Privacy and Cookies

If you visit or use our websites, services, applications, communication services (such as e-mail) and tools, we, or service providers authorized by us, may use cookies, web beacons and other similar information storage technologies to help us help you provide a better, faster and safer experience. This page is intended to help you better understand these technologies and how we use them.

What are cookies, web beacons and similar technologies?

Like most websites, we also use technologies that place small data files on your computer, tablet or mobile phone (collectively called "device"). These small files enable us to store certain pieces of information every time you visit or use our websites, services, applications or tools.

The specific names and types of cookies, web beacons and other similar technologies that we use may change from time to time. For more information about cookies and similar technologies in general, see http://www.allaboutcookies.org. To help you better understand this Policy and the technologies we use, we use the following definitions:

Cookies - small text files (usually consisting of letters and numbers) that are placed in the memory of your web browser or device when you view a website or a message. Cookies enable a website to recognize specific devices or web browsers. There are different types of cookies:

- "Session Cookies" are cookies that expire at the end of your browser session. These cookies help us to establish a link between your activities during that specific session.

- "Persistent Cookies" are stored on your device and are stored between sessions. These cookies enable us to remember your preferences or activities over multiple sessions.

- "First-Party Cookies" are placed by the website that you are currently visiting.

- "Third-Party Cookies" are placed by a third party independently of the website that you are currently visiting.

Cookies can be disabled or deleted by tools available in most commercial browsers. The preferences will have to be set separately for each browser that you use and different browsers offer different functionalities and options.

Web beacons - These are small graphic images (also known as "pixel tags" or "clear GIFs") that may appear on or in our websites, services, applications, communication services and tools. Web beacons can be used for various purposes, including measuring the performance of our websites, tracking the number of visitors to our websites and how they navigate on them, to keep track of how many of the e-mails we have sent are actually to monitor the effectiveness of our advertisements or to keep track of how many specific items, articles or links have actually been viewed.

Similar technologies for storing information - This includes other technologies that store information in your browser or device and that use locally shared objects or local storage. Examples are flash cookies, HTML 5 cookies and other web application software methods. These technologies can work across multiple browsers. In some cases, the use of local storage cannot be entirely managed from the browser but requires special tools for management. We may use similar technologies to store information to help ensure that your account security is not compromised, to detect behavioral irregularities, to prevent unauthorized access to your account, or to the performance of our websites, services, applications or tools. We do use these technologies for storing information for targeted advertisements on our websites or elsewhere.

We may alternately use the terms "cookies" and "similar technologies" in our policies to refer to all technologies that we use to store data in your browser or device, or that collect information or help us identify you in the manner described above.

Your choice and our use of cookies, web beacons and similar technologies

We offer certain website functionalities, services, applications and tools that are only available through the use of these technologies. You are always free to block, remove or disable these technologies if your browser or device allows this. However, if you refuse cookies or similar technologies, you may not be able to use certain functionalities, services, applications or tools. You may also have to enter your password more often during a session. Consult the "Help section" of your browser add-on, application or device for more information about how to block, remove or disable these technologies.

In general, these technologies enable our websites, services, applications and tools to place information in your browser or device and to read it later. Where applicable, we protect our cookies and similar technologies, so that only we and / or service providers authorized by us can interpret them. We do this by assigning a unique identification code to cookies and similar technologies. This is designed so that only we can interpret it. We do not store any of your personal information in our cookies or in our similar technologies.

If you continue to use our websites, services, applications, communication services (such as e-mail) and tools after we have provided you with transparent information about the use of these technologies through this policy, to disable these technologies as described above, we obtain your permission to use these technologies to collect and store information. By using our websites, services, applications, etc. you allow your contact information to be used for the purpose of being contacted about events, products, services, and other offers.

The functionality of these technologies

Our use of these technologies falls into the following general categories:

Technically necessary. We may use cookies or similar technologies that are necessary for the operation of our websites, services, applications or tools.

Performance-related. We may use cookies or similar technologies that help us to evaluate the performance of our websites, services, applications and tools, including as part of analytical applications to provide us with insight into how our visitors use our website or content, improve services, applications or tools.

Functionality related. We may use cookies or similar technologies that help us to offer you improved functionalities when visiting or using our websites, services, applications or tools. This may include identifying you when you log in to one of our websites or following your specified preferences, interests, or previously viewed items so that we can improve the presentation of our content.

Advertising or targeting related. We may use first-party or third-party cookies and web beacons to deliver content, including relevant advertisements tailored to your interests, on our websites or on third-party websites, and through other channels such as e-mail. This includes the use of technologies that help us understand the usefulness to you of the advertisements and the content that has been delivered to you. If you want to block, delete or disable the other types of technologies that we can use on our websites, services, applications or tools, you can do so through the settings of your browser or device, as far as the browser or device allows.

For more information about advertising-related cookies, see "Advertising networks and advertising exchange platforms operated by third parties."

Use of these technologies by service third parties

We may collaborate with service providers that use third-party cookies, web beacons or similar technologies with our permission. These service providers help us manage our websites, applications, services, and resources and provide you with a better, faster and safer experience.

These services may use technologies to help us deliver our own content and advertisements and to compile anonymous website statistics and analysis. We do not allow these service providers to collect personal information for their own purposes on our websites or through our services, applications or tools. These service providers are bound by a confidentiality agreement with Ballycatter Group Inc. and are subject to other legal restrictions with regard to the use and collection of personal information.

Apart from the use of these technologies by our service providers, we do not allow third-party content on our websites (such as advertisements, user-to-user communication, advertisements, comments, reviews, etc.) when they use cookies, web beacons, local storage or similar technologies for tracking purposes or to collect personal information. If you think that an advertisement or other third-party content may collect personal information or use tracking technologies, please report this via service@ballycatter.com

Advertising networks and advertisement exchange platforms implemented by third parties

Our websites, services, applications and tools may use third parties, such as advertising networks and exchange platforms (ad exchanges), to enable us to display your advertisements. These networks and platforms may use third-party cookies, web beacons or similar technologies to collect information to provide these services. They can also identify your device, or collect your IP address or "identifier for advertising (IDFA)", which can be used to deliver customized advertisements on our websites or elsewhere on the internet.

For more information about third-party advertisement-related cookies and your opt-out options, see http://www.aboutads.info/choices or http://www.networkadvertising.org.

The use of these technologies by third parties is beyond our control, even though they use our technology to post and collect information. The terms of service, privacy policy, permissions, information and choices of the party in question must be consulted regarding their methods of collection, storage and sharing. We cannot make any statements regarding the policies and practices of advertisers, advertising networks or advertising exchange platforms or related third parties. For third-party advertisement-related cookies that are placed on our website, we refer you to information on the websites of these parties.

A note about your password. One of the best things you can do to protect all your online accounts is to have a unique password for your different online accounts. In case someone manages to get your password from a site this helps protect you on your other accounts (hackers can try to use your same e-mail and password for more sensitive information accounts), and this also helps keep our entire network safe too. It is in the spirit of Ballycatter that we work together to try to keep each other safe and protected from cyber crime.