My Computer Sleuth automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, My Computer Sleuth cookie information, and the page you request

IP Addresses
When your web browser or email application requests a web page or email from another computer on the Internet, it automatically gives that computer the address where it should send the information. This is called your computer's "IP address." (IP stands for "Internet protocol.") For most users accessing the Internet from a dial-up Internet service provider (ISP), the IP address will be different every time you log on.

Information Collection and Use Practices

• My Computer Sleuth receives IP addresses from all users because this information is automatically reported by your browser each time you view a web page.

• Your IP address is also stored in our user registration databases when you register with My Computer Sleuth .

• IP addresses may be used for various purposes, including to:
   

  • Diagnose service or technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with the IP addresses controlled by a specific web company or ISP.

  • Send the most appropriate advertising based on geographic area or information derived from your IP address. Many IP addresses are commonly associated with Internet service providers, universities, or major corporations in specific regions or localities. Aggregate information derived from IP addresses may also be reported to advertisers.

  • Estimate the total number of users visiting My Computer Sleuth from specific countries or regions of the world.

  • Assist merchants in My Computer Sleuth Stores and My Computer Sleuth Shopping to track visits to and business at their stores.

  • Help determine which users have access privileges to certain content that we host.

  When a My Computer Sleuth web page is requested and viewed, that request is logged on our servers with information including the IP address of the computer that requested the page.

Cookies
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a web site's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive.  Each web site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

Choices about Cookies

• You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.)

• If you reject all cookies, you will not be able to use My Computer Sleuth products or services that require you to "sign in," and you may not be able to take full advantage of all offerings. However, many My Computer Sleuth products and services do not require that you accept cookies.

My Computer Sleuth Practices Regarding Cookies
We use our own cookies for a number of purposes, including to:

• Access your information when you "sign in," so that we can provide you with customized content, such as My My Computer Sleuth .

• Keep track of preferences you specify while you are using My Computer Sleuth services -- for example, the local zip code you want to use in My Computer Sleuth Yellow Pages or My Computer Sleuth Movies.

• Display the most appropriate advertising banners, based on your interests and activity on My Computer Sleuth .

• Assist merchants in My Computer Sleuth Stores and My Computer Sleuth Shopping to process the items in your shopping cart.

• Estimate and report our total audience size and traffic.

• Conduct research to improve My Computer Sleuth content and services.

• Require you to re-enter your My Computer Sleuth password after a certain period of time has elapsed to protect you against others accidentally accessing your account contents.

Other Companies' Cookies on My Computer Sleuth

• Please note that My Computer Sleuth allows other companies that are presenting advertisements or researching users' response to advertisements on some of our pages to set and access their cookies on your computer.

• Advertisers' and researchers' use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, not the My Computer Sleuth Privacy Policy.
   

Network Advertisers and Third-Party Ad Servers
My Computer Sleuth sends to your web browser most of the advertisements you see when you use the My Computer Sleuth network of web sites. However, we also allow other companies, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements within our web pages. 

Because your web browser must request these advertising banners from the ad network web site, these companies can send their own cookies to your cookie file, just as if you had requested a web page from the site.

Please note that if an advertiser asks My Computer Sleuth to show an advertisement to a certain audience (for example, men ages 18-34) and you respond to that ad, the advertiser or ad-server may conclude that you fit the description of the audience they are trying to reach.

Opting Out of Third-Party Ad Servers
If you want to prevent a third-party ad server from sending and reading cookies on your computer, currently you must visit each ad network's web site individually and opt out (if they offer this capability).

Web Beacons
Web pages may contain electronic images (called a "single-pixel GIF" or "web beacon") that allow a web site to count users who have visited that page or to access certain cookies. My Computer Sleuth uses web beacons in the following ways:
Within the My Computer Sleuth Network