You should also be aware that when you visit our
websites, we collect certain information that does not identify you personally,
but provides us with “usage data,” such as the number of visitors we
receive or what pages are visited most often. This data helps us to analyze and
improve the usefulness of the information we provide at these websites.
Like most commercial website owners, we may use what is known as
“cookie” technology. A “cookie” is an element of data that
a website can send to your browser when you link to that website. It is not a
computer program and has no ability to read data residing on your computer or
instruct it to perform any step or function. By assigning a unique data element
to each visitor, the website is able to recognize repeat users, track usage
patterns and better serve you when you return to that site. The cookie does not
extract other personal information about you, such as your name or address.
We may also use what is known as
“client-side page tagging”, which uses code on each page to write
certain information about the page and the visitor to a log when a page is
rendered by your web browser. This technique is also commonly used on
commercial websites. “Tagging” does result in a JavaScript program
running on your computer, but it is limited to providing information about the
page that you are requesting and the configuration of your browser. It will not
read any of your data files, or execute any additional programs. It does not
extract any personal information about you, such as your name or address. You
can prevent tagging by disabling JavaScript in your browser, but that may
prevent you from using all of our website’s functions.