose of data recording, user identification, facilitating subsequent user visits, increasing the Service's efficiency, delivering targeted advertising or other targeted content to the specific user, or market research. As a result of the use of data files, the Operator does not link the data obtained to the identifying data of the specific user. So-called session cookies are automatically deleted at the end of the time limit set in the cookies.

Users have the following options in their browser regarding cookies:

(i) they can set their browser to notify them when the Operator intends to place a cookie on their computer,

(ii) they can disable the sending of cookies at any time.

It should be noted that not accepting cookies will result in certain pages or functions not working properly, and it is possible that the user will not be granted access to certain data. Further information on cookies is available at http://www.cookiecentral.com.

For the above purposes, the Operator may embed web beacons (also known as web bugs) from a third party into its website. A web beacon is an image embedded in a website that allows tracking visits to the website. This information is also referred to as "clickstream data." This data can be used to analyze visiting habits, which is necessary for improving the quality of the website or in connection with displaying advertisements. Web beacons are similar to cookies in their function; they are used to track users' online movements. The main difference between the two is that web beacons are not visible on the page. Furthermore, users do not have the option to block the download of web bugs – unlike cookies – in their browser. Further information on web beacons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_beacon

Cookies Installed by Third Parties

In addition to the cookies placed by the Operator, third parties may also install data files on the user's machine.

Such a third party may be Google Inc. and its DoubleClick® service, which may install a so-called DART cookie on the Visitor's computer for the purpose of displaying advertisements within the Google AdSense advertising network. This cookie allows Google Inc. to display advertisements to users based on their visits to the Operator's website and other locations on the internet ("interest-based advertising"). Advertisements displayed with the help of the DART cookie are partly displayed based on data obtained about the user's interests on other websites previously visited by the user that participate in the DoubleClick® or Google AdSense advertising network, or on certain websites operated by Google Inc. The DART cookie technology only uses non-personally identifiable data: it does not record personal data such as the visitor's name, email address, address, phone number, social security number, bank account number, or credit card number. The display of interest-based advertisements can be disabled on all sites that display advertisements using this technology, using the options found at the following addresses: http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx and http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html